Unless you're a harcore gamer, the first installment of X-Men Legends is really frustrating. First of all, there's no way of setting game difficulty! So even though the normal playing mode is easy for people who are really into games, it's not so great for the casual gamer.

Another thing I didn't like was the fact that if your team doesn't have characters who can fly, you're basically on your own. There are some levels when the character has to fly to get to the otherside. While doing so, you leave all the characters who can't fly behind and so you have to battle alone. Unless there's a way of working around this, which I can probably find on a walkthrough online, this was not good! I'm at the beginning of the game and can only choose certain characters who are limited in power and ability and only the female characters i.e. STORM, ROGUE, and JEAN GREY can fly. And they get beaten as soon as they reach the other side!

Another thing I don't like is the fact that you have to pay 200 techbits (money in the game) to revive characters. So, if you don't have enough techbits and you're character dies, you won't be able to revive him/her.

Once you enter a level you can't go back either, which really gets on my nerves since you won't be able to get more techbits once you smash everything there is to smash, which means you could run out of heroes if they all die.

The reason I bought this game is because I really liked the X-Men Legends 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, by the same company Ravensoft. It seemed they worked out all the short comings of X-Men 1 in X-Men 2, aside from the freezing problem in 2. And Marvel Ultimate Alliance fixes all the problems.

If you're a big X-Men fan and a serious gamer than this version of X-Men Legends won't be a problem for you. But if you're like me, a casual gamer who wants to enjoy the game and not be frustrated to no end by it, stick with X-Men Legends 2 or Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

Also, a word of CAUTION for those who are planning on purchasing X-Men Legends 2, read the other reviews on that game because although it's fun to play, it crashes (freezes) when you reach ACT 4. And that's a problem with the game itself, not the disc, so even if you exchange the game for another one the same thing will happen.

My boys really enjoy this game. The co-operative play mode is a great feature of this game.

I actually started playing this game after getting tired of playing Diablo 2 online. Sound unrelated? It really isn't. In fact, I was surprised by how much the two games have in common in their gameplay. This is a multiplayer hack n'slash much like Diablo 2. The fun of it is that you get to play as one of the X-men and can have up to 3 tag-along teammates, live or computer controlled, to help you complete your missions.

I enjoyed the way you could control the way in which your characters level, allowing you to focus on specific abilities.
For example, do you want to level up Iceman to master his powers of freezing opponents as an assist power, or would you rather beef up his ability to throw ice powered punches in hand-to-hand combat? Would you prefer to focus on Jean Grey's abilities to confuse groups of enemies or increase her use of telekinesis to slam them againt the walls? Should wolverine increase his ability to strike with monstrous slashes or should he focus on his healing ability and speed? Decisions like this add to the games replay value.

Game-play worked well. Special moves were easy to execute and basic melee combos were not too difficult to integrate into each battle. Switching between characters is a breeze and can really enhance the solo player's ability to coordinate attacks of all his characters. Also, the level construction varies a lot from sinking battleships crawling with sentinels, to underground sewers full of morlocks. A lot of the environment is destructible including walls which really enhances the gameplay. There's nothing like watching Jean Grey hurl a pool table at a cluster of baddies.

The graphics in-play are cell shaded which I liked just fine. I was less impressed with the cinematic cut-scenes. Some of the models were so poorly textured that they almost looked like stop motion figurines. Voice over work was well done. Notably, Patrick Stewart lends his voice to Xavier. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure some of the talent who voice the cartoon versions of the characters were also used here, particularly Wolverine's.

My only other complaint is that though battles with groups of baddies get hot, they are over fast. A lot of time is spent trashing rooms and destroying object to see if bonus items were inside them. I would have rather gotten bonus items by actually using my X-men to fight more bad guys, not to throw piles of crates against the wall.

If you like the X-men, or if you just like hack n' slash, this is definitly a worthy choice for you

Ok first of all I think this game hit all the important spots that a gamer/comic-book fan could have ever wanted. It was appealing to both people who knew about this crazy X-Men stuff and people who didn't. On with the review...

I found the sound and gameplay to be easy and simple nothing out of the ordinary and nothing to difficult to understand. The storyline was even better and I realized this was the games strongest point. Mixing adventure/action with an RPG style worked very well in this title. Also being able to use and see so many different mutants was a nice touch.

With X-Men Next Dimension I found it hard to catch combos and twirl my powers in any real effective way. X-Men Legends traded my anger for Next Dimension with joy for X-Men Legends... bottom line folks... buy it if you love the X-Men... rent it if you find them luke-warm in your heart. :)

X-Men Legends was going in the right direction. It has cool playable characters, fun superpowers, and a spectacular storyline, but the gameplay is just way too flat and repetitive. All you do is walk into a room, kill people, break stuff, and sometimes use your powers to solve a "puzzle" (making a bridge, welding metal). There are no interactive mini-games of any sort and levels/events take place in the same locations over and over. The gameplay is exactly the same from beginning to end.
The graphics are the worst part of the game. They look hand-drawn and stiff. If you break an object, it simply disappears and a small cheap "shattering" effect happens. The sound is okay on some parts of the game, but ridiculous on others, like with my fav character Storm, whos lightning strike sounds like a low-volumed spark. And I hate how her tornadoes suck. All they do is lift things up. They rarely destroy or kill. Plus it's hard to attack people with them because anything makes them dissipate.
The camera is the worst part of the game. You see everthing from a diagonal angle, almost as if you're watching everthing from a ceiling. Speaking of which, most levels do not have ceilings. So all you see is the floor and the walls. The camera angle is very frustrating to play with.
Also, to pass the whole game, it takes 20 hours. I they the developers should have cut down on the hours and used that extra memory on better graphics, sound effects, and interactive levels.
I hope Avtivision makes X-Men Legends 3, but with state-of-the-art graphics, sound, music, and interactivity, including mini-games instead of flashbacks.

looks cool i wish i had it,whos the best charecter?is there blood?

I loved this game and I only got it seven days ago! The controls are really easy, but have a lot of good combos. You choose a team of four X-men before every mission, and if one gets killed, and you have enough backups, you can switch it out for another X-Men. The leveling system is amazing, tons of abilities and stratigies. Also, when you get a kill for with one character, everyone (not just your current team) gets expeirince. Also, it warns you when a character is about to die, so you can heal him/her before he/she dies. That prevents the questions like: WTF? I thought I just healed him? When you really didn't. Well lets wrap it up.

PROS:
Amazing Level up system
Really good and easy controls
Great Co-Op system that lets someone joing right in without stopping the game
Over Fifteen choosable mutants with all different things to say and do
Tons of levels and secrets, but not those "impossible" secrets
Good plotline
Tons of purchasable abilities and Statistics

CONS:
Camera is difficult
Cannot save whenever you want (Makes the game more challenging, and it also fits the gameplay style)
Comic-Style Graphics (I liked them but some people might not, but it allows for those wham - wham lines when you beat the living daylights out of someone)
Just too many cool X-Men, I had trouble choosing :)

What are you people, on crack. This was the worst piece of crap game I have ever played.The menus go 800 miles an hour making it impossible to do what you want. The graphics suck and when I die with no X-Men and I havent saved the game I have to start from the beginning. Mark my words, It SUCKS

well, this game is pretty fine! okay, there's the thing:
cons:
well, theres a few problems. okay, the thing that makes the game great, the kind of game play has never been seen, or well, or to me anyway, with the switching characters and all. okay, one thing on the game package, it says theres blood, NOT TRUE!! okay, now, its great u can use characters to affect the area. use Cyclops to melt something. use Jean or Iceman to make a bridge! fun, but for me, it can be difficult, i press the damn button like 20 times and it doesn't work half the time. and ther are some great characters here! WHY CRAP THEM UP? i mean, the Beasts powers and moves r slow and sucky! also along with Gambit and Jubible! the levels r pretty nice but make be a bit hard for the average gamer. the voice acting is pretty nice, but when u level up, u sound REALLY gay. and the whole health token thing, U RUN OUT WAY TO FAST! the sentenils seem a bit, dumb. but sure can kill quick! but i really like the fastbacks! it was fun to revisit the X-men 60's, 80's, and other timelines. the combat is okay. i guess that its really a button masher. and i hate that the normal, human bad guys can kill u in a few minutes (the ones with force fields) the one thing that really sucks is that u have to unlock characters, starting with wolverine (and of course is the powerfullest character because u can build him up faster) the graphics r all right, a bit burry and a problem with facial expresstions, AND the voice acting doesn't always work. but patrick stuart as Professor X was prolly the best choice for voices. but anyway, i guess the bosses aren't that bad, Blob is very easy, Told, very fun to beat again and again and again. Mystic is somewhat harder. the hardest level so far is the timed level where u have 15 minutes to save crew members, fight thousands of pple with guns, and hold the ship together. so but this game is all right, some inprovments yes, but very good. and for those who HAVEN'T gotten this, i should now be on PS2's "greatest hits" list and for only 20 dollars (spider-man 2 is also on "greatest hits" and 20 dollars, but thats a different reveiw).

I was really disappointed when I got this game. The first thing that made me angry was the cheesy animation and graphics. When this game was being advertised the characters looked three dimentional and more lifelike. It turned out to be nothing like the advertisement. The characters looked more cartoonish. This was a major disappointment. I liked the x-men children of the atom by capcom better than this. Someone should sue for false and misleading advertising.

X-men legends is the funnist co op game that I own. This was one of my first indeverse into the relm of a co op rpg game. It was awsome. The game wasn't too hard once you got used to the controlls and haveing a friend there to talk to and yell at when they mess up is fun. It's better and more sane than yelling at the computer characters for being an idiot. "The computer characters are idiots." The game is long enough to last for a while. Just when you think the game is about to end it doesn't. There is also a great story within this game. The only downside to this game is the parts when you have to be Magma and walk around the X-mansion. Your friend just gets to sit there while you finish the solo objectives. There are fifteen x-men each with there own 3 special moves and one mega move.
THIS GAME IS AWSOME, ESPECIALY FOR X-MEN FANS!!!!!
I can't wait untill a few weeks when X-men legends 2 comes out.
I know that Archangel and Bishop will be playable X-men in the new one. There might also be some playable brotherhood members in the next one including Magneto.
P.S It's unfortunate that Beast moves stink so bad in this one. I hope that they will improve on him in the next one.
P.S.S A few reviews down a guy said that this game was garbage. It's not and I'm not garbage for liking it. I'm not the one who is too poor to efford a plate to eat hamburger helper on.
no offence to whoever wrote that review, just a friendly quip

This is by far the best game Ive played this year. It has a great story, awesome characters including nightcrawler, iceman, collosus, magma, wolverine, cyclops, and many others. Each character has their own skills and as you move through the story you earn experience points which allows you to upgrade their abilities, such as wolverine has claw flurry, brutal claws, etc. and each point you add to a certain category will give you X amount of damage until you level up again, very in depth. This game had a lot of effort put into it. If u liked the arcade version, this is a hundred times better because you can control all four x men in your group and the characters abilities are fun to manage.When you level up, you get one point: you can use it for striking, agility, focus and you can put it into a slot which upgrades your abilities like iceman has ice armor, ice shards, freeze blast as you keep adding points these attacks get stronger. Its amazing how they put this all together. I thought it was cool when I took on some sentinels for the first time, I havent seen those huge robots since the cartoon. The graphics are tops, the action is nonstop, and what I really like about this game is that you have to use certain powers from characters to solve puzzles, for example in one mission the hull breaches were leaking and I had to weld all the breaches so the leaking would stop, so I used Cyclops optic beam to do it. Its been fun and the game is really long..and locks of extras for you to do in between missions when you are at the mansion. Have fun, enjoy.

First off garbage is stuff you throw away, and x-men legends needs to be thrown away. I bought played it for about an hour and then use it to eat hamburger helper off it. I not even going to go into details. If you think this game is fun. Your garbage too!

X-men Legends is a brawler featuring 15 different X-Men and four powers per mutant. The gameplay is easy and fun, but when you are about two-thirds through it gets a bit boring. The sound is great, totally captures the X-Men feeling and style. The locations are okay, but a few classic stages were missing. The team at Raven got creative with the enemies, but like the gameplay looses it's touch after awhile. You can level-up all you're characters like any other action RPG, and this was where the click wasn't. The powers. Some of the X-men were handled beautifully, like Cyclops and Psylocke, but most others were reduced to one fifth their true power, like Storm, Rogue, and Gambit. And on the other hand, most players are content with that, but these reduced characters were handled perfectly in the Mutant Academy games, and with this new gaming age, the great gamers are expecting more. We'll get our answers with the Legend sequel in October 2005. This game is the best X-Men game on the market so far, but still has it's share of bad junk. In conclusion, I have only one more thing to say. For those of you who love replay value, this game has almost no replay value except leveling up characters differently. This game was good, but the newly-released Fantastic Four is better.

Someone in an earlier review stated that X-Men Legends is a brawler with RPG elements, in the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance/ Champions of Norrath/Fallout:Brotherhood vein, but better executed. They couldn't have nailed it any better than that. The game begins with Wolverine's arrival in New York city to rescue a young mutant, Magma, who's being hunted by the Brotherhood of Mutants. Saving her sets a series of events in motion that lead to a cataclysmic battle of epic X-Men proportions. Legends lets you play as 4 of 15 classic X-Men(including my favorites: Gambit, and Nightcrawler)on a huge quest that will take up easily 30 hours of your life, depending on your skill level. While not perfect by any means, Legends is a meaty action RPG that will almost certainly please fans of the X-Men or of these types of games. Graphically, the game sports a cel-shaded look to give it that comic-book feel and, while it doesn't impress visually, it serves its' purpose in bringing things in the X-Men Universe to life. Control is very good for this type of game. It's all about battling, anyways, and battling here is fun and addictive all the way throughout. The game truly showcases what has made the comics great for three decades. I applaud Raven Software on doing such an excellent job on the game. You can tell Raven are fans of the comics, themselves. I can't wait to see what they accomplish in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.

The game is pretty straightforward; it is mostly a side-scrolling brawl. You can control the mutant powers of fifteen different X-men and the game does a fairly good job of blending RPG and action game elements (i.e. the stats-managing and equipment of an RPG, the gratuitous fighting and button mashing of an action scroller).
I do think that X-Men fans will enjoy this more than those unfamiliar with this "galaxy" of the Marvel Universe. The main character is a recent recruit of the Xavier Institute (I would have preferred Wolverine or Cyclops) who is beginning a series of global campaigns with the X-Men.
You can use your mutant powers much like magic in an RPG, and this amounts to a good system. You can blast away with Storm or Cyclops and increase their "Focus" stats, which deal with the regeneration and strength of mutant ability, or you can give Wolverine a high strike ability, increasing his melee might. Or, if you want to mix it up, make Cyclops a hard hitter and use Jean Grey. There are some good options and more than one way to develop a team.
I believe you can get more out of the game when you have someone to play it with, however. Controlling four mutants at once and switching back and forth can get pretty hectic.
If you feel you would enjoy the combination of superhero and RPG worlds, this might interest you.

X-Men Legends is a very fun and exciting game and will leave wanting to play it more and more. The game truly shines in playability. The graphics are fun and comic-book style and very cool looking. The story is probably the best part about this game I love how this game isn't only focussed on one mission theirs about 20 or more missions on this game.
Overall This game is really fun and it is not only the best game of the X-Men series but the best game of 2004 in my opinion.

At first I didn't know how this game was going to turn out so I put off buying it. Eventually I did buy it and it turn out to be great! This game is also multiplayer.
Playable Characters
Wolverine
Cyclops
Jean Grey
Rogue
Colossus
Nightcrawler
Professor X
Psylocke
Beast
Jubilee
Magma
Gambit
Iceman
Storm
Emma Frost

This game wasn't very challenging I beat this game fairly quickly the only one I had a problem on was Mastermold. He took almost all of my party but luckly I had enough money to revive my team.
There are parts in the game where you have to have a specific mutant in your party to get past that part. Which is sometimes annoying because you have to go back to a save point and change your members and if that mutant was knocked out than you would have to revive them.
Every mutant has four powers. For example Storm, Jean, and Rogue can fly which can get you out of some sticky situations at some point. Iceman can create a bridge of ice so you can get to the next area.
The graphics are pretty good I'd give it about a 4 out of 5.
Funfactor 5 out of 5
Overall 4 out of 5
All X-Men fans must get this game!

This is a great game, but if you like games that you can keep playing,after you beat the game, you dont want this one. Dont get me wrong, this is a great game but when its over, its over. Once you beat the game there is no playing on. All you can do is re-play the game. Most games, you can play something extra, but as I said this game doesnt have that extra play. plus, this game is short. I think it took me a total of like ten to fifteen hours to beat it. It was easy. There are a lot of highlights though. The co-op is awsome. But it is fun in single play too. And you can play co-op and single player in the same file. There is alot of info on the x-men in the game too. if you like the x-men you will probably like this game. overall, its a good game and I gave it a four out of five.

Ok, I'm a pretty decent X-Men fan - liked the comic books, liked the cartoon, liked the movies, though all three are like comparing apples and oranges. At first, I was a little stand-offish about an rpg video game. But I'm happy to say that overall I am quite impressed.

The storyline had a little to be desired. In traditional epic-adventure story devices, you begin with the rescue of the latest mutant recruit, Allison/Magma. From there on, story line trickles in through a series of missions and storyline interludes that take place at the Mansion. You're not getting a Final Fantasy epic tale, there are few loops and curves that really bewilder you with amazement, but what's there is fun and functional. In typical superhero fashion, the X-men's archnemisis Magneto is released and the heros must stop him before the fate of the world is sealed.

The game truly shines in playability. The graphics are fun and comic-book style, though with the quality of current gaming, I would have expected a little more detail, but you don't loose anything in the enjoyment of the gaming experience.
For each mission, the player selects a team of up to four mutants, controlling one and the rest act on AI. I've had horrible experiences with AI controlled npcs (can anyone say Arcanum?), but this is pulled off fantasticly. The computer controlled characters are very self reliant, jump at any chance to do a combo attack and usually don't get themselves killed. Should a character get killed, reviving them is no problem at one of the many extraction points in each mission.
As for team compatibility - you get plenty of opportunities to test out new mutants. Part of the strategy is to have a diverse group that can handle themselves and any obstacles and the possible team combinations seem endless.

In true RPG fashion, each character levels up with experience points. You can custom design which skills and powers each character progresses in. I found myself starting over several times at first, trying to figure out how to most effectively level up my characters. One mistake not to make: don't try and make every character completely well rounded, make sure they max out your favorite special powers or else you'll have a team mate who isn't exceptionally good at anything.

As for the multiplayer settings, it can be difficult for two or more players to share the screen - especially when two players want to run in different directions, but the multi-player option is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, during the unnecessarily long interludes at the mansion, when you're only playing as Magma, your friends will have to twiddle their thumbs with nothing to do. So, this isn't the game where you and three friends sit down and play all the way through on a Friday night.

Overall, X-men Legends is an excellent purchase and is worth replaying several times. One can spend hours simply practicing in the Danger Room and playing with all the characters. I do have a major complaint - the game is simply too short. It would be wise to re-release X-men Legends with several additional missions. I was quite looking forward to taking a whirl with Psylocke only to find that she doesn't join up until 3/4 of the game is over!

If you're in for a power team, do not overlook Storm and Jean Grey, who are probably the two most power characters. You'll have to sit through a lot of cheesey dialogue and poor voice acting - there's not too many surprises, but you won't get tired of the non-stop action.

I wasn't sure what to expected when i got this game for christmas, but when i started playing it, i couldn't stop. The effects of the game were great. I found the game challangeing. The hardest part for finding the crew members on the ship. I like the fact that you don't have to play as one x-men but with a group of x-men. The only problem i had with this game was all of the loading. I felt like i spent more time waiting for it to load then i did playing the game.

The game tries to keep with the story line of the comic book. Magneto breakes out to destroy the earth and the only ones who can stop him are the x-men. The game is great for anyone who like to play long games or just enjoyed reading the x-men comics.

At first I didnt like this game. After so long playing flashy games, this takes you back to old school graphics. You soon get use to the arcade style graphics and in the end you'll enjoy the game.

Im at the end of the game, and so far the game is pretty good. Redundant, as a lot of people are commenting, but good overall. Lots of places advertise 15 characters to choose from. I can only count 14. Does anybody know who the last one is? [...] it would be greatly appreciated!

I've just started becoming a serious gamer this past year - and have tested out all the 'Greatest Hits' games (Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid), but by far this is the best gaming experience I've had. This is the first time I've had to *force* myself to stop playing.

I do agree with some of the cons other reviewers have listed. There are problems with camera angles, the save points are spaced out entirely too far, and sometimes the battles are repetitive.

That being said, I was blown away by the amount of detail put into the game. At times, I felt as I was dropped directly into a comic books. The visuals are incredible - and they folks @ Activision really researched these characters. Granted, some of the voice-overs are awful - but the scrips/storylines are faithful to current characters.

What I enjoyed most about the game is that there is a video arcade sensibility to its design. The game design, 'powering' up characters, and the graphics all lend credence to this.

If you are looking for a sweeping Final Fantasy style epic - this game is NOT for you. However, if you are looking for some good arcade game fun - I highly recommend it.

'X-Men Legends' is the first truly good X-Adventure game to be released anywhere - bar, of course, the original X-Men arcade cabinet from the eighties.

For too long have we suffered the mediocre (X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse on the SNES, X2 - Wolverine's Revenge on PS 2) and the downright ugly (Spider-Man & X-Men on Genesis, X-Men: Mojo World on Game Gear) excesses of cheap-games-produced-by-license, promising all manner of X-Goodness and then failing utterly to live up to the coolness and depth of storyline that have made the comic books such a strong feature of popular culture for the past half-a-century.

There have been some great beat-'em-ups, sure, but adventuring is what the X-Men are all about, and happily, 'XML' turns the tables and delivers adventure action in spades, with a hefty dose of characterisation and one of the best storylines ever.

GRAPHICS: 3

Decent enough, the cel-shaded look is nice and colorful, but the camera angles mean that you never see much detail. Backdrops are big and nicely detailed (the NYC and Astral Plane levels are particularly cool) and presentation is excellent (loading screens are beautiful to look at, menus are nice and responsive) but one can't help feeling that the PS 2 is capable of far more.

SOUND: 4

Excellent voice acting adds to a wonderful atmosphere that is hampered only by repetitive in-game battle music. Excellent sound effects and the option to skip over the longer monologues is a nice touch.

PLAYABILITY: 4

The controls are very responsive and, though detailed enough as to be complex, are by no means hard to learn. The learning curve is steep, but the intro levels with Wolverine, Cyclops and Magma are more than enough to familiarise yourself with tactics and motion. The Danger Room scenarios, accessible at any time, are great, too - becuase health items are very scarce in the earlier levels. The lack of interaction or a true RPG element is also somewhat annoying - how much cooler would a Final Fantasy-style X-Game with realtime combat have been??

ATMOSPHERE: 3

Although this is an X-Men adventure in the true mold, there are one or two things that detract from the atmosphere. Loading Screens, though pretty to look at, and very varied, cannot mask the fact that Loading Times in-game are insufferably long, and changing teams mid-mission becomes a huge chore. Similarly grating is the difficulty level of some of the later missions, and the price of resurrecting fallen teammates is disproportionately large, meaning you may find yourself going up against the final bosses with a handful of the more useless characters - Rogue, Gambit, Beast, Jubilee, etc.

However, for every bad point here there's two good ones to take its place, and I defy all but the most finnicky of X-Purists to find something that actually ruins their enjoyment of the game.

LASTING FACTOR: 4

Levelling your individual teammates up as you see fit is a nice touch; powers become unlocked as you want them. Secret items and costumes are a great touch, and become available after you finish the game, which is nice and long. But two plays through this excellent adventure will leave you having seen everything - there's only a finite number of things to do and see.

OVERALL:

A truly great adventure game that loses its fifth star becuase of a few annoying gameplay quirks (loading times, a general feeling of 'on-rails', unfairly expensive items), 'X-Men Legends' is still a thoroughly recommended way to spend forty bucks.

Roll on 'X-Men Legends 2'!!

I've played a few other X-Men video games, but they've been exclusively fighters, which is not a type of game I do well at or prefer. It was very, very nice to play X-Men legends and find something more than just endless stages of character vs. character.

Instead, there are missions and scenes that might have been adapted directly from the comics, areas to explore, puzzles to solve, and a coherent storyline. The game was, furthermore, obviously made with the fans in mind, and details of characterization and history are fit in wherever possible, including a flashback or two to classic periods from the comics.

By the end of the game there are fourteen characters available from which to assemble a team of four - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Beast, Jubilee, Emma Frost, Psylocke, and Magma. Each character has his or her own strengths and customizable skills. Unfortunately, the balance is not entirely even; characters like Cyclops and Storm have bonuses that others don't, and Jean's telekinesis ability makes it occasionally necessary to have her on your team whether you like it or not. The storyline also requires you to play as Magma at intervals, including almost all of the optional single-character Danger Room training scenarios. Some characters are only unlocked so late in the game that it's difficult to make much use of them, though everyone stays at essentially the same level to keep unused characters from being too weak to bring in for later stages.

Some modifications were, of course, necessary, and mostly they work fine. Magma's continuity was pretty much abandoned and the character re-written from scratch, and while she wasn't very compelling considering she was more or less the game's main character, it wasn't too bad. Marrow was grafted into Callisto's place in continuity, probably because she has more interesting powers and looks. Bishop's cameo, however, changed him so much that he was only recognizable by name, and they'd have done better to leave him out.

The game environment is quite detailed - and, in the case of many stages, almost completely destructible. In the thick of battle, much of the scenery can end up exploding into fragments, which only adds to the fun.

The designs and voice-acting of the characters, meanwhile, are a mixed bag. Most of the character costumes were taken from the Ultimate X-Men comics; winning the game unlocks other outfits, including the original costumes of Cyclops, Jean, Beast, and Iceman, and the most familiar looks of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and more. Unfortunately, some characters had only one new costume that wasn't based on any established look - and Rogue and Jubilee get no new costumes at all, even though Rogue was given a generic blue and gold outfit instead of any of her past costumes. The voice-acting is likewise uneven; most of the voices were quite good, especially those of Beast, Storm, Iceman, Rogue, and Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier. Magneto's voice-actor, on the other hand, played up the archvillain routine a bit much, and pretty much any character with a noticable accent was pretty bad, especially Gambit and Colossus.

In the villains, the game suffers. Most of the combat is against generic humans, Morlocks, and Acolytes, with nothing much to differentiate one from the other. Boss fights include Mystique, the Blob, Pyro, Avalanche, Sabretooth, Marrow, the Shadow King, and Magneto, but it would have been nice for more variety. The Sentinels are pretty exciting, though, especially in the stages which feature mobs of them.

And there are mobs of them. My favorite part of the game is the point at which you're tossed into three difficult missions, one after another, including one of the aforementioned mobs of Sentinels - a stretch of gameplay that begins with Cyclops announcing that the X-Men will be putting in some overtime. At that point, I felt that the game had successfully brought the comics to life.

Along with the depth of characterization and backstory, it's probably the missions themselves which create that feeling. Some are straight combat, but there are also missions to obtain items, save civilian lives, prevent disasters, and just plain destroy things. All in a day's work for the X-Men.

The ending leaves the game wide open for a sequel, and I look forward to Legends 2. Hopefully it will include some new playable characters and new adversaries.

Finally the X-Men are being used in a video game the way they were always meant to be. RPG is the perfect platform for them. That said, the game itself is far from perfect. The biggest problem is the camera. It hangs over head and you really can't see where you're going. If there's an enemy ahead you can't see them until you're close to them. That doesn't get much time for planning. You can control the camera, spin it around, even move it down closer to you, but this is very limited. The developers should have given the gamers full control of the camera. We should be able to position it the way we want.

Which leads me to the controls. You're stuck with what you got. I'm not comfortable with the jump button being triangle. I'd rather it be x. But the controls are not customizable so I had to learn to live with it.

The graphics are, for the most part, beautiful. The environments are extremely well thought out. They even thought to put wheel chair ramps all over the X-Mansion. It's subtleties like this that I love. The stages are also extremely interactive. You can destroy almost everything in rooms. You can even knock down walls and surprise your enemy.

The battles do get repetitive. You fight the same guys over and over. Nothing too hard. Anybody who has played this type of game before will have no problem with X-Men.

As a fan of the X-Men, I've very happy with the game though it could have been much better. Hopefully, Activision will make another X-Men RPG and improve on their flaws in this game.

Graphics: 4.5
Controls: 4.0
Sound: 4.5
Fun Factor: 4.0

As an X-Men fan, an RPG for X-Men is pretty sweet in the idea alone... what more could you ask from a X-Men fan / gamer?

After just finishing the game for the first time, I would have to say all the excitement built up for the game, I'm still hoping that there's more to the game than I had played, but really, there isn't.


It's a story that starts off with you as Wolvering trying to save a young mutant known as Magma (I've only seen her from the X-Men: Evolutions show). From here the story (with a lot of side-stories) unfolds... Mutant hatred is growing thick and strong, Magneto is planning to bring the destruction of humankind, someone hates someone... we've heard it all before.

You start off being able to play a few characters, which grows in amount as you keep playing the game. (There are a total of 15 playable characters, from Cyclops to Jubilee to Emma Frost, the White Queen) Many of these characters are useless and you will find that only a couple are actually useful to use in the game. (I myself kept using Storm and one special attack throughout the game, not very interesting if I can do that)

It's not levels, but missions, with a rest between most missions at the X-Men Mansion. You can play in the Danger Room or few other activities. There's no moving around to other levels, it's one level after another. You can't go back to one you were at before.

Gameplay becomes pretty redundant, you have 4 characters per play. You are able to switch between one of these 4 characters, with the other 3 controlled by the AI console. You run around knocking out countless enemies (no one ever dies, they can't die, they just disappear). You run around each level in hopes of completing your objectives. Then once you do, the mission is complete. On to the next. Each character has their own "special" powers (Storm with Lighting, Cyclops with his Optic Blast... etc.) using a certain amount of their available energy (each character has two bars, health/life points and their energy/mana count.) Each character can level up, and can upgrade. Each character has three sub-menus... stats, powers, and items. Stats are Strike, Agility, Focus... areas which increase strength, energy, defense, etc. Powers is where you upgrade or enable the character's special powers. Storm's Lighting can become Chain Lighting, to Legend Lighting.. Items is where you equip a character with items for armor, upgrades, etc.

Noted aspects of the game:
-Objective points are clearly displayed on maps, easy to know where to go and what to do. Not much to figure out on your own.
-Bosses usually have something called resistances (most which can be taken out by destroying something nearby, which is hard to figure out without using some kind of player's guide).
-Most levels are comprised of several different areas that you enter, some areas have a save point (you can't save whenever you want to)
-Each savepoint allows you to change your team, or revive a fallen member
-You can access your menu or savepoint menu regardless of situation
-There is no difficulty setting (too easy for some, too hard for others).. replaying the game will be exactly the same, save for change of characters.
-Graphics when playing the game are meant to resemble cartoons or comics... bold black lines outline the characters and solid colors.. cutscenes are more CGI-driven, a little cool-looking.

Music is great... I thought the music was the only thing that really stood out.

If you're not an X-Men fan, the game won't be as cool. Many aspects of the game only a X-Men will know and appreciate (some cutscenes will make no sense unless you know).

The game wasn't too exciting, it becomes repetitive and boring. Re-playing isn't something you want to do, there's no difference. You can't go back to previous levels, and there is nothing to do but another level/mission. Playing it once is fine, but don't recommend the game much, especially to non-X-Men fans.

X-Men and video games have never gotten along together. We get sub-par fighters like X-Men Mutant Academy (PlayStation) and other titles that with you had adamantium claws to tear apart the people who made the game.

Anyway, onwards to Legends!

This game is an action/adventure/rpg... OR, I'd call it an interactive cominc book. Yes, this game is so close to the comic book series that you'll go 'wow- I remember that'! There's even some witty remarks and a nod towards the movies.

But besides being true to the comics (which is VERY important in itself) what does this game have to offer for players? 15 unique characters, all with super cool powers to tear apart, freeze, burn, or blast away opponents with. The controls take about 3 minutes to get used to, and since the first mission is a solo mission, it gives you time to figure them out before you get to use multiple X-Men. Gameplay sometimes gets overwhelming. There can be about eight baddies and your four heroes and for a breif second you lose focus on which person you are and who you are fighting. But that also means that the fights are big burly brawls- exactly what you'd expect from comic book characters. since you can have a group of four mutants, you play as one and AI takes care of the other three- and it does it actually really well. While controlling one mutant, you can call others to help you with one enemy or give commands to the others.

The animation also has that comic book look to it. Players, moveable objects and other points of interest have a bold black outline around them- it doesn't detract from the very detailed backgrounds.

Like many games like this, the camera sometimes gets stuck behind corners and buildings.

This game cannot be quickly blown off as another super hero game- this is a squad-based game...forget the solo web-slinger, Spiderman; this game gives you a whole new way to save the world from certain doom, gloom, and evil mutants.

This game is the best X-Men game yet! Not only can you choose four from a selection of 15 of X-Men to play as, (you have to unlock them to do so) but you can also play as enemies you have beaten, in the danger room! You can get there from the main menu. It also often requiers a lot of strategy and planning.

Its nice to rent if you are saving up for a good game. I wouldn't invest in this game as the graphics are cartoony. The only good thing is mid mission if you find an extraction point you can change characters. But the game play is nothing like advertised on the TV. Save your dough for a good game and rent this on a rainy day!!!!!!

has some serious flaws. There's no New Game+ (like in Final Fantasy X-2) which means you have to learn abilities all over again. This is probably why the designers made huge levels with tons of enemies so you can collect lots of Xperience points necessary for leveling up your characters and see their Xtreme powers (although I finished the game without unlocking the other abilities so I don't know how they look in battle). You could, however, train in the Danger Room if you want more XP but it gets boring eventually. Some people say only the characters you use gain XP, but I think it's wrong. I found that characters which I rarely use in the game also gain XP so no one is left behind. The AI can be very stupid at times - characters fall off cliffs; and when you try to fly an ally and go back to pick up another one, the first one will follow you and fall down again (best thing is to use iceman or magma to make bridges). It's not always easy to change team since save points are not so frequent and this can get very annoying during timed missions. I don't mind the cel-shaded graphics as they work well during gameplay (no slowing down even when it gets very chaotic). Lastly, load times are quite long but at least you get to see some cool load screens.

but still an awesome game. Magneto has escaped and with the help of the brotherhood is setting an evil plan in motion, now it's up to the X-men to stop them. The graphics are pretty good and so is the control scheme. You can control 4 different xmen, and you can switch from character to character with just a hit of a button. You can choose from up to 14 different Xmen, personnally i think the best character to use is STORM, at first you have to nurture her a lot but once she masters the Chain lightning theres no stopping her. Each characters powers and abilities where captured in a very autentic way,there was never a moment when i thought "Rouge can't do this or Gambit shouldn't be able to..", the game creators were true to each characters powers. Overall the game is a blast to play, for xfans and non xfans as well. EP

This game is horrible. The graphics are way outdated(Super Nintendo quality), it's more complicated than needs to be, and to get to multi-player stage is way over in left field. (...)

Gameplay and Controls:10/10
The gameplay is fun. The controls are simple and easy to master. I handed a contoller to my cousin and he knew how to play immedeatly.

Multiplayer:10/10
It is fun to play with friends and family. My brother brought it home and me and my other brothers had a blast.

Story Line:10/10
The story line is simply amazing and fun. You could have played the game before, play it again and still be suprised at what happens.

Graphics:4/10
The graphics were almsot worse than a Nintendo 64 game. The only reason that this section did not get a one was because of the cut scenes, which almost looked real.

Playable Characters:10/10
There are many characters that you could choose your team of four from. (I'm not telling you who you can play as.)

Bad Guys:9/10
There are many bad guys in this game that are fun to fight against. There are some that you do not fight. There is a list bad guys at the end of this list.

X-Men Legends is an awesome all around game. The contols are easy to master and it is playable with up to four people. My other brothers and I played the game and we loved it. The game takes about 25 hours and is almost perfect. You can play as 15 X-Men and master all of there abilities. Some times you will need to make bridges, fly over gaps, or use Nightcrawler to teleport you. This is a great all around game and I am egarley waiting for the sequel.

Bad Guy List (List Maybe Incomplete)
Apocalypse (Ha Ha)
Blob
General Kincaid
Juggernaut
Magneto
Marrow
Master Mold
Morlocks
Mystique
Pyro
Sentinels
Toad