Legends.....Portable....'Nuff said, bub!
X-Men Legends II for the PSP is in no way a port of a game for a portable system, it is the whole game, real deal, crammed into one overstuffed UMD that can drop the jaws of anyone who picks it up. This is definitely THE action game to have for the PSP. Not only are all of the Missions from it's console brethren intact and fully playable,
but there happens to be 5 extra unlockable comic book missions and 4 PSP exclusive characters on this amazing little disc also. But how does it play?
Anyone who has played either of the XML games will instantly feel at home, and if you are new to the series, I doubt you will need the 30 minute learning curve that Gamespot suggest. Legends is the perfect fusion of comic book action and Diablo-style RPG gameplay that only takes a few minutes to pick up and learn and yet ,joyfully, a lifetime to master. The game plays out over five acts, that will give you plenty of exploration and unlocking to fight your way through. As you weed your way through Apocalypse's minions, you can unlock characters, danger room missions, concept art, comic book missions, and comic book covers, as well as new powers and abilities for your team. The acts are surprisingly long, providing lots of depth, and yet with the ingenious portal and extraction point system, you can pretty much save anywhere on the fly if the need to put down your PSP and get back to work arises. There are plenty of areas to control, and nooks to find unlockables in, in the various levels, and the way obstacles become transluscent when your character walks behind them makes for smooth exploration. I would have liked to see some camera controls, but with the many controls needing to be mapped to the buttons, this just wasn't possible. However, it also isn't missed--the camera transistions very smoothly to keep you in focus of your party and surroundings, with little in the way of hidden surprises. Chalk up another success in these camera paths, and let's keep this on the list of things future developers need to look to XML to get right. The controls are absolutely smooth, all buttons are mapped out well, giving you full control over your characters. All of the depth of customization is here, tons of powers to choose from and ways to balance out you character, it's all here and it's all up to you. Welcome also, is the option for those of us who find allocating points too tedious, allowing the computer to do that for you as well. Worth mentioning is the load times--this has been a crutch for many PSP releases(cough*cough*DUB Edition*cough). Load times are very bearable for XML, Activision and V.V. have definitely set the bar high, let's hope more developers follow suit. The graphics are equally as stunning in this title, having played XML:II, I was amazed to see the same cutscene and animations brought in as was on the PS2 version without any hang-ups or fuzziness, it's really like taking the PS2 version with you, stacked with a few bonuses you won't find on PS2. There are some slowdowns after saving and loading, but they are brief, and more than forgivable in this stellar title.
As is obvious, I just can't find enough to say how well this game plays, it's a home run in every department, if you are either a comic fan or a fan of the genre. This game clearly shows that PSP owners should not need to settle for the type of ports we have seen in the history of *ahem* other handhelds. This game definitely raises the bar for future PSP releases to shed the "slimmed down, portable" version of console games and strive to stand tall next to them. Welcome to the new world, X-Men!