| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
Ever hear the phrase: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Now you can put that useful bit of advice to the test in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. Both the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants team up to stop a common foe in the ancient and powerful mutant Apocalypse. Aptly named, Apocalypse has discovered a weapon that will bring his plans of mass destruction and the extermination of the human race to fruition. Too bad he stepped on the wrong toes to get there. The game picks up a few months after events of the previous one with Magneto and the Sentinel Army. Professor Xavier is missing along with some of the Brotherhood's members forcing the uneasy truce.
Aside from the story there's not too much brand new stuff to get excited about. The same great game play returns. Choose four mutants and go slugging through a highly destroyable world, switching between the different team members for the best results. The addition of the Brotherhood adds new mutants like Bishop, Scarlet Witch, Magneto, Juggernaut, Sunfire, and Toad. If you can find him, Iron Man makes an appearance later in the game too. The menus have been updated and given a new look, and have actually gotten speedier. Your mutant powers have been expanded with more options and new powers and a few touch ups on some mutant powers that didn't work so well in the original. One of my favorite new features is the ability to play literally from beginning to end without entering the menu again. Okay, so it doesn't work for me, because I'm an equal opportunity player; I try to get everyone into the action. However once you've chosen your team of four (or less if you're feeling invincible) and played long enough for a character to level up you will be given the option of having your skill points, status points and equipment automatically assigned, or any combination of automatic and manual distribution. Now of course somewhere along the way you'll need to meet up with Beast and Forge to sell off all the extra equipment you've found, oh and while you're there plop down twenty thousand dollars for a quick level up, or to reassign all your skill and status points, or hey, just an extra skill point. You can also choose and adjust your mutant powers mid-battle, with the R2 button pressed you use the directional pad to cycle through the available mutant powers, thus eliminating most need of the menus.  I really enjoyed the game, and somebody seems to have paid attention to my prior review because many of the complaints I had about the first game have been addressed and fixed for the most part. There are still some problems with bunching up in doorways or in corners and getting trapped by your team mates. The camera can get stuck at a bad angle like in many other games, although when it does get stuck it continues to pan out as you walk away so you can keep track of your character. The artificial intelligence for the other team members is about the same as the last, which I must say is better than average, and actually protects weaker players. Items still tend to bounce into inaccessible areas like bottomless pits and behind some of the debris in some areas, but now they aren't bouncing through solid walls. The cut scenes are stunning, much better than before, and really add to the feeling of distrust and animosity. I laughed out loud at Wolverine's one claw salute to Sabertooth. You can now change the costumes throughout the game instead of after you beat it, and certain costume combinations will get you a status boost, such as using four Age of Apocalypse costumes for a 5% health boost. For the most part, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is a highly adaptable game, and would be a great game for any fan of the X-Men. You don't need to have played the first game to get the story, although there are some trivia questions about the first one in the trivia bonus game. You also don't have to be a hardcore role playing fan to really get the most out of it thanks to the automatic leveling and equipping, but just in case you are, you can still level up to your own preferences. Unfortunately one thing I was looking forward to was to be able to continue with the experience from X-men Legends. Guess you can't have everything? There is a new ability to go back to completed areas to gain more experience and healing items. One gaping hole from the first was the lack of online play. Now you don't have to have anyone there with you to team up, you can connect online. In multiplayer, you still have to stay together, which in heated battles can lead to crowding. It's cliché, but if you liked the first one, you'll like this one. There are plenty of improvements all over.  
Activision has done it again. This one got a T for obvious reasons. Like the first movie of the game, Magneto, Sabertooth and Mystique break into a military compound with their usual lack of concern for normal humans, then out of the shadows, Wolverine promptly runs another guard through with his claws. You can see them coming out of the guard's back. Next when they meet up, the rivalry between Wolverine and Sabertooth flares and Wolverine gives him the one claw salute. From what I've seen this is the worst of the movies. That first movie earned its T rating from the ESRB for me. If you can sit with your older kid and play with them to skip the cut scenes, the actual game play is not as violent as some other games or as much as that first cut scene would imply. They actually removed the ﾑblood spray' effect and replaced it by turning that opponent red until the cut damage wears off, which was a turnoff on the first one.
You also have to consider the rather profound idea of team work even with a rival to achieve a common goal, useful if your child gets paired with someone they're not too fond of for school projects. If they own, have finished or have even played X-Men Legends, they're probably begging for this one. If you are comfortable with your kids reading the comics and watching the animated series or the movies, there is no reason for them not to play. Kids ten and older should get Mom or Dad to sit down and play with them, parents won't get too bored. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "X-Men" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
