Musashi Wins!
FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
So the rush has started and a lot of decent games are going to get looked over...whether this will be one of them I'm not sure yet but I'd like to bring it to the attention of those who dig them some X-Men or a good brawler / crawler.
First off, screw Spider-Man 2, this appears to be the best comic book adaptation of the modern consoles. Where that title thrilled with a few mechanics but lackluster content, this one really shines with depth, both in game and in X-Men specific history. I played for nearly 2 hours last night and only finished the first map and a tour of the X-Men compound. The map was huge as is the mansion. Along the way I fought Mystique and the Blob, followed a relatively interesting storyline about the Mutant Menace, unlocked concept and cover art along with collecting a few more characters (you start as Wolverine), and messed around with all the mini-games in the mansion which include Danger Room training and a X-Men trivia game that gives you experience points for correct answers. Faaantastic.
It's by all means an overhead brawler, and if fighting hordes of anonymous badmen broken up by boss fights and some story scenes isn't your thing you probably won't enjoy it unless you're hypnotized by Marvel nostalgia (as I am). However, it does it's genre very proud. Fighting is quite fun with several moves available to each character including specific powers, equipment, etc. Levelling up is great fun with quite a bit of variety open to you. It's not the most beautiful game I've ever seen, but it does look quite nice with detailed environments (much of which is destructible) and the cell-shading really works here. The camera is adjustable and the only real problem I've run into with movement is that sometimes at stage switching areas the transition can be a bit uncertain with your character loading into the next stage. I'm sure that could be a bit of a larger problem with more people playing.
I am regrettably playing through it solo, but one more plus to the experience is that you can set your teammates AI patterns and item usage, and the controls are fantastically easy. You can swap Wolverines control for Cyclops in an instant as the situation demands.
I suppose the largest surprise I've had so far is the amount of detail and care that have gone into the surrounding story and RPG experience. They could have made a decent brawler and come out with the best X-Men game in awhile. Instead, they've made a fairly deep fighting RPG with a story and environment that is remarkably connected to the source material. There are a multitude of small touches that add to the fan factor (ie. the Canadian flag hanging in Wolverines room, signed with a message from Alpha Flight...The play on the excessive banter of Wolverine's character from his original comic, "I'm the best at what I do!"). It's just full of deep fan service as a game of this type should be..but it also plays with a lot of fun and even some difficulty.
Yea...this sounds like a big fanboy argument in it's favor, but honestly, I haven't read a Marvel comic in years upon years. This just brought it all back and did so because of it's quality of presentation. Check it out!
also...isn't Raven the same developer who did the Soldier of Fortune games??? If so, what the hell happened? Not that those games aren't unique in their own way but...this is a new and impressive direction for them.
First off, screw Spider-Man 2, this appears to be the best comic book adaptation of the modern consoles. Where that title thrilled with a few mechanics but lackluster content, this one really shines with depth, both in game and in X-Men specific history. I played for nearly 2 hours last night and only finished the first map and a tour of the X-Men compound. The map was huge as is the mansion. Along the way I fought Mystique and the Blob, followed a relatively interesting storyline about the Mutant Menace, unlocked concept and cover art along with collecting a few more characters (you start as Wolverine), and messed around with all the mini-games in the mansion which include Danger Room training and a X-Men trivia game that gives you experience points for correct answers. Faaantastic.
It's by all means an overhead brawler, and if fighting hordes of anonymous badmen broken up by boss fights and some story scenes isn't your thing you probably won't enjoy it unless you're hypnotized by Marvel nostalgia (as I am). However, it does it's genre very proud. Fighting is quite fun with several moves available to each character including specific powers, equipment, etc. Levelling up is great fun with quite a bit of variety open to you. It's not the most beautiful game I've ever seen, but it does look quite nice with detailed environments (much of which is destructible) and the cell-shading really works here. The camera is adjustable and the only real problem I've run into with movement is that sometimes at stage switching areas the transition can be a bit uncertain with your character loading into the next stage. I'm sure that could be a bit of a larger problem with more people playing.
I am regrettably playing through it solo, but one more plus to the experience is that you can set your teammates AI patterns and item usage, and the controls are fantastically easy. You can swap Wolverines control for Cyclops in an instant as the situation demands.
I suppose the largest surprise I've had so far is the amount of detail and care that have gone into the surrounding story and RPG experience. They could have made a decent brawler and come out with the best X-Men game in awhile. Instead, they've made a fairly deep fighting RPG with a story and environment that is remarkably connected to the source material. There are a multitude of small touches that add to the fan factor (ie. the Canadian flag hanging in Wolverines room, signed with a message from Alpha Flight...The play on the excessive banter of Wolverine's character from his original comic, "I'm the best at what I do!"). It's just full of deep fan service as a game of this type should be..but it also plays with a lot of fun and even some difficulty.
Yea...this sounds like a big fanboy argument in it's favor, but honestly, I haven't read a Marvel comic in years upon years. This just brought it all back and did so because of it's quality of presentation. Check it out!
also...isn't Raven the same developer who did the Soldier of Fortune games??? If so, what the hell happened? Not that those games aren't unique in their own way but...this is a new and impressive direction for them.
Any way we can take advantage of this?