X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

E3 Preview 2005

Say it isn’t so! The X-Men fighting beside the Brotherhood?!? In what strange universe does this take place???

Well, dear friends, the world is the vision supplied by Raven Software in what promises to be an action-packed sequel to the 2004 hit title, X-Men Legends. In the Activision-published sequel, X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse, Prof. Charles Xavier’s X-Men fight side-by-side with the Brotherhood of Magneto to defeat a common enemy.

For those who played the original title, this means that you can create teams of four that are not only comprised of the various X-Men, but you can now integrate members of the Brotherhood into that group for some pretty amazing teams. But, as the saying goes, wait! There’s more …

Players can set their avatars to auto-level so you do not have to stop in mid-mission to configure new attributes, and the menu system got a complete overhaul to allow for better accessibility for both the casual and hardcore gamer. There is more than double the number of active available powers for each character, and there are new combos.

Activision showed off the title at a recent Pre-E3 event held in Santa Monica, and while this was only a look, it was more than enough to spark the imagination and get controller fingers itchy to jump in and play.

The game sports an all-new storyline, the levels are 3-4 times bigger than in the original Legends title and are a little more realistic as well as more interactive (read that as more destructible). For Xbox Live fans, the game will also support voice chat. There will be online play for both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 console systems. 

Alex Garcia spoke with journalists in a break-out session and stated that the game is “pretty much non-stop action this time.”

In addition, Raven has “created a much larger pool of equipment and you will rarely pick up the same item twice.” Items that are picked up can be auto-equipped if they are better than what the player already had.

While the game does have repeatable levels, mission objectives will not be repeated and the game will also bring back classic and flashback missions similar to those found in the danger room of the first title in this current franchise. There is also more enemy variation and enemies can randomly mutate, changing resistances or immunities.

Graphically the game has been tweaked a little for more effects, bigger debris and great-looking character models and environments.

What you loved about X-Men Legends is back, and what you may not have liked has been upgraded and Rise of Apocalypse looks infinitely entertaining and great gaming fun. This game is slated to release in the Fall on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube and PC platforms.