X-Men Legends II Preview

Last year's X-Men Legends was something of a pleasant surprise. The game is a four-player cooperative action/RPG brawler, a descendant of the Gauntlet line. As one would expect, it puts the player in control of one or more of Marvel's X-Men comic characters. Interestingly, the game was developed by Raven Software and released on consoles only. Raven is of course the developer best known for the 90s PC first person shooters Heretic and Hexen, and is currently at the helm of the latest game in id's legendary Quake series.

At a recent Activision preview event, I checked out every version of that game's sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, and that's more than a few: PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and PSP. I was informed that the PC was actually Raven's primary development environment for this game, which is a bit more in line with what one would expect from the studio. Each version of the game supports four-player cooperative play in at least one form. The PC, PS2, Xbox, and PSP versions support internet co-op, and the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube versions feature four-player same-screen action. For my money, if there's any one fundamental and obvious feature sadly lacking in many games, it's co-op, so I'm glad to see it starting to crop up again these days--especially in online form. The plot of X-Men Legends II has the ancient supervillain Apocalypse emerging from the shadows to--what else?--subjugate the world. He proves to be so powerful that Magneto and his followers are forced to join forces with Professor X and the X-Men in order to have any chance of defeating him. These story elements have been rendered in full motion video by Blur Studio, a CGI firm whose work is featured in games such as Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, the upcoming Hellgate: London, and, er, Fight Club. An Activision rep was quick to point out that the studio was nominated for an Academy Award. In case you were wondering, it was for the studio's 2004 short film Gopher Broke. Anyway, I can assure you that the sequences do look quite nice!

From the player's perspective, of course, this plot point means more playable characters. In fact, at the very beginning of the game, the player is put in control of Magneto. From that point on, the game will feel very familiar to those who played the first title. The game plays from the same tilted top-down perspective, in the vein of Diablo or, more accurately, the Hunter games. Visually, the game maintains the style already established: both the environments and the characters are rendered in a fairly realistic fashion, and the character models are outlined with thick black lines imitating the ink of a comic book. It's a much more subtle effect than the full on comics style of Ultimate Spider-Man, and it isn't extremely noticeable when zoomed out. Of course, the technical aspects of the presentation have been improved considerably, even with only a year since the release of the first game. On the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube versions, the game plays essentially the same as its predecessor, with a fairly standard console control scheme. Melee combos can still be formed by performing different sequences of attacks, and in single-player mode it is still possible to switch between any member of your four-person party by way of the d-pad. The mutant powers have been somewhat revamped, however. For one thing, there are a lot more of them. Whereas in the prior game the characters were limited to a few powers each, in this game those numbers are doubled or even tripled. As more powers are acquired, they can be mapped to specific face buttons. Raven also promises that the powers themselves are more diverse this time around, so there should be plenty of room to customize your characters depending on your play style. Furthermore, there are situations scattered around the game's levels that require the application of specific mutant abilities.

For example, you might reach a seemingly impossible chasm. At that point, a bridge can be formed either by having Magneto draw together loose sheet metal or by having Iceman freeze the air's moisture in a controlled pattern. These sequences are obviously scripted, and are pretty simple as far as puzzles go, but they are the kind of thing that add that extra touch to co-op when one guy realizes he's needed because he's the only one that can summon the hurricane to blow down the door. Since you can assemble your party freely, there is no guarantee you'll have the right mutant for the task, but there tend to be multiple possible approaches. The RPG elements of the game has been fleshed out and streamlined. For example, when a character levels up, the player is given the option of assigning all newly-granted power and stat points manually, or having the game distribute them automatically. It's a nice touch that keeps the game running smoothly for players who are only there for the action. As well, when items are collected, there is the option to have the game automatically distribute them to the characters most in need. It was not clear what criteria are used for this point and item distribution based on the preview experience I had, but in general both are welcome features. The game also features various skins that can be applied to each character, often corresponding to different eras of that character's involvement in the comic continuity. It seems to be a fairly superficial feature, but hardcore fans will surely appreciate it.

As in the first title, X-Men Legends II is structured around a hub area, where players can buy equipment and items and receive mission briefings. However, in this game the players are constantly on the move, in line with the urgency of the Apocalypse threat, and thus the hub is changed multiple times throughout the game. Professor X's mansion returns, but there are several other locations with which players will become familiar. It is in these hubs that players will manage their party before setting out. The boss battles have been improved as well, with greater complexity than the largely straightforward beat-em-ups found in the first game. In one encounter, I defeated an enemy on the ground only to end up fighting in the clouds on the top of a few blimps, throwing explosive canisters around in an attempt to "sink" my opponent's ride. Then, for reasons I no longer recall, we were transported to some kind of alternate dimension where I was required to set off a sequence of bombs before finally achieving victory. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse on PC While the three console versions of the game play fairly identically, there are some major differences in the PC version, due to the obvious disparity in control devices. On the PC the game plays very much like Diablo does. While the game is configured to allow control by way of WASD or the arrow keys, the developers recommend using the mouse for movement. Characters are moved either by pointing and clicking to a specific spot, or by holding down the mouse button

and moving it continuously foward. The various powers are bound to the number keys, similarly to the default weapon selection bindings in a first person shooter, so they can all be available at all times (unlike those of the console versions, must be swapped out to the face buttons). It doesn't feel quite as intuitive at first as the console controller scheme, but the learning curve is shallow. Graphically, the PC version takes advantage of the higher resolutions available, though the developer claims that the game will be very scalable in order to remain accessible to those with lower-end PCs. There is also apparently some exclusive content on the PC version of the game in the form of a few extra characters and sequences. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse on PSP The PSP version of X-Men Legends II is technically quite an achievement. It does not come off at all as a "portable" interpretation of the game, it really is the same game available on the other platforms. The content is the same (and like the PC version, there is some extra content available as well) and the art assets, though obviously scaled down a bit, are essentially the same. The controls are as close as they can be on the PSP hardware, and the game still supports co-op play. It's one of the better-looking PSP games so far. I must give credit to Raven for avoiding any major shortcuts in the translation. However, I must admit I'm somewhat of a loss to understand the necessity for the PSP version. Again, it's quite impressive, but it comes off as sort of redundant. After playing it for a while, I found myself simply wanting to play it on a larger screen with controls I could wrap my hands around. Since the fundamental experience is the same, it didn't feel necessary for me to be playing it on a handheld system, especially since the levels don't exactly go by quickly. I'm sure the PSP game will find some sort of audience, and the system does need a few solid titles right now, but it's a little disappointing that more wasn't done to craft a specifically portable game. Overall, Raven's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is shaping up to be a worthy sequel to last year's game, which was already better than many expected it to be. The developers have improved upon some of the shortcomings of the first title, as well as adding enough new material to the mix to satisfy those who played Legends and want more. The PC, PS2, Xbox, and GameCube versions ship September 20, with the PSP version following a month later.