X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Review

Last year, X-Men and superhero fans alike were treated to something never expected in terms of a videogame inspired by the X-Men universe. Raven Software decided to undertake one of the most difficult tasks in terms of making a game based on the popular superhero team. Utilizing a very intuitive leveling up and battle engine, Raven created a gem when they delivered X-Men Legends to us. Not only was the game given much praise from critics, but fans of the team and RPGs alike spoke highly of it as well. Hearing all this feedback from the public, Raven did something even more shocking almost just as the game hit stores. They’d announced an already upcoming sequel that was in development. X-Men Legends sparked just what may be one of the biggest hit franchises ever birthed for a superhero license, and Raven has a lot to be proud of. It all started with X-Men Legends, but now gamers have two very nice options. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse took everything that was already great in its predecessor and just made it all better.

If you remember X-Men Legends, the story was driven by a young teenage girl by the name Alison Crestmere. Later having taken on the name Magma as a part of the X-Men, she was taken in by Professor Xavier and the X-Men team. Their main goals were to help her understand and better control her powers, as well as discovering why the Brotherhood seemed so eager to kidnap her in broad daylight. Well, unfortunately this has nothing to do with the sequel, as neither Alison nor the XML main plot makes a connection to Rise of Apocalypse (RoA). Really, the only sequence in XML that bears witness to the plot of RoA is the very ending cutscene. But so as to not spoil that in the case that some of you haven’t played that yet, we’ll not worry about that.

So just what is the story that drives RoA? Well, it’s quite simple, as it revolves around the very mutant described at the end of the game’s subtitle. Apocalypse is a near god-like mutant bent on the ideal “survival of the fittest”. He believes only the strong should survive, and the weak should perish to allow the strong to reign over all. After the events of XML, both the X-Men and Brotherhood are worn down and vulnerable. In quite the cowardly maneuver, Apocalypse chooses to unleash devastating attacks on both teams. He basically destroys the main bases for each team, leaving them scattered. So now knowing that if something isn’t done about this, the world and both teams are as good as finished. Impending doom awaits if they don’t work together, so the X-Men and Brotherhood team up to fight this new threat. Somehow the teams will have to set their differences aside and pool their resources together so they can restore peace once again.

In the actual game, the first main mission for the X-Men is to rescue Professor Xavier. Apocalypse somehow kidnapped him too and imprisoned him in some kind of military facility in the middle of a winter stricken environment. This is also when you see the first encounter between the X-Men and Brotherhood, as they are both there to help bring Xavier back. Wolverine is the main man behind taking down the guards, and after a sort of “intimidation” sequence between the teams, Magneto uses his powers to open the doors to Xavier’s room. So Xavier is now rescued and ready to help the teams coordinate their missions in order to achieve what many consider impossible. They must stop Apocalypse and whatever he’s doing.

Now if you’ve played XML, you should have absolutely no problem in knowing how RoA works. The leveling up system and combat engine are virtually the same, simply expanded. Your team can now level up a little bit faster than they may have previously, and each mutant now has far more powers in their repertoire. So if you’re familiar with XML, you’re pretty much already familiar with RoA. However, if that isn’t the case, even then you shouldn’t have too much of a problem. You have two main buttons for melee attacks (A and B), X for picking up items and executing actions, Y for jumping and the R shoulder for your particular mutant’s powers. It can’t really be much simpler than that, which is what Raven wished for at the very beginning with XML. Both games are very easy to pick up and play, as neither will hardly take long to learn.

So let’s get right to it, just how does RoA stack against XML in terms of improvement with all the game’s aspects? We’ll start with the graphical presentation. Now whether you know or not, both XML games are driven by the comic book feel of the X-Men universe. There actually isn’t a whole lot of 3D presentation in either game, as a more isometric view drives what you see on the screen. But nevertheless, the whole anime/manga style of the game has been very intriguing for both games, and especially for RoA. In, RoA, the characters each look a bit more refined and polished, not quite as bland as they may have in XML. Each character looks like they may have been ripped directly from the comic book and given a few extra visual enhancements. The trademark “black outline” that helps you understand the comic book feel of the presentation is made even more evident. Some of the characters were given extra special attention this time around to make them look more like they should’ve. Iceman no longer looks like a textureless white body with no detail to him. He now actually looks like authentic ice and his whole presentation mimics that quite nicely. Others like Cyclops were given physical enhancements so he doesn’t look quite so dorky; Rogue was also given small improvements so she doesn’t look exactly like Jean Grey this time.