X-Men Legends

X-Men Legends is a Gauntlet Legends inspired multiplayer game starring the X-Men. The visuals are based on the newer Ultimate X-Men comic, so you won't be seeing any colorful spandex. It is basically one big dungeon crawl, with light RPG elements. The sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, was released in 2005.

Gameplay
You control a team of 4 X-Men at a time, each with 4 unique skills and several unique bonuses. The levels are linear, but with a high level of destructible environments. Not The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction levels of damage, but almost every wall can be destroyed to reveal a room behind it, or another wall (that cannot be destroyed). You can switch between any of the 4 characters in your party at any time. To switch characters outside of your party, you have to reach a save point.

Your mutant powers are limited by your energy meter, which is basically mana in your typical RPG. You can collect blue gems to fill up your energy, and red ones to fill up your HP. A normal level will have your X-Men running around destroying every enemy that comes their way. Sometimes you'll fight giant Sentinels or Tanks. Eventually you'll come across a boss fight. The enemies are varied. Some will heal their fellow men, others will not be affected by physical attacks (Normal punch/kick combos), and others still will not be affected by mutant powers. There are hardly any puzzles to break up the action.

You do not start with every X-Men. You start out with a handful, and more are introduced as you progress through the story. When you get new X-Men, it is best to level them up in the Danger Room. The Danger Room is basically a bunch of unlockable mini one-room missions with different objectives. They are similar to the Events in Super Smash Bros. Melee. As previously mentioned, the X-Men are varied. Besides the obvious different power attacks, some have different basic melee attacks. Some characters can double jump. Storm & Jean Gray can fly and pick people up if you level them up enough. Anyone with super strength (Colossus/Beast) can throw Wolverine as a weapon in a Fastball Special.

Stats are very basic and can be leveled up automatically if you don't want to focus on them. Otherwise, you can assign level up points manually. Moves can be leveled up to become stronger, or go up one tier. For example, Cyclops' Optic Blast gets stronger and stronger each time you assign it a level up point. At about level 5, if you give him 2 more points, it will go up a tier, and gain new properties. In his case, his optic blast will now go through multiple enemies.

You can also equip your X-Men with items you find. Many of the common ones are basic stat +1 boosters. There are only 3 slots for equipment: Backpacks, body armor and belts. Some items make references to characters from the comic; Shadowcat's Touch equipped will do more damage to robots, or Mask of Xorn will give unlimited energy.

There are about 16 levels in total, with some trips to the X-Mansion or other neutral territories in between most of them. Here, you control the newcomer Magma, and wander around talking to students and other X-Men, like visiting a town in an RPG. Some rooms also feature access to different features, like a quiz for extra points, or talking to Forge to buy items & equipment.

Story
Trying to keep the story as fresh as possible, and to keep off the toes of all the other x-books current stories and continuities, this game introduces a new character to the X-Men universe....specifically the Ultimate X-Men universe. She goes by the code name of Magma, and she is being abducted by the brotherhood of evil mutants as the game opens up. Starting as wolverine, you slash your way through the level until you rescue the new girl, and begin your true goal: finding what magneto is up to. You will command numerous allies, as wellas see some pretty impressive cameos of other well known characters in the marvel universe. You will face off against familiar enemies of the mutants, as well as some good ol' fashioned government bashing, all while viewing all events from the perspective of the new addition to the team.