Superheroes have always been my main interest as far as comics and animated television. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men—they all rock as far as I’m concerned. So when it was announced that Activision was to release a new X-Men video game I was more than a little interested. In fact, X-Men have always been my main superhero/mutant interest (if such a thing exists). An adventure game for the PS2 was long overdue. Even better is that X-Men Legends is a RPG—and what gamer doesn’t love a good RPG?

Fifteen of the most famous X-Men mutants are playable in X-Men Legends. These are the versions from the comic books rather than the movie. This will, of course, please fans of the X-Men on almost all counts. The characters read like a who’s who of the Marvel universe. There are of course Professor X (who is only minimally playable), Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Gambit, and Beast. These names shouldn’t come as any particular shock—they are popular and fascinating figures. Equally as interesting are the other playable characters: Jubilee, Magma (one of the main ones here), Iceman, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, and Emma (aka “White Queen”).

The powers of the mutants are varied and you as the player can only access them after completing prescribed tasks and missions (updated “Objectives” are available on the in screen menu accessible via the start button). You begin with Wolverine (who confidently states “I’m the best at what I do” throughout). He’s a brut of a man who enjoys tearing stuff up. After this first, brief New York mission (and giving a good beating to both Blob and Mystique) we return to X-Mansion where Magma explores her future haven. Explore the “sub-basement” (the locale of the Danger Room, Cerebro, etc…), the Dormitories, and classrooms. Many things are interactive and are marked with a big yellow X. Magma is the prominent playable character at X-Mansion.

New characters join you as playable (four at a time for missions) as you complete more tasks. At first these are Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Storm, and Iceman. A slight word of advice—Iceman is rather important for completing certain tasks. Similarly, Storm’s powers come into play later in the story. Next are Nightcrawler and Beast followed shortly by Jubilee and Gambit. You get the picture—in order to actually enjoy playing the characters you have to earn them. Some, as you will find, are better than others. Wolverine, as I mentioned, is fantastic in combat. Rogue is also pretty good (girls rule) while Jean Grey is somewhat lacking. Some baddies are resistant to mental, energy, or physical attacks. You can quickly choose to use one of your four chosen characters (the teamed can be changed up or revived for “tech bits”—a kind of currency—at each save point marked with a big blue X) with the directional keys mid-battle. Choose the proper one to quickly get rid of the resistant baddie. In particular, I’ve found that the physically resistant baddies can be easily done away with using the powers of Iceman, Cyclops, or Storm.

Speaking of the save points (dubbed “Xtraction Points” in the game), you may save or load a game here. In addition I’ve already mentioned that you can choose to change your team (especially as a certain task requires). Also, it is from here you can visit Forge (and buy equipment with tech bits or sell for tech bits) or the Morlock Healer (and buy potions with tech bits or sell equipment for tech bits). Unfortunately, you’ll find that you have to be frugal with both your bits and healing throughout as Xtraction Points are few and far between. This is a definite challenge for the player.

As you play through missions and kill baddies, X-Men on your team earn experience points. After earning a certain number characters level up individually. In leveling up, you may choose to automatically distribute points or do so manually. They may be put toward stats or skills as you see fit. There are other ways to level up outside of mission battles. Specifically, the Danger Room provides a great outlet and discs to gain further access to the Room can be found scattered throughout missions.

Gameplay is intuitive. Triangle—jump, X—punch, Square—use/pick up/throw, Circle—smash. Also particularly important are the L1 which uses a health pack, L2 which calls allies, R1 which uses energy pack, and R2 which calls up mutant powers. In addition various combinations of the buttons can create a number of other basic combat skills (which you can practice/learn in the Danger Room). Each mutant of course has their own aptitude and powers. It’s up to you to learn them, though I must admit to really liking the team of Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, and Cyclops for most jobs. The story is equally as fun for new X-Men fans and old ones alike. Magma (aka Alison Crestmere) is there to “discover” the history of the X-Men, various powers, and mansion secrets. For fans of the comic these things will be a bit boring, but they are necessary for new fans to properly understand things. Fortunately, they can also be quickly zipped through without reading if you are disinterested. The story was written and created by Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, Steve Sigel and Duncan Rouleau, all veteran superhero comic book writers

My main issue with X-Men Legends is that missions and menus load painfully slow. I haven’t timed the transitions, but I would bet that they take as long as 20 seconds sometimes. This is frustrating to say the least—but at least transitions from screen to screen are brief and smooth. As far as the actual graphics go they aren’t exactly stellar. Don’t expect a Square Enix product here—it is Activision which means the game is fun but not breathtakingly beautiful. The characters are rendered with hard black outlines (a trend right now) and look rather “cartoony” in comparison other RPG games. In fact, it reminds me a bit of Suikoden III. The cinematics are nice as are the transitional screens. Detailed and lovely, they bring the X-Men to life.

X-Men Legends is a hybrid RPG. The game levels up like you’d expect but instead of trading on and off in turns and taking on just one to three baddies at once, expect to be tossed into the mix with your four chosen team members and to be attacking many and varied Brotherhood or Morlock foes at once. This system should satisfy fans of X-Men, RPGs, and hack-n-slashes all at once. Lastly, the sound is good. I enjoy hearing the voices of our protagonists and appreciate that the music and special effect noise is entertaining but unobtrusive. I never found myself saying “what the hell was THAT?” This allows the player to really focus on the game at hand. Also listen for the voice talents of Patrick Stewart (Professor X of course), Cree Summer, Ed Asner, and Lou Diamond Phillips to name a few. One caveat—you may also have multiple players. It is unlikely I will ever have the opportunity to enjoy this part of the game as my husband is uninterested.

I am pleased with X-Men Legends, though I do question whether or not it will be playable a second time. Missions and characters are detailed and interesting, but if you like things to be easy or instantly gratifying it may be best to steer clear of any RPG including this one. With only minor reservations, I have to recommend this game (at least the PS2 version) to gamers—and in particular those who love the X-Men. As a fan, I would have liked seeing Angel, Shadowcat (aka Kitty Pryde), Havok, or Husk but any more characters and the game would have become unwieldy. As it stands, X-Men Legends is a satisfying and semi-addictive game well worth the time and effort. Whether it’s worth the money is really up to you. It is definitely worth the cost of rental, and probably worth the cost of buying. By the way, if you don’t have a Playstation 2 note that the title is also available on Xbox and GameCube.

Recommended: Yes