Why is it that the X-Men, one of the most celebrated comic teams of all time, have never been properly represented in video games? Sure, there have been some decent 2D and 3D fighting games, but we've also had to wallow through dreck like X2: Wolverine's Revenge, a game that I thought would set the franchise back 10 years. It seemed like we would never see a title that accurately portrayed the lives of everyone's favorite muties, and their struggles against not only super-villains like Magneto, but bigotry and hatred as well. Just when I thought all was lost, X-Men Legends landed on my desk, and I'm happy to say that the franchise is finally getting the respect that it deserves.

The thing that immediately struck me when playing the game was the amazing amount of minutiae that's been included for eagle-eyed fans. When exploring Professor Xavier's mansion, for instance, you can go into the rooms of each X-Man. In Wolverine's room, there was a big Canadian flag hanging on the wall, and it was signed by each member of Alpha Flight, the greatest team of mutants ever to come out of the Great White North. Some minor characters make appearances, as well, from Moira McTaggert and Forge to everyone's favorite cold hearted snow queen, Emma Frost. Basically, if it's appeared in any of the various comics, it's probably in this game. Thanks to all of these little details, I never found myself getting tired of walking aimlessly around the Mansion, talking to whoever I met.


Of course, the game isn't all about aimless wandering or endless combat. There's a remarkably deep storyline, as well, involving everything you'd expect from the X-Men, including lots of social commentary about the nature of bigotry. Not surprisingly, the story was penned by Man of Action, a collective of former Marvel writers with extensive experience working on the X-Men series. Their knowledge of the franchise is obvious, particularly during the quieter scenes in the Mansion. Talking to the various members of the team will give you some insight into what shaped them, and you'll get to learn a little bit about their history. In a cool touch, you can actually play as that character during flashbacks. My favorite, of course, was playing as a freaked-out, enraged Logan as he escaped from the Weapon X complex.

The easiest description of the game is to call it an action RPG, but that's a little misleading. It's much heavier on the action than any of the RPG elements, which isn't really a bad thing in my mind. I enjoy upgrading characters and changing their powers and all of that, but some games of a similar ilk force you to pause and enter the character screen every few minutes, equipping whatever you need to get through a particular segment. Thankfully, X-Men Legends eschews this approach for the most part, as it's focused squarely on creating an experience that's perfect for thrill junkies, complete with a ton of long action sequences (as well as a few minor puzzle elements).

That's not to say, however, that there isn't anything for the RPG fans out there. As in most games, killing enemies will give you experience points, and you'll be able to upgrade your character in various ways when you hit a certain level. The first screen you'll encounter allows you to bump up your offensive and defensive statistics, as well as your health and mutant energy levels. On the second screen, you're presented with a few different mutant powers, and you can gradually make them stronger, unlocking new versions after they've been fully upgraded. Each member of the team also has some character-specific traits that can be set up. For instance, Cyclops has a leadership skill that will give the team an experience bonus when he's involved in a combo, while Wolvie's healing factor can be upgraded to work faster. The final screen allows you to equip certain power enhancers or different types of armor, which can be picked up as you defeat enemies.