X-Men Legends

John Gillooly goes beserker with Logan's claws.

You play a team of up to four X-Men, who are trying to stop an evil plot by Magneto and the brotherhood of mutants. Along the way you will come across Sentinels, Morlocks and others from X-Men history. The gameplay mainly centres around combat, both with normal soldiers and a regular smattering of bosses, and at heart is a kill and collect game.

Each of the X-Men in your team can be controlled, and the game also features drop in co-op multiplayer if a friend comes by. Controls are simple and mostly combat based, and the RPG aspect of the title comes from the gathering of experience, which can be used to enhance basic stats and unlock new mutant powers (which are easily accessible by holding down the right trigger).

These mutant powers are faithful to the comics. For example, Wolverine not only has a couple of claw specific attacks, he can also use his mutant healing factor and beserker rage. In fact, this game is much more true to the comics than the two movie renditions of recent years.

The game is a hoot to play, even if at times the art of dying seems a little too easy. Characters can later be resurrected but it is amazing how quickly one character's death will mean your team will soon follow. With a combination of Cel shading and normal rendered backgrounds, X-Men Legends looks good. However, it is a little blurry for an Xbox title.

The standard of the voice-overs is really good, especially with the ever-dependable Patrick Stewart reprising his movie role as Professor X, and this amounts to what is a well rounded, if unspectacular game. It also enhances the element of authenticity to the whole thing.

All in all, it is fun, and most likely a must have for hardened XMen fans, if only for the nostalgia aspect. Just be warned that those expecting an RPG will find this is much more of an action game than anything else.