X-Men Legends Preview

Activision invited us out to their offices in California on Wednesday to peek at their latest console title developed by Raven software and based on the X-men from Marvel Comics; X-men: Legends. While the game will ship for all the consoles, I spent the day playing the Xbox version.

Dude, you got both Cyclops and Wolverine on your tail. You are so screwed.

My breast has mutated it! Help me milk it!

X-men: Legends is an Action/RPG that lets the player lead a team of up to four of the mutant heroes at a time into combat and allows you to take control of any of your group with just a touch of the D pad. While the game is fun in single player mode, you can invite up to four friends or family to help you tackle the story in co-op on a single screen. If you don't have four players, the computer will control the other members of your team. If you want to assume control, you simply hit the D-pad and jump to computer controlled character. Players can leapfrog from one open character to another as often as they like so you can use the mutant powers that best fit the current in game situation.

When you first see the game, you notice the bright colorful comic book style, the smooth animations, and the true-to-character attacks for each hero and the environment that can be interacted with or destroyed as you make your way through each level. On some levels, heroes must use their unique powers to get past puzzles or gain access to other parts of the level before being able to move on.

Whether you are a fan of the X-men comic books or not, Legends should be appealing for a number of reasons: First, Man of Action, a group of former and current writers for Marvel comics, has created an engaging story that any comic book fan will feel at home with. Second, the game is loaded with hidden items that allow you access to comic book cover art, concept artwork and Danger Room training discs. While these rewards are a treat for the comic book fan, they also encourage the player to scour each level to ensure they have found them all, because these objects give bonuses to your heroes as well. Third, the game melds the action of fighting game with hit combos and special attacks with the customization of an RPG.

As your heroes defeat villains, they gain experience, special equipment and tech bits that you can trade for equipment. As your heroes gain levels, they get points to increase their attacks, agility or health pools. They also get points that unlock new attacks or make their current attacks more powerful. While this system is reminiscent of the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games, there are a greater number of character powers to play with due to the fifteen different X-men you can choose from to fill your team of four. Once you power your team up to their 'Extreme' powers, the effects are jaw dropping and few villains will be able to withstand them.

When the game first starts, you control Wolverine and are trying to rescue a mutant whose powers have just become evident. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is trying to kidnap her and force her to join their group. It's up to you to stop Mystique and The Blob before they can get the girl out of New York City. The first few levels of the game serve as a tutorial for the game play and to get you comfortable with the controls. The layout on the Xbox controller was natural enough and soon I was shredding my way through the Brotherhood thugs.

You could've just knocked, you big brute.

We'll beat these guys up and then we'll grab a bite to eat.

After the victim is rescued following a long fight with Mystique and The Blob, it was back to Professor X's School for the Gifted. You are free to explore the rooms in the mansion and the grounds as you learn more about the background of each team member, view the special items and get to know a bit more about why the X-men team was created. Professional actors that include Patrick Stewart, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ed Asner among others voice the characters and the dialog between the characters is actually enjoyable to listen to as the story advances.

In speaking with Dan Vondrak, Raven programmer in charge of game play, he told me that the combat in game was originally turn-based but it just did not seem to fit with the X-men concept. On a whim, they tried changing combat to real-time and they knew right away that the action and frenzy that came from the change was the way to go. Full on action is the name of the game. Other tweaks soon followed: The color palette in game was increased and this resulted in a look that was more like the comic book. Also, the characters themselves look like they are cel-shaded but in reality just have a thicker out line along their edges. The effect is a dramatic one and just plain looks good.

The engine that Raven has created is perfect for the super hero setting. With all the explosions and cool super power effects that the game is packed with, it ran smooth the whole time I played both single player and when one of the developers joined me in a good old-fashioned mutant beat-down. The game play was fast and fun as we guided our heroes through villain strongholds and deep through sewers trying to unravel the mystery of why the Brotherhood wanted to kidnap this girl and her newly recognized mutant powers. The game also allowed us to go back in time and fight in missions from the 60's and 70's comic book stories (complete with costumes from that era) in a unique series of 'Flashback Missions'. Flashback Missions are stories of past battles the X-men have fought. Sometimes when talking with other members of the team, they will mention a mission that stands out in their memory. You can then 'Flashback' to that time and fight the mission they are referring to. It is a very cool addition to the game as we battled 30 foot tall Sentinels in the streets of New York and the Juggernaut as he tried to plow his way through the X-men Mansion.

With a huge background universe of characters, villains of the X-men and the new engine that Raven has produced which allows great single and multiplayer experiences, it looks like Activision may have yet another hit on their hands. We will have a full review with more details about the game when it ships on September 24.