An X dream come true...

X-men Legends is a dream come true. I like RPGs like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. As a former comic book collector, I enjoy games that let me play as my favorite characters. More than half of my Playstation Games feature Marvel superheroes, including the fighting game X-men Mutant Academy. It's not the BEST fighting game I own--that honor is reserved for Soul Calibur 2 which not only continued the quality of THAT series but incorporated a “story mode” which incorporated RPG elements, as I battled across a map of locations and earned newer, stronger weapons. Next to the epic scale of the story, the fact that characters grow and develop is my favorite part of an RPG.

X-men Legends thus far has incorporated almost every one of these elements. Wolverine is the only character available to play as initially, but once you've completed the first mission(joined by Cyclops about halfway through), things get really interesting. A young mutant, Magma, rescued in the first mission is brought to the X-mansion, where she meets Professor X and several other members of the team. The game gives you free access to the mansion, which replicates the movie depiction right down to the cerebro chamber in the subbasement, and even includes a danger room where you can train your characters, learning new moves and powers and gaining experience. As the game progresses you face familiar foes and your powers get stronger. At times you will need someone like Iceman around to make bridges to get across chasms on some levels. The game allows up to four teammates at a time, and you can switch between controlling any one at any time while the other three follow your lead. You can combine your powers in many interesting ways, and the first time I inadvertently hit the grab button while controlling Beast in close proximity to Wolverine, I was ecstatic when he picked up his ally and tossed him at their opponents, and executed a classic maneuver from the comics, a ”fastball special.” And besides earning experience to boost your powers and statistics, you can pick up various belts, weapons and armor, some rarer than others. If you've earned enough cash, you can commission Forge to create some of these weapons for you as well.

Currently, I'm battling giant robot sentinels in a flashback sequence featuring Cyclops, Phoenix, Nightcrawler and Wolverine garbed in versions of their 1970s comics costumes as opposed to the black movie-inspired outfits they wear in the present day setting of the game. Wish me luck....