It's often the case that the second game in a series is really what the
developers wanted the first game to be. Typically, a lot of features
get cut out during the first game's development because they're either
too difficult to create in time for release, or there are other things
(physics engines, AI, etc.) that have to be created first. The X-Men
Legends series seems to be another example of this. X-Men Legends II is
much more deep than the first game, which adds a lot of subtlety and
fun to what could have been just another action-RPG.
X-Men Legends II: The Rise of Apocalypse picks up with the X-Men
teaming up with the Brotherhood of Mutants to battle back against the
evil Apocalypse. Apocalypse is waging war on the world, and Magneto and
Professor X intend on stopping him.
Not surprisingly, the Brotherhood and X-Men don't get along very well,
and I think the game captures that in the cutscenes and through
interactions with the NPCs very well. For instance, approaching Angel
as an X-Man gets a different tone than approaching as Magneto. The two
leaders, Professor X and Magneto, definitely understand their need to
work toghether and keep everyone in line. It's an interesting dynamic,
and it's always good to see that while Professor X and Magneto don't
agree in their goals, they still have a deep respect for each other.
Plot aside, this game plays basically like the first X-Men Legends. It
definitely follows the Diablo formula. Enter a room, attack, attack,
attack, kill everything, and collect the loot. However repetitive this
may seem, XL2 doesn't get old. The variation on the theme is that you
control a squad of up to four mutants, controlling one of them at all
times. A simple tap on the d-pad changes who you control, so you can
stay on top of the action. This system works very well, and you'll be
using it constantly. I find that I control the melee "tank" characters
most of the time, but will switch off to Cyclops or Bishop to attack
from afar. Also, different sequences of attacks do different things,
like popping an enemy into the air, or knocking them against a wall.
You'll find that different enemies go down quicker to different attacks
and change up your strategy quite a bit. It's a fun system, and the
variety of having four characters to control keeps it fresh.
Most of the cast of characters from the first X-Men Legends game
return. You can control the likes of Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey,
Nightcrawler, Iceman, Storm, Colossus, and Rogue. However, this time
around you also can add the Brotherhood of Mutants to your squad like
Magneto, Toad, Sunfire, Scarlet Witch, and Juggernaut (my personal
favorite). Along the way, you also run into some other familiar faces
who offer missions and background for the story. It's a bit of a
tradeoff for some of the characters that are gone. I missed Magma and
Psylocke. but am really glad that Beast isn't a playable character
anymore. Most of the characters are varied, but you'll still find
yourself using maybe half of the available mutants. A great adition to
this game is that when you put a specific group of characters together
(like all women, all melee characters, or The Brotherhood), you get a
bonus. This might be a 5% increase in XP, added defense, or increased
attack speed.
Character Management is one place where XL2 separates itself from the
first X-Men Legends. The system is much deeper now, but also offers you
the ability to totally skip that part of the game if you're not
interested. This is a great idea, as different people will want to play
this game for different reasons. I like to control every aspect of my
characters, so I get into maximizing every stat and ability. However,
you can set it so that the game automatically assigns skill and stat
points, and lets you just smack around enemies all day. The abilities
are much more varied this time around. Each character still has
abilities you would expect. Cyclops uses optic blasts, Magneto can fly
and move metal, and Juggernaut can basically slam through anything.
However, each character has other abilities like defensive shields,
beserker rages, etc. Like Diablo II, you can build your character's
abilities to suit your individual tastes. I like to keep Storm in the
back row, so I stick with tornado attacks. But, you could augment her
combat with lightning so she deals out a lot of melee damage. The
system has a lot of flexibility built in, which the first game really
didn't.
Item collecting is much more involved in this game as well. While it's
not as deep as Diablo, you'll find yourself constantly gaining new and
better equipment, going back and forth between the base to buy and sell
items, and switching up your team to make sure that they have the best
gear equipped. Everytime I fight a boss, I rush over to see what kind
of armor he leaves. There's a lot of variety in the items that you get,
and it's a rush when you receive an incredible piece of gear only to be
deflated to find out that you have to level up to wear it. Like
leveling up, you can set it so that the game automatically equips the
best items for each character whenever you pick up an item or the
character levels up and can wear it.
Another big change to this game is the addition of Xbox Live support.
You can team up with 1-3 fellows and kick Apocalypse's behind. While
I didn't really use this feature much, it is a great addition to add
online co-op play.
While the core gameplay of the series hasn't changed drastically, XL2
offers a lot more variety than the first X-Men Legends. I highly
recommend this game to anyone who likes action-RPGs and has a passing
interest in playing as the X-Men.
