X-Men Legends Updated Hands-On
We get an exclusive look at the upcoming action game from Activision and Raven Software starring Marvel Comics' mighty mutants.
X-Men Legends is the upcoming title from Activision and developer Raven Software that aims to do something video games have been attempting for a little over a decade: Create a game that does right by the long-running X-Men comic series. As longtime fans of this series who've optimistically sought out games bearing the uncanny mutants' moniker can attest, it has been a pretty bumpy few years. To be fair, crafting a game that pleases fans of the series, which has been going on for decades, is a pretty tall order for any developer.
Surprisingly, veteran developer Raven Software, who is best known for PC games like Jedi Outcast and Soldier of Fortune, appears to be pulling off the intimidating task with more than a little flair. Our looks at the game over the past two years have shown it to be a promising RPG-style approach to crafting a game that plays well and does right by the license. This impression has been cemented during our recent look at a playable work-in-progress version of the multiplatform game.
For those who haven't followed the game or the X-Men that closely, we offer our exclusive handbook feature and a humble primer on Marvel's comic juggernaut. The X-Men are a group of men and women who represent the next step in human evolution. They possess varied superpowers and use them to protect humanity, despite the fact that they're feared and even hated by most non-mutant humans.
X-Men Legends is based on a recent series, Ultimate X-Men, that has offered a new contemporary take on the popular X-Men mythos. While this may dismay some purists, the Ultimate books have managed to provide a wealth of cameos from well-known characters from the classic comic series. As a result, X-Men Legends is coming to the table packing a veritable Who's Who from the series, ensuring the biggest array of cameos and guest appearances in a comic game to date. By opting to go with the current book, Raven has managed to make the most of its roster of characters and has included a wide assortment of characters from the series.
One of the cooler elements of the game is the inventive approach to some of the missions you'll come across. While the game uses the Ultimate X-Men characters, the development team has managed to squeeze in some nods to the classic incarnations of the old-school X-Men teams that longtime fans know and love. For example, plan on seeing the traditional costumes from the '60s, '70s, and '80s popping up during some missions that re-create some classic moments.
Given the X-Men's rich history, it's a bit surprising to us that no one had tried creating an X-Men RPG. Thankfully, that's just what Raven Software has done, offering up an action RPG-style game in the vein of Baldur's Gate and Champions of Norrath. The game's story will unfold via a pretty standard mix of prerendered computer-generated cinematics, in-game cinemas, and in-game dialogue that fills you in on what's going on. We had the chance to try out a work-in-progress version of the promising game and we were immensely pleased by how it's coming together.
The game's structure and mechanics should be recognizable to veteran gamers in the single-player mode. You'll get quests, fulfill them, and then come back to the hub area to move the story along. The story itself is being kept vague to ensure a fun and surprising experience for players. However, the basic gist of the story revolves around the X-Men's efforts to thwart Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants from doing some serious damage to the human race. A new mutant named Alison Crestmere, whose powers have recently begun to flare up, appears to figure significantly into the Brotherhood's evil plans. Obviously, this leads Professor Xavier to send in the X-Men to save the day and figure out why Alison is so wanted.
This basic clash between the X-Men and the Brotherhood leads to your first mission in the game when you start out controlling Wolverine as he attempts to track down Alison, who was abducted by the Blob. The first chunk of your time in the game is going to be spent familiarizing yourself with the game's controls and tracking down the Blob. You'll encounter a number of grunt-style enemies who fight smarter than you'd expect. Once that's sorted, you can get out of the line of fire by heading to the X-Jet, which whisks Alison to the school grounds and to Professor X.
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- GameSpot Score8.2great
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- Activision
- Raven Software
- Action Role-Playing
- Release: Sep 21, 2004 »
- ESRB: Teen
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