While the great cast of characters and the story really make this game, the whole gameplay value is meh...
- Great Characters
- Unlockables and Battle Mode
- Story
The Bad
- Gameplay is very repetitive and somewhat boring
- No real true objectives (aka beat up badguys)
- No continuing a mission (see review)
- Combat
- no multiplayer
I haven't reviewed many psp games except Madden 11, but decided to buy a few more to increase my travelling game collection. This was one that I picked up along with another game that I'll review eventually. What really drew me was the amount of characters and of course, the nice price of 20 bucks. But once i popped it in, there was a sense of good and bad that came with this game.
When you start, you have to beat the prologue level, which is a good 20 minutes or longer depending on how you adjust to the game. You will take two heroes of the six main characters (Thor, Hulk, Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Iron Man, and Falcon) Yeah, I know, odd choice of main characters...
After you defeat it, there will be six missions opened up, each starring one of the characters above...now the sidekick you take with you really opens up the roster, giving you three different ones to choose from for each mission, such as Thing, Nightcrawler, and Ms. Marvel to name a few.
Now once you get into the game, you think awww cute characters and cutscenes. but the gameplay is baring on unplayable. The combat is stiff and while there are combos (which you can only find in the instruction booklet, go figure) but they're difficult to accomplish. On the bright side, each characters attacks look very different, and thats saying something with twenty plus characters. While the story is somewhat good, the levels and enemies are bland, with the heroes being only standouts. Also when your in the middle of a level, you better finish it, cuz there ain't no save points or quitting without starting a level over (learned this the hard way)
Now what I really like is Battle Mode, where you take the unlocked characters (villains and heroes) and put them into a battle arena, think a lower grade super smash bros. this concept is really great! and something I think would work well in a next gen console game. however, there is no two player!!!!! they have alternate costumes, varied arenas, but no...multiplayer??? what?
Overall, the game isn't dying on what is has (other than its combat and level system) but more on what it doesn't have. because if they found a better way to use battle mode, and upgrade the adventure mode to x-men legends style a little more, this could actually be a great psp game.
Presentation - 8 - Bright colors on the cover will attract attention, as well as a now cheaper price, the comic book style in the game is also great!
Gamplay - 4 - pure crap, really. The combos being different for each character is nice, but you'll most likely be mashing buttons hoping something cool happens.
Graphics - 6 - all right. the cutscenes look really great, but the levels are very bland.
Sound - 6 - good voice acting, small banter rarely in game, fighting effects are all right.
Lasting Appeal - 6 - while the unlockables and extras encourage playtime, the gameplay will probably prevent you from wanting to play through it more than once.
Overall - 6.0