X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse
By GUSTAVO HERNANDEZ
Published December 12, 2005
Company: Raven Software
System: Windows
Price: $40
Rating: Teen
Grade: B
It's always scary when game developers try to combine two entities that we would not normally associate with each other. Thankfully, X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse proves that sometimes good things can come from unlikely pairs.
Not since Super Mario RPG have two entities come together to form such an entertaining role-playing game. Although it's not perfect, X-Men Legends 2 offers a great way to see your favorite superheroes in action.
The X-Men and the villain-ladened Brotherhood of Evil team up on a quest to track down the super evil that is Apocalypse. The well-written story plays out like a comic book that keeps players wanting to know what happens next.
X-Men Legends 2 reminds me a lot of role-playing games, such as Diablo and Dungeon Siege, where players walk around an area fighting through hordes of enemies. The same three-quarters adjustable view provides an ample view of the land.
There are a number of characters available to choose from to fill a four-person party. The characters also can be switched at various points throughout the game. One thing that surprised me was that the characters have varying superpowers at their disposal, instead of a rehash of the same power.
Mutant powers are an essential part of the fighting system, which also includes combinations for standard strong and weak attacks. Thankfully, the characters have a power bar for their mutant powers that regenerates. It makes fighting more interesting because you have to use the powers in moderation.
Like traditional role-playing games, X-Men Legends 2 allows players to level up characters. The four stats are body (increases total health points), focus (increases power for mutant powers), strike (increases damage inflicted) and speed. Sadly, this is where the game is lacking.
While it's great to level players up, it would have been nice to see more statistics that could be raised and tweaked. It's disheartening to see that a developer would dumb down the game for people who don't usually play role-playing games.
Still, the addition of equipment upgrades signals the developer's commitment to keeping the role-playing roots intact.
Although it may be a role-playing game, X-Men Legends 2 does not skimp on the action. A couple of times I found myself having to run from a fight to see if I could find some more health vials to heal my players. It was nice to see that the enemies get progressively more difficult instead of having the same enemies that would not stand a chance against high-level players.
Bringing the X-Men into a genre more accustomed to dragons and demons was an excellent idea, and it shows.