By Johnathan Kroncke
By Johnathan Kroncke
Beware the combined power of the Brotherhood and the X-Men.
“X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse” is the hit sequel to “X-Men Legends” and gamers have responded in drovesWhy wouldn’t they?
This game is perfect for any fan of the X-Men series, whether for a casual onlooker or a die-hard, comic collecting, convention attending maniac.
This is because “X-Men Legends II” plays out in a simple manner that is easy to follow yet challenging enough to keep gamers entertained. Players start out by choosing four characters from a list of 13 to create a team.
The available list of characters includes mutants from both the X-Men, led by Charles Xavier, and the evil Brotherhood, led by Magneto. The two sides are forced to join together because this time the enemy is Apocalypse, a nearly unbeatable mutant that seeks to destroy the weak so that the strong may live on.
Each act, or level, is linear in its design making it easy to navigate through areas to get to the enemies and bosses. Of course there is certainly no lack of enemies which range from cybernetic bugs in underground caves to genetically enhanced soldiers armed with hand-blasters.
At the end of each level, naturally, is a boss. These are the characters that have teamed up with Apocalypse in order to gain personal power once the world becomes his.
This is the part of the game that requires the most strategy because, depending on the boss, different characters must be used on your team for different purposes.
The mutant known as Sugar Man has a devastating melee attack if players get too close. Therefore, it is important to keep characters like Cyclops and Nightcrawler on your team who can attack from afar or, in Nightcrawler’s case, can teleport on and off of an enemy before they have a chance to strike.
Picking teams is also important because, depending on who you pick, your stats will increase. For example, putting Magneto, Juggernaut, Scarlet Witch and Toad together is called the “Brotherhood of Evil” and adds 5 percent experience points. Likewise, from act three on you are given new costumes for each character and if all of your characters are wearing specific ones, you gain 100 percent on your attack rating through what the games calls the “Age of Apocalypse” mode.
“X-Men Legends II” also incorporates a trivia game in each act, just like in the first game. This, along with the intriguing storyline, entertaining gameplay and original artwork accompanying every load screen make for a truly enjoyable gaming experience. If you don’t already have it, it should be at the top of your holiday list.
