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Marvel
must be laughing all the way to the bank. The release of X-Men
back in 2000 signalled a huge increase in movies based on comic
books such as The Hulk, DareDevil and the box office
phenomenon, Spider-Man. Since videogames have gone
hand-in-hand with film franchises  since the dawn of time, it’s no
surprise there has been a burst of comic book related games such as
X-Men 2: Wolverines’ Revenge, Fantastic 4 and The
Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. With it’s rich cast of
characters, complex storylines and amazing super powers, X-Men
is probably the comic franchise that lends itself to gaming the
easiest as many developers have found. There have mainly been
Fighting and Action titles produced, however, the release of X-Men
Legends signalled a change in direction. The original X-Men
Legends title was a Hack-n’-Slash/RPG in the style of the
acclaimed Diablo series and considered fairly competent - if
not acutely executed - by the industry. It was especially relished
by X-Men fans due to its’ close ties with the subject
matter and decent storyline. Hoping to build on the qualities that
made the original X-Men Legends great, X-men Legends II:
Rise of Apocalypse has been released on all of home consoles, PC
and the PSP and follows almost exactly the same formula as the
original; a simple but fun top-down Hack-n’-Slash/RPG that will
appeal to all gamers, but especially to fans of the franchise. With
the sequel being  developed by Vicarious Visions - a developer with
history full of hits-and-misses - the title was certain to be keen
under observation at Electronic
Articles.
As
soon as the game starts you are treated to a high quality FMV
explaining the capture of Charles Xavier. This video is very well
animated and highlights the obvious effort that has gone into
production. The actual game follows the same system used in titles
such as Untold Legends: Brotherhood Of The Blade, the Final
Fantasy series and the Diablo series; where upon
defeating enemies will garner the assassin with Experience Points
and randomly generated loot. When enough Experience is achieved the
player gets to Level-Up their character which allows an increase in
statistics and skill, it’s a tried and tested system but works
well. On the PSP X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse looks
and feels a lot like Untold Legends: Brotherhood Of The Blade,
one of the better titles from the PSP’s lacklustre Launch Line-Up
and one which continues to receive praise. The main difference
between these two titles is that, with X-men Legends II: Rise of
Apocalypse, the player chooses a team of four characters, as
opposed to just a solitary warrior. This allows the player to
specialise their characters instead of being forced to make a
Jack-of-all-trades. By use of the L Trigger and D-Pad, all team
members are accessible at all times and although it is possible to
play the game by controlling only one character, this selection
system allow a much greater variety of play. The fact that there are
twenty possible playable characters, each with a different set of
powers, is a major plus for the title as it allows a great many team
combinations giving a good amount of replayability. There is also
the option of an online Co-Operative Mode; which allows up to four
players to fight through the Campaign Mode together - meaning that
when you have completed the lengthy story, there is the option of
showing the world exactly how good your characters are.
The
combat system is similar to the traditional Hack-n’-Slash in that
you simply walk up to an enemy and push the attack buttons, however X-Men:
Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse features a simple but effective
combo-system allowing players to link several attacks together.
Using combo attacks is essential in the later parts of the game as
certain enemies can only be damaged by certain button combinations,
another decent effort at giving the title a bit more diversity.
Special powers are utilised at the cost of Energy by pulling the R
Trigger and pressing any face button. The controls seem a little
complex at the start, but after about an hour it all seems to flow
quite nicely. Later in the title, characters have access to some
particularly powerful powers which are regulated by an Xtreme power
bar at the bottom of the screen; filling the sections of this bar
requires you to pick up Xtreme Tokens that are dropped by vanquished
enemies. Unfortunately, these Tokens are dropped a little too
frequently, allowing the player to use the Xtreme almost as and when
needed. The level design in X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
is also good. Going on a long and arduous quest to find every nook
and cranny of a Level will almost always be rewarded with good
collectables, but you don’t have to in order to finish the Level
as the set route is fairly easy to find, although never really
seeming too linear.
X-men
Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse features a rather elaborate
unlockables system, one that will really make it shine in the eyes
of X-Men fans. As opposed to an uninspired, bland and downright
boring collection of concept art and promos used in a lot of new
games, X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse features
unlockable Comic Book Missions, characters and videos along with the
standard artwork. The game also features a lot of secret items
during play that boost stats and abilities, as well as unlocking
items.
While
X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is not the most eye
pleasing game on the PSP, it’s certainly not bad with a level of
detail similar to an average PlayStation2 title. Although not over
impressive graphically, the game can handle many on-screen enemies
without any loss in Frame-Rate - which is ultimately more important
than great visuals. However, as mentioned, the FMV sequences are
very good. X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse also features
a great deal of Voice-Acting, including Patrick Steward as Charles
Xavier, with all characters having a selection of quotes that seem
to fit in well with their character. Sound effects are decent for a
handheld, as is the music.
X-men
Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse unfortunately suffers from one
glaring error. Even for a PSP, the Loading Sequences are horrendous
and unfortunately make an appearance far too regularly to be
ignored. Even accessing the Pause Menu takes a few seconds and can
really disrupt the overall flow of the game.
Despite
the terrible loading times, X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
is very good example of its genre and is especially prominent on the
PSP due to its limited competition, namely Untold Legends:
Brotherhood Of The Blade. As  X-men Legends II: Rise of
Apocalypse is actually a better title featuring a far more
developed character system, as well as around a twenty-five to
thirty-hour story, all those who enjoyed Untold Legends:
Brotherhood Of The Blade would be foolish not to add this great
title to their PSP games collection.
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