X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Review (no fat)

Game Description

X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse marks the PSP’s new dominance as gamer’s choice for wireless multiplayer. The deep RPG within the single player mode does a 180 and turns into an incredible multiplayer experience. With PSP exclusive features, which are becoming commonplace for its titles, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is likely to win over newbies and veteran gamers alike.

X-Men Legends II: ROA Fanatics

X-men videogames still have a good following, with a superb line of comics, toys, cards, movies and more. The long line of items under the X-men name has limitless possibilities. But there always has been a lacking in the videogame era, some titles have showed promise but not many have been must haves.

The original X-Men Legends showed promise in many areas, and upon the release of version II of the series those promises have been met and exceeded. With the inclusion of the playable Brotherhood gamers get the option of ditching the goodie-two-shoes X-men and playing with the likes of Magneto, the huge Juggernaut, Toad, and more. The combinations that can be created with both the X-men and Brotherhood, over 16 characters, makes it a hard adventure to get tired of.

The RPG friendly system that allows for automated stat handling along with manual will appeal to non-RPG fans spreading the mass appeal. The impressive part of the game is that Rise of Apocalypse is a full port, with extras added on top which is quite an achievement for such a small system.

X-Men Legends II: ROA Gameplay

Familiar fans of the X-men series know just how much the X-men and Brotherhood hate each other, but with an enemy like Apocalypse it makes it easy to band together for the time being. Taking control of four characters, players control 1 and can switch through their characters on the fly.

The switch is done flawlessly and without confusion, and is sometimes necessary to solve a puzzle with a certain mutant. The extras include a danger room type training through some levels, to advance mutant abilities. Gamers can build up their characters with tons of customizations and level up powers.

The fast action of X-Men is noticeable from the first ten minutes, the game has cutscenes, but it is best to have a strategy in mind while watching. Chances are the next level will require a lot of thought, and even with powerhouses like Magneto on your side things are pretty challenging. There is not a big cap on the combinations of mutants you can play with, but a good strategy would be to always bring that one ace that can get you through a level. Health potions are available throughout, but not nearly enough as a novice may like.

X-Men Legends II: ROA Controls

Lacking a second analog stick does not hurt the platforms gameplay, with the shoulder button providing an extra set of face commands. The lack of a camera angle button will hurt in some situations but overall the control mapping is perfectly suited for the PSP.

X-Men Legends II: ROA Graphics

Marvelous will be the first word out of anyone who has experience with handhelds. The PSP finally shows its superior graphics in this title, but still can’t get past some frame rate issues. Besides that minor fact the PSP version has a slightly sharper look than the console version, the smaller screen in multiplayer battling will even out the bad and the good parts.

X-Men Legends II: ROA Sound

Comic book games usually have cheesy music, but X-Men Legends II: ROA is somewhat of an exception with fitting music for the cartoon-like characters. The sound effects are pretty good and with the inclusion of the voiceover's this title really pushes the PSP’s hardware.

X-Men Legends II: ROA 2cent

This is the game to get even if you are not a fan of the X-men, or RPG’s. The PSP hardware is finally utilized for its best features, multiplayer wireless gaming, even with its unbelievable audacity of trying to parade around with exact console ports, with respect to graphics and sound.

When developers get used to the PSP hardware then things like framerate issues will be dropped, once they realize that the PSP is not the PS3. Exact ports will be a thing of the past and the PSP will get its own, fresh titles. Until then X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse serves as a good starter to the superior on the go play of Sony’s latest handheld.

X-Men Legends II: ROA Cost

X-Men Legends II: ROA currently retails for $39.99.