Multiplayer X-Men

Activision was very good to gamers with X-Men™ Legends. In addition to the incredibly deep single-player campaign, up to four people can join the on-screen action at once in its multiplayer modes.

Playing with real human beings instead of A.I. teammates changes everything about your approach to each mission and your combat strategy once the fighting starts. Then, when your X-posse of gamers has completed its missions, you can enter the Danger Room to mix it up in a handful of cooperative and competitive multiplayer contests.

Choose a mutant and come out swingin'.

The More Mutants, the Merrier
The act of tackling the story mode as a team automatically requires new strategy. No longer can you dictate to the A.I. when to use health packs or which mutant powers to use in combos. Now, those decisions will be made on the fly by your fellow gamers.

This can be both good and bad. You can set up more combos more often simply by communicating with the other gamers in the room. For instance, the A.I. won't always bring Wolverine close enough for the Fastball Special, but your buddies will. You can also focus more effectively on taking out primary targets like the Morlock Goth, who resurrects the Brutes and Claws you've already dusted. Finally, multiplayer teams can coordinate their efforts to get the maximum effect. Set your foes up with Jubilee's binding Strobe Flash attack or Emma Frost's Confuse and then knock them down with the Beast's Propeller Kick or Colossus' signature Charge.

On the down side, you have to share resources. In the heat of battle, one outclassed mutant can burn through all your health and energy packs in a matter of seconds, leaving the rest of the team high and dry. The group is far more likely to get separated, as members will want to explore in different directions.

Ultimately, a multiplayer campaign plays out far more quickly than a solo effort, with more extreme action. Even the greenest rookie is superior to the A.I.-controlled teammates, and powerful characters acting in unison is what the X-Men are all about. If a homicidal Canadian, smooth-talking Cajun, and sassy Asian-American can all work together in the comic books for the good of humanity, you and your gamer buddies should have no problem coming up with a plan and executing it in your game room. And, when you see all the wild, explosive things your heroes can do in X-Men: Legends, you'll agree that it was worth the effort.

Let's search for X-treasure!

Sparring Mode
If the increased diversity of a multiplayer campaign doesn't challenge you, you can always take your best leveled-up characters into the Danger Room to test your skills against your friends'. Accessible through the main menu, Sparring mode lets you define two opposing teams by selecting heroes and villains you've previously unlocked. You can then team up against the A.I. or square off against your fellow gamers.

Skirmish Mode
Things get even more competitive in Skirmish mode, which has four different multiplayer game types. Brawl is your basic deathmatch, where characters use their special powers against each other, racking up points for each knockout. King of the Hill gives one player full access to its powers, including the devastating Xtreme Mutant attack, and whoever knocks out this character becomes the king themselves. With every other player gunning for the king, you win by holding onto the crown longer than anybody else.

Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing is your basic deathmatch and features a limited number of lives—four knockouts and your character is done, until only one remains. Last Man Standing Ladder ups the ante by giving you the same game, but each time you die, your character comes back at a higher level, with more mutant powers available. For each defeat you hand out, you create a tougher foe to beat. This great equalizer helps keep the playing field level and truly separates the hardcore players from the newbies. By the time a winner is crowned, you'll know he earned it by beating the best that the others had to offer.

X versus X.

X-Men: Legends offers a broad, immersive adventure that combines colorful action-roleplaying action with nearly 40 years of comic book continuity. As brilliant as the single-player campaign is, it would be rude to hog all that fun to yourself. Invite some of your X-friends over and prove to the world what Homo Superior can do.

By J.N. Cobb