Game Review: X-Men: Destiny (DS, Wii, PS3, 360)

X-Men: Destiny is out for all the major popular game consoles, but here we’re going to take a look at the DS version. Play as Samuel, whose mentor is Reyes, a diplomat trying to bridge the gap between mutants and humans. When Magneto attacks during a ceremony honoring the passing of Charles Xavier, Samuel discovers he has mutant powers. Now you have control over what powers Samuel will have, what side he’ll take, and even what his costume will look like!

You view the game in an overhead perspective as you punch bad guys and blast enemies with your mutant powers. It’s a little bit like an arcade style beat ‘em up. View the action on the top screen, while the bottom shows a map with the locations of your objectives.

As you play, you’ll meet popular Marvel characters, both good and bad. Oftentimes, you can choose to side with the good X-Men or the evil Brotherhood of Mutants. Your decisions will affect what powers you get, which include melee energy punches or long range blasts, healing powers, and more. As you defeat enemies and gain experience, you’ll level up and be able to upgrade your powers. Hidden in the stages are costume parts that you can use to design your own super-mutant outfit, too.

It’s nice that as you meet new characters, they’ll explain who they are in the game, so if you aren’t as familiar with the X-Men (like me) you won’t be completely lost. But the gameplay is a little repetitive so probably only big comic book hero fans will really enjoy the DS game.

Kid Factor:

X-Men: Destiny on DS is rated E-10 for Everyone 10 and Up with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes. You can punch bad guys and zap them with energy projectiles, but defeated characters just fall down, say “Ugh,” and disappear. The Mild Suggestive Themes probably come from some of the female costumes. But if you’re OK with your kids reading the comics books and watching the X-Men movies, they’ll be OK with the game, too. Reading skill is a must for all the text, and younger gamers may get frustrated with the game’s difficulty.

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