The image above belongs to its respective owner, not me
Today I will be reviewing the sequel to X-Men Legends, titled X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse. This title was released in 2005 on the same systems as the previous game. If you didn't get a chance to check out my review of the first game, you can find it here. Of course, there may be some Spoilers Below.
This game takes place some time after the first one and opens with the X-Men and the Brotherhood rescuing Xavier from a heavily guarded facility. They also went there to rescue Polaris, but she wasn't found there. How were these two teams thrown together? Well, the answer is in the title, Apocalypse has begun his plan to take over the world, and his first target was the mutant have country of Genosha. As it turns out, Apocalypse is capturing several mutants that have "Harmonic DNA", which are needed for some machine that will give him even more power. The teams begin here and move though a few different locations to stop Apocalypse and save the mutants that have been captured by him. Other than some details, that is pretty much it for the story, it's a pretty easy synopsis.
In terms of game play, it is very similar to the previous game. You control a team of four mutants, some of which have the ability to fly, put out fires, pick up larger objects, etc. Each mutant can use one of a few different powers that drain their mutant energy. Destroying objects in the world grants items such as health packs, energy packs, armor, and currency, all of which are useful in their own way.More so than the last game, this one rewards you for sticking with the same characters throughout. In the last game, characters you weren't using would essentially be brought up to speed with a number of upgrade points equal to the average of what they should have for that part of the game. This game doesn't do that as much, meaning that you will end up using pretty much the same team the entire time.
What works for this game? Well, it does have better graphics than the last one did, both in-game and during the cutscenes. The enemies are more detailed as well, especially in the more monster-like ones. The voice acting is as well done as the previous title, which is to say that it fits well. There are also more areas to upgrade and the active powers of each mutant can be changed, leading to more control of each individual character. I thought this was a positive change, as I was able to balance my team out a bit more, making some mutants carry more of a support role while others would go in as power houses. Most of the positives carry over from the first game as well, such as the difficulty, since this still isn't as easy a game as one might think when they first see it. Health is lost fast, and energy is depleted even faster. Enemies just keep getting stronger, and it never feels like you're so powerful that you breeze through the missions (unless you are replaying older missions). The game is more fun when playing with others, but that's not to say it's a bad game when playing solo. Still, I suggest getting a friend to play through the story with you.Finally, even though it makes it easier and I enjoy a bit of difficulty, I like the addition of Blink in the game, who can teleport you from the middle of a level back to the home base and the portal will stay open for you to use on a return. This is great in that it means you can stop to return to base and save at any given time.
This game did improve in some areas, but not all of them. An issue I have with this title is that, even though there are two teams, the game has the same amount of playable characters. I would have thought that there would have been more , but the game instead removes the ability to play as Emma Frost, Beast, Psylock, Jubilee, and Magma instead of keeping them and adding the others like Magento and Juggernaut. While the maps were more detailed, there were fewer locations than the last game as well, and the lack of diversity is noticed. The game instead has several long missions in the same areas like the Savage Lands, rather than each mission being in different locations. Speaking of a lack of diversity, because of how the upgrade system changed, you won't be unlocking new characters as you play, instead you get all of your characters up front. While the number of characters ends up being the same, this makes it feel like less, since I'm not getting anything new as I play through.
Overall, this was a good follow-up to the first game in the series. It doesn't feel like it does as much as the first game, but it does well with what it has. I would say that this can be a good game to play if you have a friend and a decent game to play if you're on your own. If you enjoyed the first game, pick this one up. If you didn't like the first one, you probably won't like this one either. And if you're new to the series, you can start with this one instead of the first one and you would be fine.
I give X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse a 7 out of 10.
Sincerely,
The Bored Enthusiast
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