‘X-Men Legends’ action packed for multiple players

X-Men Legends was released on Tuesday, Sept. 21 for all major game consoles. Legends is an action-oriented RPG in the vein of Baldur’s Gate and the old-school Gauntlet games. It received a T (Teen) ESRB rating for blood and violence. The MSRP is $49.99. This is a review of the PS2 version of this game.

Story
Thomas A. Nickle – I’ll have to defer to KJ on this as I paid little-to-no attention to the story.
Kristoffer J. Ricasata -Mutants, smashing and saving people via smashing. Seriously, the plot was crafted by the Man of Action crew comprised of some of comicdom’s brightest writers, which means fanboys can quit their predictable whining. In essence, it centers around the X-Men team that unites against various doers-of-the-evil in order to save the world. It’s very cut and dry with a slight twist here and there. Honestly, the story isn’t what shines in the game when compared to the sheer joy of the gameplay.

Gameplay
Ricasata – The game plays very much like a back-in-the-day beat-em-up mixed in with classic RPG attitude. Team is the keyword in the game as you control a team of four X-Men to blast, slash and smash your way to goodness. 15 selectable characters provide a plethora of choices as on-the-fly switching between characters keeps the action fresh. The simple control scheme combined with the user-friendly menus really help novice gamers dive in. Overall, the gameplay is a fine blend of arcade simplicity and role-playing depth.
Nickle – I cannot emphasize how much this game rules. Everything in the game is smashable . . . everything. The environments, the enemies, the storyline. All of the characters are unique and fun to control – except Jubilee – but nobody likes Jubilee. The RPG elements aren’t difficult to grasp for novice gamers and are deep enough for experienced mutants like KJ and myself to enjoy. The gameplay is as fun and addictive as the old X-Men arcade game that wasted so much of my youth.

Graphics
Nickle – The graphics are cel-shaded, which is all the rage in these new games, but it’s not the best example of the technique. The backgrounds are 3-D rendered with some of the items cel-shaded along with the X-Men and the enemies. Cel-shading may have been the way to go due to the source material, but this definitely was the weakest part of the experience in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, the graphics are serviceable, but definitely not up to the capabilities of the technology. From far away they look fine, but on closer review you can easily see the flaws. The CGI cut-scenes, however, were pretty flawless.
Ricasata – The graphics are fun and cartoony, capturing the essence of a comic book coming to life. The visual effects are a treat to watch as the various mutant powers are animated well. The imperfections are almost impossible to detect when you’re smashing cruddy Morlocks around in a sewer anyway.

Best features
Ricasata – Loads of playable characters. Fanboy friendly. Flashy and stylized effects. The superb voice acting, including Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier. Easy control scheme. Sexual tension between Colossus and Wolverine.
Nickle – If you have three friends I strongly suggest that you at least rent this game, although I would highly recommend buying it due to the length (20+ hours) to get the full effect. Well-voiced with multicultural accents. Quality action title for any level of gamer. More importantly, PSYCHIC MAELSTROM.

Worst features
Nickle- The load times. Also, the frame rate drop when a large number of enemies are on the screen or when an extreme power is unleashed.
Ricasata – Jubilee. No one wants to play as Jubilee. Jubilee doesn’t even want to play as Jubilee.

Final Judgement
Ricasata – All I have to say about this game is boo . . . . . . . . . . . . YA!!!
Nickle – Best. X-Men game. Ever.

Vital Stats
Hailing from parts unknown at a combined weight of 568 lbs, Thomas A. Nickle and Kristoffer J. Ricasata are pantheons of knowledge on video games, pro wrestling, comic books and anime.
If you would like to suggest games for them to review, e-mail Spectrum at: ctspectrum@yahoo.com.