"Epic but hollow..."

X-Men Legends was a breakthrough game on the PS2. It was truly the first X-Men game that hit all the right notes - a good roster of characters to play, just the right selection of villains to oppose, some decent level design and a game engine that could be taken to new levels with a strong sequel. Fast forward - we now have Marvel Ultimate Alliance which is the sequel to this game (and a much shorter review for that could go "it's fantastic, you should buy it") but that isn't this review... So how does the 'middle' game of the series fare?

The concept is simple - so simple, it beggars belief that it had only been done twice (and those back in the late 80's / early 90's) - an X-Men RPG. You select a group of Mutants from Marvel comics' popular stable, fight bad guys, repeat. There obviously is a bit more to it than that, but that's basically what we have here.

Gameplay - 7/10

Gameplay initially seems, indeed, what you'd expect. There is nothing more fun than playing Nightcrawler and teleporting left, right and centre, blasting a whole group of Infinite soldiers before they can blink. What made XML1 (X-Men Legends 1) so good was how simple it played - you could take a group of Mutants with disparate powers, make the player feel as if they were in full control of those powers and each character would be equally easy, if generally quite different, to use. Here, there is far more on offer. Every character has over double the amount of powers available per character. A simple press of the R2 button brings up a pictorial menu with the powers on offer and a simple quick press of the D-Pad allows a smooth transition between the powers you want. It sounds clunky - it isn't. You can also set the powers you prefer to a quick button if you want. This is an innovative new feature which really cuts loose the game concept and generally makes things more fun. One case where 'less is more' isn't true. Some would say that it is too much choice but, to be fair, that didn't seem to be the case.

The roster has had a huge up-haul. In XML1, the main problem with the roster was the inability to play New Game+ (replay the game with unlocked characters, stats and powers). Here, there is a New Game+ option. What's more, virtually all of the characters (except three of them) are usable from the start. Sadly, not all of the roster from XML1 has made the cut. Also, new characters are added into the mix. And some characters who weren't playable on XML1 (such as Bishop and the Brotherhood) are also included. The secret characters are all worth waiting for, I hasten to add. So all in all, I found the range of characters almost faultless. The PS2 has less characters than some of the other versions, however (PSP, for example, has Cable and PC has Sabretooth, amongst others) so unless you are really thinking of picking this up PS2 deliberately, I would give it a thought or two to whether a different format version would be better.

The characters go out in teams of four from a starting base. The base changes depending on which scenario of the story you start from, unlike XML1 where you remained in the X-Mansion at the start of a scenario. In these locations, you can do a trivia quiz to up your stats, view secret items gained (such as concept art), play simulator missions and talk with other characters (both NPC and others). The game is saved using determined save point spheres throughout a map but once you have saved at a sphere, you can go back to it at your convenience making transport between maps and even levels a cinch to help you find secret items. What's more, if you need to save urgently and there is no save point available, Blink can take you back to your base where a save point awaits you (but the cost is that Blink can't teleport you for a while afterwards). As in XML1, you collect health and energy power-ups which you use to recharge each bar but like XML1 and unlike MUA (Marvel Ultimate Alliance), you generally need to manually use them.

Alas, the greatest flaw of the game isn't from a lack of choice but a sort of uneven gameplay design. XML1 was fun because each level was seemingly vast but chock full of bad guys, puzzles or simply nice level design. You didn't really mind the size of the maps because they were quite balanced. XML2 can't quite capture that unfortunately. The thinking at Raven must have been 'more characters, more powers... so more fighting and the levels must be even larger!' Pity. The level design is definitely too vast with way too many mindless fights in between. Some of the levels from the first game - such as the sewers - are recycled, sadly to a large degree. So by the time you are in your third time in the exact same sewer design fighting the exact same bad guys, you tend to get a bit frustrated and bored. It would have been far more beneficial for Raven to have included slightly shorter levels to have just kept up attention spans for a little longer (something MUA does correctly, I have to add). The thing is, playing the game through once in the story mode is indeed fun and the story makes the rest of it compelling but when you play through on New Game+, those large, meandering levels will do nothing but annoy you and you'll wish they were just a little more compact, a little more focused and a little less sprawling. This does severely hamper the fun, making the game epic but very, very hollow.

Also, the game is littered with bugs. If there are too many items left without being picked up, or if you have too many on your person or in your treasure trove back at base, the game will frequently freeze and be un-salvageable. So you have the choice - sell your hard-earned items or you can't really play the game. This is an unfair choice for obvious reasons. It can really annoy you if you have cleared out a certain bit three or four times and are looking for secret items and the game simply crashes each and every time. No fun in that.

There is a capacity for on-line play apparently but I haven't used it. There is also a capacity for multi-player but, like with the first game, it leads to more frustration than fun and I wouldn't recommend playing this game with someone else unless you both gel very well in gaming styles, both have played the game individually a little first and you have a lot of patience with each other. All the times I played this with someone lead to some very angry words said...

Putting the bugs together with uneven level design and too much repetitive emptiness, the gameplay suffers a huge blow.

Story - 9/10

Simply put, an X-Men fans' dream with cameos from even the most obscure characters (Grizzly from the Six-Pack, anyone?). Anybody who didn't make the cut in the first game is in here. The only disappointment is that some of the characters who did get a look in the last time don't appear here, which I suppose is fair. For those, though, who don't know the comics or even care, will still find enough of a compelling tale to want to play until the end.

Apocalypse has staged a war on the Mutant Island of Genosha, which Magneto has become the president of. Obviously Magneto doesn't take kindly to this and with his Brotherhood he has to try and find Professor Xavier and gain the trust of his X-Men. For only with the X-Men can Magneto stop Apocalypse. The problem is that Professor Xavier was kidnapped with Polaris just before the attack on Genosha...

The story is full of twists and is borrowed liberally from all sorts of X-Men canon - including the Age of Apocalypse, The Gathering of the Twelve and many others. The story does primarily follow the AoA stream however, with many of Apocalypse's Horsemen deriving from that continuity. However, as with the original XML game, the continuity here is it's own separate entity. It doesn't tie in with the comics, any of the animated series or the like. Basically, the rule seems to be, 'it follows the comics until it says otherwise', just as with the first game. Which is fine as it allows a comforting homeliness for the fanboys who follow the series yet gives them some genuinely surprising twists when characters do things that they didn't expect.

Interestingly about the story, depending on what characters you take with you on your journey, you will get different conversations with other characters - for example, when you meet a member of the Brotherhood, they may act suspicious or even hostile, should you not have another Brotherhood member with you. If you do, however, they may act friendlier. It's all down to team customisation. It doesn't change the story too much however, so don't worry about missing something important. It's all just sprinkling on the cake.

Graphics/Sound - 7/10

Certainly a more sumptuous game graphically than the first instalment. Some of the new areas look luscious considering the limits of the PS2 and the original game engine (which is getting on a bit now!). However, what brings this down severely is the fact that some of the characters who wear cloaks have that horrible effect where their feet keep appearing through their outfit. That is just shabby programming. Also, the internal areas seem unimaginatively designed with little or no variation. What's more offensive is that some of the levels from the first game are recreated here - and I don't mean the same location is reused, but a totally new location with the same textures. Pheh. That's just lazy. Some levels, however, look a dream - one place called 'the Landing Platform' is really gorgeous and feels vast on a Star Wars level. So in short, nice but could easily do better I feel (and they did on MUA...).

Some of the voices seem better suited in this game and then, also, some do not. Wolverine is as gruff as ever and, of course, Patrick Stewart simply has to perform Xavier in an X-Men game. Toad's voice suits the character. It's just a few who seem a little 'off' - but I won't say who for spoiler purposes. Apart from that, the music is generic and barely noticeable (which may be good or bad depending on your point of view - bad from mine). The sound effects are generally okay but... generally only okay. I suppose I'm being a little fussy but... I always thought the X-Men should be as dramatically phonetically as they are visually. That's always one of the things the original 90's animated series got right - the sounds were all so crisp and classic. Here, the sounds are... generic. With a few exceptions.

Play Time/Replayability - 8 / 10

Play-time is simple... there is lots of it. Taking the time to find secrets and the like can add a couple of more hours here and there, the fact is, if you're being thorough going along, you won't miss anything. I clocked up about 40 hours but I had to go back and contend with nasty bugs and the like. I think you may clock up that amount of time, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, but that's my estimate - 40-ish hours. Therein lies the problem - do you want to play a game of mashing bad guys with X-Men powers for 40 hours? If the answer is yes, then this may be for you but if not, I'd be weary. I did on the first play around and was really satisfied. Second time 'round, I began to get severely bored.

There immediately seems a wealth of replayability and, to a degree, there is. The game keeps a tally of the secrets you uncover, so if you miss them the first time, you can play through the aforementioned New Game+ and get them all. You also unlock costumes - which is always fun - which unlock other team bonuses when they're used. I'm glad because the default costume for Nightcrawler here is terrible (I assume it's from his Ultimate incarnation which I don't really read). However, you won't really want to play through the large sprawling levels again because it all comes down to 'go here, fight here' and you've already spent a lot of time doing just that. The story and it's branching plot strands are a counterbalance to this, however, and the ability to make up a different team to try and get a different reaction from a villain character makes it partially more appealing to trek through the 'dungeons' again.

Final Recommendation - 7/10

I want to rate the game higher but the fact is, it doesn't feel like the sum of its parts. There is so much good going for it but you only feel all of that on the first play-around. After that, it all becomes frustrating and annoying. If you're the type of person who loves this type of RPG genre, then XML2 will certainly fill a big need as it is, in of itself, a solid game. If you have any love at all for the XML1 or the MUA games, then this will also appeal. Those who love X-Men comics will lap this up as it's almost perfect, storyline-wise. However, if you fall into none of those categories, I could very well see XML2 becoming dull, repetitive and boring sooner than you may initially expect. I'd say buy it if you hit any of those categories above, and if you don't, maybe rent to see if the genre hooks you in with a second-hand buying option to follow if it does.

In short, a game with a lot of bang, some for your buck, but after a deceptive lull with the amount of options on offer, the fizz begins to slowly die out...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/07