Xbox Hardware & Games

Comicdom's most popular superteam done right.

Video: 4
Sound: 3
Gameplay: 4

It starts with a monumental turn of events, culled from an historic comic book storyline: The nigh-omnipotent Apocalypse arrives on Earth with ill intent, and those misfit do-gooders the X-Men begin a covert campaign to stop him and his minions wherever they appear, the fate of the world hanging in the balance. This sequel is undoubtedly an improvement upon and expansion of the original, outstanding X-Men Legends, with more playable characters, more enemies, and more available upgrades, strewn across a tremendous assortment of both real-world and imaginary environments. The missions allow the X-team to work together, along with their erstwhile Brotherhood foes as uneasy allies, as well as truly exploiting the wide-ranging individual mutant powers of each. We can switch between active characters to play as whichever onscreen hero we fancy, clear icons indicating who we are and who else is available to "star." The X-Men being a team, we can also fight in multiplayer co-op, naturally, which at times can be an incredibly busy, action-packed melee.

As rendered by the Xbox in 720p for the high-def crowd; visually trumping the PlayStation and GameCube versions; the graphics are clean and sharp across a variety of inspired locale designs with distinct textures, which combined with a natural camera system leaves little to the imagination. The cut scenes meanwhile unfold like clips from some really good movie, reminiscent of dramatic elements from the big-screen X2. Sonically, the Dolby Digital 5.1 is disappointingly underutilized. While dialogue is clear and the sound effects innovative, subwoofer and surround use is tame and overall impact lacking. In fact, this true discrete presentation is almost indistinguishable from the Dolby Pro-Logic II audio on PS2 and GameCube. The PSP version on the other hand is an extremely enjoyable alternative, scaled-down in some respects of course but still a hoot to take with you, since beating the game and unlocking the many rewards will surely take some time. XMLII takes keen advantage of the PSP's portable/wireless power, packing a remarkable amount of content on that little UMD, including nine exclusive missions and four exclusive playable heroes, although the controls are a bit more limited.

All great RPGs depend upon depth and detail to immerse challengers, and X-Men Legends II is no exception, an extraordinarily elaborate adventure with an almost inconceivable number of abilities, obstacles, and nuances to make it unique. And the realism afforded by the 720p graphics put this sequel in a class by itself.