E-Mail This Article to a Friend Legends of the fall X-Men sets the tone for autumn's high-profile releases BY MITCH KRPATA
	X-Men Legends Published by Activision. Developed by Raven Software. For PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. Rated T for Teen.

This is the time of year that has gamers rubbing their hands together with glee. Publishers are preparing to unload an arsenal of big-time releases between now and Christmas, meaning we're likely to have more quality software to choose from in the next three months than we have all year. Activision has fired the opening salvo in the holiday shopping wars with X-Men Legends, an action/RPG that does justice both to its source and to the dungeon crawler genre.

X-Men games have been around almost as long as the medium itself – who among us forgets the classic arcade beat-'em-up? – but quality X-Men titles have been few and far between, particularly on the latest consoles. Legends bucks that trend by virtue of its scope and completeness. This is an epic, storyline-driven game that shares more in common with Diablo and Baldur's Gate than with X-Men: Next Dimension.

One thing that sets X-Men Legends apart is the depth of its storyline. Or, more accurately, its storylines. The game begins with the kidnapping of a young mutant by the name of Alison Crestmere at the hands of the Brotherhood of Mutants. It's the X-Men to the rescue, and they bring Alison to Xavier's School for the Gifted to learn how to harness her powers for the forces of good. In the meantime, the Brotherhood is working to spring Magneto from his prison, for nefarious ends known only to them. The two storylines develop in parallel, and intersect quite often, but there are also several other subplots involving the complex mutant relationships we've come to expect from the franchise. The commitment to making the story count is laudable, particularly because X-Men games have historically only been about using the characters' powers to bust shit up.

Which is not to suggest that busting shit up isn't an integral part of the game. The game environments in Legends are mostly interactive and destructible. Sometimes, the key to advancing in a level is simply to break down a wall. For the physically stronger characters like Wolverine and Rogue, this is no problem; for Cyclops, it must be emasculating to sit back and watch some broad demolish concrete barriers at which he can only rap ineffectually. Additionally, almost every object on the ground can be lifted and thrown. Once again, Cyclops is nearly useless on this count, but Colossus is able to hurl cars at his opponents.

One of the game's big selling points is that you play with four X-Men at any given time, and you can assemble your team from fifteen total mutants. I get the impression that this is supposed to change the game's dynamics more significantly than it actually does. The ability to lift different things is about all I got out of it. Essentially, there are two types of characters: those who can beat people up, and those who can stand back and shoot various beams. (Oh, and since you're only controlling one character at a time, prepare to get boxed into a corner by the three idiotic NPCs, thereby having to switch to another character just to keep moving. No one caught this at any point in the QA process?) Which specific avatars you choose is a matter of preference (hands up if anyone actually uses Jubilee voluntarily), but whomever you choose, you'll need all four X-Men to brawl your way through hordes of enemies.

The graphics in Legends are unimpressive at first glance: the sprites are tiny and shaded with big chunks of solid color, and although the backgrounds are clean and well designed, there's not much in the way of variety within a given level. But it doesn't take long before you find yourself embroiled in a furious battle with opponents dashing around the screen, firing beam weaponry amidst a fusillade of high-impact mutant powers, and then the method to the look of the game becomes clear. Since the emphasis here is on screen-filling battles, it was necessary to keep the nuts and bolts of the graphics relatively simple. As a result, there is no slowdown during even the most furious of melees, no matter how many objects are blowing up and how many explosions are lighting up the screen. This wasn't just a tradeoff Raven Software decided to make – they really had no choice at all if the game was to succeed.

And it's a good thing the combat is so high-impact, because it also gets a little repetitive after awhile. Every X-Man has the same basic move set: one button to kick, and one to punch. You can key in different combinations for different attacks – for example, you can trip opponents or stun them – but, fundamentally, there's no reason not to get in a few licks with your most basic attacks, and then invoke your mutant power for the kill. That's not to suggest that even the weakest enemies go down quickly. Individual levels can take more than an hour to complete, not because they're huge, but because there is such a grueling amount of combat.

Since X-Men Legends is also an RPG, the sometimes-interminable battles serve a purpose. Characters level up according to the classic "experience points" system, gaining experience from each foe they vanquish. One of the more fun features of the game is that after one of your characters levels up, you're allocated a certain number of points (usually just one) to beef up specific character attributes. The X-Men do gain across the board in categories like hit points, strength, and stamina, but you can use your points to emphasize certain traits in your characters. Or, if you're lazy like I am, you can simply hit a button to have the computer assign your points where it deems fit. Even better, leveling up fully replenishes your character's health meter, making it sometimes worth the gamble to go after harder opponents if you're hurting.

Raven Software and Activision deserve credit for their committed effort to give X-fans the game we've been waiting for. They even ponied up to get Patrick Stewart to reprise his role as Professor X. There are certainly more eagerly awaited games coming out this holiday season, but X-Men Legends deserves a look from fans and non-fans alike.

Score: 8.0 (out of 10)