x-men-legends
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Second Life rated one of 3 worst HUDs by GamePro
GamePro just listed their '10 Best HUDs in Gaming' feature, with a final section entitled 'The 3 Worst HUDs', and Second Life is 3rd on that list, just behind Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, and X-Men: Legends. While they say "Looking at the gameplay involves a lot of guess work to figure out what's going on in the world", they could have, and should have been a lot more critical.Residents of SL know just how difficult it is to get around the interface as a newbie, and while I understand that's one of the major pieces Linden Lab is working on (I know someone who was recently hired to work on UI changes specifically), it's still an intimidating thing to look at, much less try to sort through when you're looking for just one simple command. I mean, look at that screenshot. Technically, those are just menus that have been torn out of the bar, and not the entire interface, but it still applies -- they're ugly, they're complicated, the choices are somewhat obtuse. So now that it's been officially noticed, what will LL have in store for us? How would you fix this?[Thanks, Mitch!]
Metareview - Marvel Ultimate Alliance
The ongoing debate over which superhero universe reigns supreme may never be settled, but Marvel Comics is looking like the clear winner in the gaming space with Activision's release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. There's no Incredible Hulk (he's in Vivendi's game), but just about everyone else from the House of Ideas makes an appearance, which amounts to at least 20 playable characters on each platform. Where Ultimate Alliance really shines over Justice League Heroes is in the stronger focus on teamwork, not to mention a more impressive cast of villains. <Your team name here>, assemble! Game Informer (93/100) likes the new transparent rejuvenation system: "In this game, you no longer need to stock potions. When an enemy is slain, there's a chance that the fallen will gift you with a cluster of healing orbs that automatically zoom to your character. This change not only removes the clunky system of healing, it makes you feel more like a hero. Your focus is always on the battlefield, not a meter." GamePro (90/100) appreciates the challenging enemy AI: "The major boss battles are head and shoulders above anything you've seen in the past. The roster of villains changes with such frequency that you never get a chance to get sick of them. Stronger ones boast talents like healing and immunity to certain attacks, while others carry shields that force your active crew of four to work as a team." TeamXbox (88/100) was dazzled by the production quality: "The opening cinematic by Blur Studios is perhaps the finest I have witnessed in a videogame...but it's worth mentioning that the in-game footage cut scenes by Raven are no slouches either. Raven's in-game work is really nice too. Characters all have that comic book look, but have been updated to have their own edge. The backgrounds are just as sweet, flexing a bunch of post-production effects and lots of animations."
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance to feature unexciting controls
Though the many Marvel characters duking it out in Ultimate Alliance frequently find themselves doing somersaults, hurling punches and generally super-spazzing out, it's not an accurate expectation for the players of the game to perform similar feats. Speaking at the recently concluded Comic-Con, Activision's Chris Palmisano commented that the Wii version of the game would not have major changes implemented to its control system."The basic game controls like the camera and the movement and stuff like that -- you can do that on the Wii with left side in most cases. Then there are standard combo moves, which you can also do with the Wii controller." After this rather vague statement (do combo moves with the controller, you say?!), Palmisano goes on to curtail the level of input you might have expected from a Wii game. "I don't know how many games you're going to see where people are jumping around -- our game is an RPG so it's really hard to require that much physical energy to play a game for 30 hours." Though we have yet to think of any Wii game that actively requires you to jump around, we suspect the lack of physical energy required to play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is tied into a lack of mental energy when attempting to explain why your game will have a bog-standard control scheme. This is an issue that will come up again and again: a multi-platform game that fails to take advantage of the Wii's controller risks not only being surpassed by graphically superior versions (why buy the Wii version?), but the rest of the games in the Wii lineup (why buy this game that doesn't use my system fully?). Of course, shoehorning a game into an inappropriate controller scheme is just as undesirable, as is certainly the case with an action RPG largely built upon repetition. We'd rather just press the A-button, thanks.
X-Men Legends II PC demo
Oh my stars and garters! Activision's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse has been out for over a month, but PC gamers unsure about unleashing their latent mutant powers can give it a test drive with Raven's new downloadable demo. The 336 MB freebie includes the introduction movie, a tutorial, and two maps from the beginning levels. Download the demo now, bub!
X-Men Legends II review round-up
The second entry in Activision's mutant-themed RPG series, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, has been out for a few weeks now and here's a look at what the industry pundits are saying. So who do you prefer to play as: X-Men or Brotherhood? Gamespy (90) TeamXbox (89) Next Level Gaming (88) ConsoleGold (87) Game Chronicles (85) IGN (85) Gamespot (81) [via Metacritic]
New X-Men Legends 2 screenies
The first X-Men Legends game can, for the most part, be summed up like this. Run around punching things. Find other X-Men. Run around punching more things. Find more X-Men. It wasn't an unpleasant experience. In fact, horrible camera view aside, it was quite fun. if you're a fan of the latex clad mutants. Well, here comes more of the same. Can't remember for the life of me if the first one had a skirmish mode, but then I never tried the multiplayer component at all. Regardless, the sequel has 2-4 player co-op, and 2-6 player skirmish. Sweet! It's due in the fall. If only they could get the X3 movie out that quick...
X-Men: Legends now available for the handset you love to not quite love
The Ngage continues to show life with the announcement of X-Men: Legends. The game should be in stores soon (if it's not already) and it looks like it may be worth picking up. Once again, an Ngage title pulls in a respectable score of 81% on one of the most influential sites out there, Gamespot. It's important for you Doubting Thomases to keep in mind that the device didn't have a title that broke an 80 until recently. The recent flood of games (if you can call it a flood) has consistently impressed reviewers. Does this mean the Ngage is suddenly worth having? Probably not for most of us. But it is offering exclusive titles that you can't find on any other handheld, including SSX: Out of Bounds, One, The Elder Scrolls: Travels and now X-Men: Legends. If those products get you going, then come on in. The water is getting warmer.
X-Men Legends continues...
Just a month after the release of X-Men Legends, Activision has confirmed a sequel is underway. There aren't many details yet, including a title or release date, but we do know that Raven Software will be in charge of development again. We'll keep you posted with future updates.
X-Men: Legends lets you join the team
The X-Men deserve the best writers, artists, movies, cartoons and games. They've enjoyed the best of all these, save one. The games one. Sure, there have been some decent fighters with our favorite mutants, but for the most part the gaming potential of the team has never been realized. Hopefully, that's about to change. The reviews are coming in for X-Men: Legends and they look promising. Tom's Hardware is certifiably nuts about it, and give us this classic line: "After entering all of that data into the gaming calculator, this is what it spit back out: X + Men(Legends) = (Bu)Y + iT. That's not just my opinion... it was a scientific calculator. You can't argue with science." If the teamplay dynamic is captured as well as the review says it is, then I may not be reading X-Men for the next couple of months. I mean, why read it when you can be it?
X-Men Legends... legendary or lackluster?
The X-Men remains one of the most promising franchises for videogame adaptation. With a seemingly unlimited universe of unique characters blessed with equally unique mutant powers, all tied together in a soap opera-like drama, it's a developers dream. However, it's no secret that the majority of X-Men games are-simply put-terrible. So when Raven Software announced it was developing an RPG based on the X-Men we pretty much threw hope out the door. But as more and more details emerged, we became pleasantly surprised with the ways in which the title was shaping up. Now, X-Men Legends is at our doorsteps, and X-fans may finally get what they've been dreaming of for so long. Head over to IGN to peep the first official review.
X-Men Legends gets busted wide open
Recently, IGN got to spend some quality time with Raven Software's upcoming action RPG, X-Men Legends. Now we're all well aware of the X-Men's sordid past when it comes to videogame appearances, and at first glance, Legends may appear a bit suspect, but as Hilary Goldstein of IGN assures us, "[this is] an X-Men game to get excited about." In all, there are 15 playable X-Men, of which you (and up to three others) choose a team of four to battle it out in real-time across "immense" levels. Not to mention, Men of Action (a small team of comic book writers) is in charge of the story, so expect them to do the characters justice (even though the game takes place in its own X-Men 'universe')-there's also some classic elements thrown in for all you X-history buffs, including costumes, comics, and even playable levels. All in all, Legends is shaping up to be another promising edition in the action RPG genre, with plenty of autheticity to satify the loyal fans.
X-Men: Legends gets some IGN loving
X-Men: Legends is a comic book game with good buzz. A rare beast, we know. Comic games can generate excitement, but hands-on previews are rare; probably because the developer doesn't have much faith in the game. But when the next installment in the X-Men series was shown at the San Diego Comic Convention this year, there were crowds of people waiting for a moment at the controls. The game is coming along nicely, according to this preview on IGN. It mixes fighting action with RPG, and its focus on team gameplay is a necessary touch in an X-Men game. The look of the title is cartoonish, but not overkill. The X-Men deserve an excellent title. Hopefully, this is the one we've been waiting for.
