You know, working together...that can be kind
of tough.
Teamwork is tough.
Especially when your teammates have tried
to kill you, on several occasions.
I'm sure these two will be fine, though.
It's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
This is actually one of my favorite RPGs of
its console generation.
It really is.
And it's not like this is some ridiculously
deep, or complex, or challenging game.
It's not.
But that's what I love about it.
It's simple, it's straightforward, it's fun.
And once you start leveling up your favorite
mutants, you can't stop.
The power really becomes addictive.
And using that power is a lot of fun.
So if you're a big fan of the X-Men, you're
gonna love the premise here.
The evil Apocalypse has an evil plan, and
to stop him...the X-Men and the Brotherhood
are forced to work together.
Which is really cool.
It's a partnership that's obviously going
to be strained, and that tension comes across
during the cut scenes...even if the cut scenes
aren't that good.
But the premise alone, and this story of unlikely
allies...it definitely makes things more interesting.
Again, especially if you're a fan of these
characters.
And speaking of which, there are a lot of
characters in this game.
And you can use them to create any team you
want, any combination at all.
One thing I like to do is have some heavy
hitters like Wolverine, to just plow through
people...and then I like to surround them
with a couple of ranged mutants.
Kind of like Jean Grey, or maybe Cyclops...mutants
who can basically cover them, and do work
from a distance.
There are about 15 characters in total, so
you have lots of possible combinations.
And messing around with those combinations,
and finding the ones that work...that's a
huge part of the fun.
Of course, on the other hand...it's not like
there are any combinations that don't really
work.
This really isn't a difficult game, and the
thing is...you can turn your mutants into
some serious powerhouses.
Some of the upgrades and abilities you can
get...it's ridiculous.
And I mean, on the one hand...that's something
I like about the game.
The upgrades are frequent and very noticeable,
and seeing how much damage you can cause is
just awesome.
But, on the other hand...it's not long before
your powers are overpowered.
But that's the fun, right?
It kind of reminds me of inFamous, in that
way.
Being overpowered is the whole point.
Of course, as fun as the gameplay is, it's
not like it's terribly original.
This is a really simple, really straightforward
action RPG.
You slash through enemies, crawl through dungeons,
earn experience points, turn into a badass.
If you're into games like Diablo, or Baldur's
Gate, you have a pretty good idea what to
expect here.
It's, just...there are also X-Men, in this
one.
And that's fine, you know?
Honestly, the more important thing is that,
it's really well done.
It plays great, and it's just insanely addictive
to upgrade your mutants and manage their abilities.
And you know, it doesn't look bad, especially
for a decade-old game...but it's definitely
a decade-old game.
There's some nice detail in the environments,
but...there sure is a lot of brown in this
game.
It's one of those muddy-looking PS2-era games,
for sure.
But the characters look pretty cool.
They have that comic book, pseudo-cel-shaded
look.
Which obviously works well for this particular
series.
The sound doesn't work as well, though.
The music's really boring, and even though
there are some big name voice actors here...some
of the other voices are pretty laughable.
If you're into bad voice acting, like, because
it's bad...you might enjoy this.
Otherwise, this is a game 
to mute.
I'm just a really big fan of this game.
It's the kind of game I can spend hours with
and not even notice, you know?
It's a real time sucker.
And if you have friends to play with, all
the better.
This game is just awesome.
It's not pretty, by today's standards...and
it's certainly not much of a challenge...but
look, if you're looking for a fun X-Men game?
That conversation begins and ends with Apocalypse.
It's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
Big thanks to our friend Mark from Ontario
for sending it in.
