True to the action-RPG playbook, characters gain experience
and level up as they progress through the game.
Every level, characters gain attribute points and skill points to spend
on customization. If they players so
chooses, Wolverine may never have a healing power, and Gambit may never throw a
single card. However, if the player
finds out they really messed up in the character build, all is not lost. For a moderate sum of “tech-bits”, characters
can have all their skill points reallocated to a completely new power
build. So there’s no need to start from
scratch if Juggernaut just isn’t as finely-tuned a wrecking ball as one would
have hoped. For those that just want to
smash, without dealing with all that petty number-crunching, the AI can
automatically distribute skill or attribute points during level up. Characters in the field accrue experience
much more quickly than those left behind, but everyone advances as the game
progresses. And it’s not too much work
to grab a new team and run them through some previous areas (populated with
fresh baddies) and bring them up to speed.
In addition, characters can be run through the virtual “Danger Room”
scenarios to boost their experience.
Speaking of the Danger Room, that’s just one of the many
extra goodies stashed around X-Men II.
There are oodles of unlockables and collectables, including concept art,
comic books, and even new characters.
These unlockables, combined with the numerous combinations of mutant
teams, make for some serious replayability in this title. And once the single-player game has lost its
appeal, players can gather a few friends, either on-line or real-life, and have
a go with some of the multiplayer functionality. Players can take their favorite mutants
head-on in a sparring match, or they can cooperatively work through the game’s
main storyline. As far as difficulty
goes, I found the game to be a bit on the easy side, but that may have just
been lucky in my primary team choice.
Additional difficulty levels are available for those wanting more or
less of a challenge.
Overall, I was quite pleased with X-Men Legends II. Sure, I’m a sucker for action-RPGs and I have
a soft-spot for Marvel comics, but even with my bias I can recommend this title
as yet another solid entry into the superhero genre.
B | With the huge selection of playable Marvel mutants and the horde of extra goodies, X-Men Legends II is another solid and enjoyable action-RPG entry into the comic-book genre. |
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