There is no doubt that certain genres are getting a lot of play on the
PSP. If you're a fan of racers and action games then Sony has you
covered, but things aren't as rosy for those who gravitate towards
role-playing games. Thankfully Activision has a few superheroes
that are ready to save the day. It might not be the turn-based
RPG some have been longing for, but X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse
should satisfy just about anybody who is craving an exciting
adventure.
Before we get too far into this review perhaps you should know a little
about my background with the X-Men. I'm not your traditional
X-Men fan, I've never actually read any of the comic books and have
really only seen the first two movies. I've seen the various
cartoons they've had in the past, but I'm not the type of person you
would want to ask if you needed to know something about this comic
series. In a lot of ways I'm nothing more than a passing fan, I
enjoy what I see but do not seek this stuff out. But I do know a
good game when I see it, and X-Men Legends 2 is one heck of a good game.
Despite not knowing much about the mythos of the X-Men I do know one
thing, Professor X leads the good guys and Magneto fronts those who
oppose the X-Men (and everything they stand for). So even I was
intrigued when I realized that for this game both the good and bad
sides were teaming up to fight something much bigger and stronger.
The idea of having the good guys team up with the bad guys is not only
a fun one, but it actually serves to create some fun dialogue between
the characters. It also allows you to create a large variety of
teams, something that ultimately helps to keep the game fresh as you go
through its lengthy story. These two teams obviously don't like
each other, so working together can be volatile at times. But
it’s the constant bickering, funny insults, and name calling that keeps
this otherwise simple story going.
That's not to say the story is bad, it's just not as fleshed out as
most role-playing games you run across. The plot involves the two
groups of mutants teaming up to take on the extremely powerful
Apocalypse and his (wait for it) four horsemen. These extra
powerful mutants are ready to destroy just about everything the X-Men
love, from the jungles of Genosha to their base/mansion to an entire
city (sorry, New York City). It's up both the X-Men and the
Brotherhood to destroy these horsemen and fight the ultimate baddie.
To do this you select a team of four characters to go off on this
dangerous adventure. Since you're not limited to only good guys
you end up being able to mix and match a wide assortment of interesting
characters, each with their own strengths and mutant abilities.
Obviously the game features the most popular characters, like Wolverine
and Gambit, but it also has a number of characters that don't get the
same kind of play. You can choose from such characters as Bishop,
Iceman, Juggernaut, Nightcrawler, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Sunfire, and
Toad, just to name a few. It's worth mentioning that this PSP
version features four additional characters not found in the console
versions, including a personal favorite of mine, Cable.
After you've chosen your team it's time to get out there and kick some
butt. X-Men Legends 2 is an action-RPG, with the emphasis
squarely on "action." Even though you have four characters, you
only have to control them one at a time. As you run around
fighting whatever gets in your way your backup team will follow suit
and aid in your quest. Thankfully the three guys fighting
alongside you are pretty smart; they do a good job of healing
themselves, fighting other enemies, and just about anything else you
could want from them. The good news is that if you don't like how
they act you can always tweak them to your liking … or simply switch to
another character and do the fighting for them.
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