X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends | |
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Developer(s) |
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Composer(s) | Rik Schaffer[3] |
Platform(s) | |
Release | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
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X-Men Legends is an action role-playing video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It was released on the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles in 2004. Barking Lizards Technologies developed the N-Gage port of the game, which was released in early 2005. Players can play as one of fifteen X-Men characters, with the ability to switch between four computer- or human-controlled characters at any time.
X-Men Legends follows
X-Men Legends received generally positive reviews from critics. The Xbox version was the best received, garnering aggregate scores of 83% and 82/100 on the review aggregating websites
Gameplay
X-Men Legends is an
As characters gain
The X-Mansion serves as a hub that the team returns to after each mission. While at the mansion, one player controls Alison Crestmere as she explores and learns about herself and the other X-Men.[5] Here players can also view loading screen art, cinematics, and comic book covers acquired during gameplay. Biographies of the X-Men and their enemies can be accessed on computers located in the mansion. Players can participate in an X-Men trivia game, which rewards experience points for correct answers.[5] Additionally, players can access the Danger Room's computer to play challenge missions unlocked during gameplay.[5]
The players have two vendors available to them:
The
Playable characters
Plot
X-Men Legends is not set in any particular Marvel Comics universe. It is played from the perspective of a teenage girl named Alison Crestmere, a mutant with the ability to control volcanic activity. At the start of the game, Alison is abducted by the Genetic Research and Security Organization (GRSO).[7] As GRSO soldiers take her away, Mystique arrives with Blob and takes Alison from the soldiers.[8] She is in turn rescued from Mystique and Blob by the X-Men Wolverine and Cyclops, who take her to the Xavier Institute to explore her powers.[9]
As Alison trains, the X-Men investigate an Alaskan research facility being attacked by the Brotherhood of Mutants, then rescue Gambit from the Morlocks.[10]
They then try to stop the Brotherhood from rescuing Magneto from captivity aboard the U.S.S. Arbiter, a submersible aircraft carrier. Mystique is able to penetrate the defenses and free Magneto, and the ensuing damage caused by the Brotherhood leaves the X-Men to rescue several Arbiter crew members.[11]
With Alison's training complete, she takes the codename
After accomplishing these missions, the team discovers that Colossus's sister,
After Xavier's capture, the X-Men learn that General Kincaid is building upgraded variants of the mutant-hunting
The X-Men travel to Asteroid M, where they rescue Havok and defeat Magento in a final battle. After an attack by Sentinels, the X-Men discover that the asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. In the control room of the asteroid, they fight the General Kincaid as he pilots Master Mold, a larger and more powerful prototype Sentinel. After defeating General Kincaid, the X-Men locate the Gravitron, the control mechanism of the asteroid. The Brotherhood’s initial plan was to use Magma to control the device if Magneto couldn’t be rescued due to her ability to manipulate rocks in a similar fashion to magnetism. Magma uses her powers to steer the asteroid back into space.[18]
The X-Men's victory on Asteroid M is watched by Apocalypse, who makes his upcoming plot from his base.[19]
In the game's epilogue, a television news anchor reports that Magneto is still at large and that General Kincaid has been arrested for crimes against humanity. The game ends with the President of the United States thanking the X-Men for their service.
Development
It was basically Final Fantasy with X-Men. Over time, however, it really started to evolve. As development moved along, we added more and more elements of action and combat to it.
One thing that remained a consistent mantra through development of the game over the last few years has been the team. To be able to bring something like this to the X-Men universe was very important to us. Even when moved to action, we went into it with the idea that you are controlling a team.
—Co-project lead Patrick Lipo on the development of the game[20]
X-Men Legends was announced in a press release by Activision on April 23, 2003.
The group experimented with several gameplay models, and opted for one that allowed players to freely switch characters. The final product mimics isometric dungeon crawling video games. Raven designed gameplay with strategy in mind; each character's abilities allow different interactions with the environment and other characters. For example, a physically strong character like Colossus can break walls but is unable to reach certain areas that require the ability to fly, and Iceman is able to freeze enemies so that other characters can easily defeat them. Staff hoped that the differences would force players to switch characters regularly during missions. Extraction points, specific locations that players can switch characters, were added to allow players to continue without a game over in the event one or more team member was defeated. Raven included flash back missions as an homage to the franchise and based some on specific comic book issues. Originally a single-player game, Raven eventually incorporated simultaneous co-operative gameplay.[20] The developers chose to not create an online multi-player mode, stating that the gameplay was "designed around localized encounters".[4]
The game's story was penned by a group of former Marvel writers known as Man of Action, consisting of
The game's voice cast consists largely of television and film stars as well as veteran voice actors.
Characters were selected from different time lines in the X-Men universe. Art lead Brian Pelletier said that they took the most memorable characters from the last 40 years and grouped them together.[20] X-Men Legends uses cel shading to give the characters a comic-like appearance. However, Raven cited that they opted for then-high resolution textures to stay away from "cartoony looking" characters.[4] The process was accomplished by creating a second copy of the model, inverting the normals, then increasing the size of the model slightly.[26] Character costumes were inspired by Marvel Comics' Ultimate X-Men, but some of the X-Men playable in X-Men Legends had not appeared in the comics at the time of its release so, with permission from Marvel, Raven created unique looks for those characters. During development Raven tried visual formats for the X-Men, including using their New X-Men uniforms[27] as well as removing the cel-shaded look from the characters.[28] In contrast, the back stories, relationships and personalities of the X-Men were taken from Marvel's mainstream universe.[4] Angel was also to be included in the game,[29] and was to be voiced by André Sogliuzzo,[25] but was cut from the final build.
The game's marketing budget was $5 million.[30]
Reception
Aggregator | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
GC | N-Gage | PS2 | Xbox | |
GameRankings | 81.98%[43] | 76.13%[46] | 80.50%[44] | 83.36%[45] |
Metacritic | 81/100[47] | 79/100[50] | 79/100[48] | 82/100[49] |
Publication | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
GC | N-Gage | PS2 | Xbox | |
Eurogamer | 7/10[31] | |||
Game Informer | 9/10[32] | 7/10[33] | 9/10[32] | 9/10[32] |
GamePro | [34] | [34] | [34] | |
GameSpot | 8.2/10[35] | 8.1/10[36] | 8.2/10[35] | 8.2/10[35] |
GameSpy | [37] | [38] | [37] | [37] |
IGN | 8.4/10[5] | 8.3/10[39] | 8.4/10[5] | 8.4/10[5] |
Nintendo Power | 4.1/5[40] | |||
Detroit Free Press | [41] | |||
The Sydney Morning Herald | [42] | [42] | [42] |
X-Men Legends received mostly positive reviews, with the Xbox version receiving the highest aggregate scores of 83.36% at GameRankings and 82/100 at Metacritic.[45][49] The GameCube version was rated next highest, scoring 81.98% at GameRankings and 81/100 at Metacritic.[43][47] Though the PlayStation 2 version received the lowest scores of the console versions, it still fared well, scoring 80.50% at GameRankings and 79/100 at Metacritic.[44][48] The N-Gage version garnered scores similar to its console counterparts, receiving 76.13% and 79/100 at GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively.[46][50] During the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated X-Men Legends for "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year".[51] In 2011, GamePro retrospectively listed "the melee combat, ability to customize your stats, and multiplayer" among the strong points of X-Men Legends, adding that the game "was so successful that it created a well-received sequel and paved the way for the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series".[52]
Critics generally praised the game's use of
Reviewers found that the
The N-Gage version was praised for the ability to play cooperatively using the N-Gage's bluetooth technology.[36] Reviewers also found that the game's graphics were "very strong"[36] and that "everything looks amazing".[38] The presence of voice acting in the N-Gage port was also praised, with GameSpy reviewer Justin Leeper stating the audio clips seemed to be "lifted right out of other versions".[38] He criticized the AI, however, for being "[a] bit stupid at inopportune times"[38] and for failing to use the game's healing abilities at important moments.[36]
Sequel and similar games
X-Men Legends sold enough copies to be inducted into the budget lines for all three consoles on which it was released: PlayStation 2's
A sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse was released for all major platforms in the fall of 2005,[59][60][61] and the N-Gage later that year. Barking Lizards again helped port the game, this time to mobile phone devices. Vicarious Visions ported the game to the PlayStation Portable (PSP), and Beenox developed the PC port.[62][63]
The success of the X-Men Legends series led Raven Software, Marvel, and Activision to create the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which was released on several consoles, handheld devices and the PC in 2006.[64][65][66][67][68] Barking Lizards, Vicarious Visions and Beenox handled the ports for different platforms.[63][69][70][71] Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was followed by Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, jointly developed by Vicarious Visions, n-Space and Savage Entertainment. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 was released on several consoles and handhelds in the fall of 2009. Vicarious Visions developed the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions,[72] while n-Space developed the Nintendo DS, PSP and Wii versions.[73] Savage Entertainment ported the version developed by n-Space to the PSP.[74]
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- ^ Raven Software (2004-09-21). X-Men Legends. Activision. Mystique: Blob, grab the girl and get out of here!
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- ^ Raven Software (2004-09-21). X-Men Legends. Activision. Havok: I've joined the Brotherhood.
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- ^ Raven Software (2004-09-21). X-Men Legends. Activision. Wolverine: Kid, the Gravitron was built for Magneto. It could kill ya. Magma: That's a chance I'll have to take.
- ^ Raven Software (2004-09-21). X-Men Legends. Activision. Apocalypse : Enjoy your small victory, Xavier. For the Age of Apocalypse is nigh!
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players can pick four characters to engage in simultaneous combat, including Iceman, Gambit, Forge, Beast, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Psylocke, Nightcrawler, Angel, and seven more
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{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - X-Play. Archived from the originalon 2004-10-31. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
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External links
- Official website (archived from the original)
- X-Men Legends at MobyGames