X-Men Legends
Your favorite mutants finally get a game to be proud of.

PLATFORM: Xbox, PS2, GC

PUBLISHER: Activision

DEVELOPER: Raven

GENRE: Action RPG

ESRB: Teen

We’re suckers for superhero games. Even though we’ve been burned many, many times, we still keep coming back for more. Of course, it helps that we’re in the midst of a comic book revival, where movies based super-powered spandex-wearers are generally more good than bad.

After many years in the wilderness, we’ve been treated to film adaptations like X-Men, Spider-Man and The Hulk (even though there have been a few clunkers -- The Punisher, Daredevil, etc.). The Spider-Man console games were great, even the Hulk beat-em-up was decent. But so far, we have yet to see a good X-Men game, which is odd, as a super-powered team of mutants seems like a great idea for game developers.

They plastered Hugh Jackman’s mug on the cover of the so-so Wolverine’s Revenge (although Mark Hamill did the voice acting), but that seemed like a last-minute add-on. To make it partial film tie-in, Patrick Stewart contributed the voice of Professor X, much like he does in Legends. Come to think of it, he did the voiceovers for a ton of Star Trek games as well. It’s good to see an actor not shy away from doing games, but Patrick – it’s ok to skip one every now and again.

This high-profile project, eagerly awaited by X-Fans, actually has almost nothing to do with the film series. Based on a pick-and-choose amalgam of comics, animated shows and the films, X-Men Legends is an action RPG, with the emphasis firmly on action. Similar in spirit to games like Baulder’s Gate and Champions of Norrath (or even the classic Gauntlet series), you control your team of heroes from a high, almost top-down view.

You can choose four X-Men at a time, and new characters are unlocked as you go through the game. Each level requires you and your teammates to go through different stock locations – underground labs, city streets, etc. – and basically wipe out everyone you see. Each mutant has different powers, so you’ll have lots of variety in choosing how to dispatch the cannon fodder sent against you.

Of course, being an RPG, all your X-Men get to level up from time to time, increasing their stats and unlocking new powers. We found that we spent most of our time playing as one of the more powerful X-Men, letting the AI handle the other characters. Our mainstays were Wolverine and Cyclops – although everyone seems to have a different set of favorites. We especially liked that two female X-Men, Jean Gray and Storm, are among the game’s most powerful characters.

You can switch characters on the fly, but in the midst of a complex battle with a dozen characters on-screen at once, you might get a little lost if you don’t concentrate on one hero at a time.

Our favorite of X-Men Legends is the easy-to-use co-op mode. At any point, a friend can plug in an Xbox controller and take over one of the characters. Up to four people can play at once, although newcomers jumping into a battle might be a little lost until they get the hang of using their mutant powers.

While the game lacks much variety, we found the battles engaging, if only because using Wolverine’s claws to slash through bad guys never seems to get old. We also liked that you can generally count on your AI teammates, and they can often get you out of a scrap.

The graphics are passable and the voice-acting can be silly at times, but X-Men Legends is a great pick-up-and-play party game for anyone with even a passing interesting in comic book characters.