As in, this game sucks.
I'm a sucker for "X-Men" games. I'll go out of my way to play any and all of them. I still have a PS2 copy of "X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse" that I still play.
Which is probably why this stings more than it should.
I knew the game was coming out and I'd been checking local Redbox locations for the game. I finally found one about three miles from my work, so I woke up extra early to go down and get.
Then, of course, I sat at work all day just wanting to play it.
When I finally got home I shot putted the game right into my PS3 and gripped the controller like I was ready for action.
Too bad the game wasn't. It had to install a bunch of files first.
And when I say a bunch of files, I mean it literally took 30 minutes to do. That right there should have told me to power off and take the game back, but noooooo I love "X-Men" games too much.
So I waited. Finally after what seemed forever the game started.
And all I could think was "meh."
The graphics are bad. Not just bad, but if this was on a Playstation 2 people would still be complaining. I literally sat there thinking "people thought this looked good enough to sell?"
The plot is alright. The X-Men and humans are at a rally when all heck breaks loose. You choose one of three characters at the rally: a Japanese girl who is smuggled into the country and who's parents are mutants, a mutant hater and a jock that doesn't really care either way.
You see the chaos at the rally causes mutant powers to come out and your character must decide what to do. And another lame thing, you only get to choose from three powers: energy blasts, shadow swords or rock like armor.
I pick the best character plot wise, the mutant hater. This is where the game took another bad left turn. He accepts being a mutant WAY too fast. As a man who has been taught mutants are evil his entire life I thought it would take more than 10 minutes of game time to be pals with the X-Men.
The game makes a big deal about choices as well. At various points you can choose between working with the X-Men or the Brotherhood. But, there is no incentive to do either. I kept wishing for a third option where the guy tells both off and walks away.
At least the X-Men are cool, the Brotherhood doesn't come off as that at all.
Another notch against the game? You basically fight three groups of people... the entire game. It's literally mashing buttons like crazy against guys in red, then mashing buttons like crazy against guys in white. Then a boss.
And a majority of the boss battles are hilarious... in a bad way. There is really no challenge here. I think I took down 90 percent of the bosses in my first try, without blocking or anything.
But, Tim, you also get to fight alongside the X-Men or Brotherhood! That would be cool if you could tell what the heck is going on. Between the bad graphics and carpal tunnel inducing button mashing it's all a blur of ugly colors.
OK, the game does have a few shining spots. Mike Carey, who writes "X-Men Legacy" handles the script for the game and I'll give him credit for keeping the characters acting who they should be. Never once did I think "OK, Wolverine wouldn't do that."
Two of the boss battles were pretty cool. One you fight John Sublime who keeps injecting himself with powers until he is a giant. Then near the end you find a full sized Sentinal on top of a building.
And you can change costumes and secondary powers. This could have been cool, but there isn't enough there for me to care if my character's outfit looks like Wolverine.
My advice? Pass.
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