X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse Review

Graphically, the game runs very nicely even on mid-range rigs. The high-resolution of the PC monitors really brings out the graphical fidelity of the series that I failed to see while playing on my TV. While "Rise of Apocalypse" is far from technically advanced in any way, shape or form, the cell-shaded characters do give off a strong sensation of being a part of an interactive comic, which in this case is a good thing. Sometimes, you'll be modestly impressed with the rays of light shining through a crack in the stone of an ancient temple, but that's about it. Still, the X-Men world is colorful and interesting enough that it will surely captivate the fans.

Another thing is that, luckily, the annoying bugs that I was coming across while playing the first game on the Xbox, as well as some of the incidents with the AI, where not evident in the sequel. The irritating broken scripted sequences damn-nearly ruined the gameplay experience for me in the first game. Obviously, Raven has taken note of this problem and significantly reduced its impact on the gameplay.

X-Men 2: Legends: Rise of Apocalypse is not a game without its faults. Its strong sides outweigh anything negative I could say about it, however, and it's clear that Raven has put a lot of effort into it. Once you are done with the single-player campaign, you can hop on online and play with your buddies. The sequel is not extraordinary in any way, but it is bigger than the original in almost every way. X-Men fans will surely like it and I even recommend the game to action RPG fans who are unfamiliar with the X-Men mythos. The first game already managed to convert one action RPG guy to the mutant side - me. (This explains the recent purchase of Wolverine pajamas - Ed.)