Console: XBOX 360
Date Released: September 27, 2011
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2012
Reviewer: Thomas
PROS:
* Excellent story weaving in and out of the x-men comics
* Easy to pick up and play with dozens of powers and combos
* Three unique characters with different backgrounds and agendas
CONS:
* No multiplayer or co-op
* Graphics are not up to what we normally would expect from silicon Knights
* Choice doesn’t have as much impact as it should throughout the game
* You can equip ‘x-genes’ but you can’t take them off only switch them out
X-men destiny is game created by Silicon Knights who also made my all time favorite action RPG games like Too Human and the excellent Gamecube title Eternal Darkness. As with a recent post about superhero games I picked this up for a very cheap price and decided because I like Silicon Knights’ other titles to give this one a try, regardless of the low review scores, and found myself actually enjoying the game. On to the review…
Presentation : B-
Graphics / Animation / Sound
The graphics are sub par for silicon Knights. Too Human by comparison is incredible looking versus this game and Too Human came out in 2008. However, in Silicon Knights defense this game had a lower budget than that game since they have downsized. Never the less I believe more effort should have been made in this category. Some of the X-men look fantastic such as Gambit or Wolverine, while others I guess because they are not as popular didn’t get the attention they deserve. Mystique, for example, should just overall look better. It’s not terrible but it’s not great either. The environment set pieces are wonderful in execution but lack a certain polish that this game needs. Some things look great while others simply do not.
Silicon Knights nailed the characters personalities and the voice acting is superb. This could possibly explain the graphics issue since so much was devoted to this aspect of the game. The gameplay is fun and varied and each level is different in design with some exploration, but not as much as I believe there should be. All of it though fits neatly into the story arc and makes sense. The universe of the x-men is completely handled with a lot of love and care, it’s nice to see this developer give it that kind of attention.
The effects and particles are also done very well, as with the powers and abilities that you can unlock in the game. Fighting along side X-men and Brotherhood for some large-scale battles is also a nice touch, as you always feel like your part of something larger than yourself. Combat is very fluid along with the animation of all the characters and is easy to pick up and play. Eventually you have a large arsenal of powers and abilities that you can spend experience points on for light RPG elements. Again it’s a nice touch for something that seems like a basic brawler.
Single Player : B+
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
X-men destiny has you choosing between three different young and up in coming mutants who do not know that they are mutants, but manifest their powers during a mutant human rally for peace. The start menu is very unique, it shows the characters you can play as talking to someone in the crowd while the rally is going on. This will switch between the other characters you can choose, and they are talking with crowd members also. This is a nice touch to bring you into the game before it even starts.
The other thing is that X-men: Destiny talks heavily about choice, and after choosing your character you then choose between three base powers. One of which is energy, which can be used in a variety of ways such as beams, damage and enemies at range. The other two are density control and shadow matter, all of which are different in play style and combos. Once this happens the story begins at the rally where the Purifiers who hate mutants are wanting to segregate mutants from humans during the peace rally.
Professor Charles Xavier is actually dead in the game by the hands of Bastion, and Cyclops is the current leader of the X-men. Almost every X-men from popular to obscure seems to make an appearance. Iceman, Emma Frost, Toad, etc…you name it they are in this game. The story and voice acting are very strong key points to this game. The story in particular is very well written and unpredictable at times. The various X-men or Brotherhood you encounter can give advice, information, or offer a mission within the confines of the story.
These missions either way have different impacts on your characters responses down the road and how other mutants X-men or Brotherhood alike respond to you. The interesting thing about this is your characters’ background also helps determine their responses to the X-men or Brotherhood, so multiple play through will allow you to see all possible outcomes. I really like this aspect of the game and I am surprised that most reviews chose to ignore this fact. I think they expected a “Mass Effect like” choice impact, where as this game is really about the character and less about the environment. The game itself is moderately difficult on the normal mode and fairly challenging at the highest difficulty, but a push over on easy. The game also has considerable length all things aside about 15 hours for this type of game.
Multiplayer : F
Game mechanics / features / Online features
X-men: Destiny features no online modes nor a co-op, which is a shame as this seems to be a no brainer considering that Too Human has co-op, and the nature of this game would be fun with another person playing with you. I am surprised by this, but maybe Silicon Knights will provide this option in forthcoming DLC. So far there hasn’t been an update for this game so I don’t know if Silicon Knights even plans to support it. Other playable characters or even playable X-men would have been a great feature of the game since they have the license for it.
Replay Value : A
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC
X-men: Destiny has considerable replay value based on the choice between helping the X-men or joining the Brotherhood or working both sides, which can be more or less neutral. Also, the different characters and base powers do change the gameplay and combat up. The interactions between you and the other X-men and or Brotherhood mutants definitely deserves multiple play throughs. There are many unlockable suits to change your characters appearance and loads of different ‘x-genes’ to use and level up, so you would need to play through the game several times to see everything. There is currently no DLC for this game except for a trailer. X-men: Destiny is a fun but flawed game that almost lives up to its potential. It is one of the better superhero games out there compared to others in the genre. I would give this game a try if you’re a fan of X-men comics, but if not it still has enough content to keep you busy for a couple of weeks.
Overall: B+
