There are a lot of things out there, in movies, tv shows and video games that can be considered as 'wasted potential'. You have a great concept sitting on your lap, but its execution just leaves it in such a mess that you question where it all went wrong.
The example for this reviews is 'X-Men Destiny'!
(Pretty cool, huh? Well, about to be pretty disappointed)
Developed by Silicon Knights and published by Activision, X-Men Destiny was a game where you play as a mutant who has recently discovered their powers and must choose between joining the X-Men or the Brotherhood. Not a bad premise, eh? Well, it dumbs down to rather standard characters and powers, some poor voice acting, repetitive gameplay, and a campaign mode that can be finished IN LESS THAN A DAY! So yeah, there are a lot of problems with the game, but is story one of them? Lets find out.
The story begins in San Francisco, where a peace rally is being held between the X-Men and the MRD (Mutant Response Division) in honor of Professor X, who died while fighting a mutant-hunting robot named Bastion (who himself died at the hands of Magneto). After the Professor's death, the X-Men had split up and most have moved to San Francisco to begin a new life for themselves. The leader of the MRD, Luis Reyes, offers to help the X-Men bring peace between mutants and humankind. Of course, the offer was accepted and so this peace rally was formed. However, a bit of opposition from the Purifiers (an anti-mutant radical group) to drive the mutants out of San Francisco.
Here is where the play gets to decide which character to play as for the rest of the game:
- Aimi Yoshida: A Japanese girl who was smuggled out from Japan by her father to avoid being sent to mutant concentration camps.
- Grant Alexander: An all-star athelete who is more interested in his future football career than the mutant and human politics
- Adrian Luca: The son of a Purifier who died in combat, now haunted by his father's spirit to fight the mutants in his honor.
Eventually, the rally is interrupted by a supposed mutant attack led by the Brotherhood. From here, your character is given a choice on which powers to use: a warrior-like powerset where you control your density in rock form, a mage-like powerset where you project energy in different forms, and a rogue-like powerset where you manifest shadow blades. I say it like this because the powers (and the characters themselves) are built around basic RPG classes (the warrior, mage, and rogue). Not that bad of an idea, but not close to being such a good one either.
Anyway, the player meets up with characters like Quicksilver, Iceman, Toad, and Emma Frost telling them that their a mutant, need to pick a side, what kind of danger to expect, etc. A major point occurs when a lead purifier named Cameron Hodge appears (in an advanced robot suit) and starts taking mutants in alive. Thankfully, you're on the scene to save a few, while also meeting up with a teleporter named Pixie and a tracker named Caliban. Eventually, your character meets up with Cyclops and Quicksilver, where the player is given a first choice between choosing which group to work with first: X-Men or the Brotherhood. Regardless, a brawl with the Purifiers with either group results in you confronting Hodge. Near the end of the fight, Magento appears and lifts up an entire section of the Golden Gate bridge and drops it on the combatants. Fortunately, Nightcrawler arrives and manages to save you.
You get dropped off into Chinatown and soon meet up with a group of thieves called the Externals, led by Gambit. After helping them deliver a package, you meet up with Gambit and help his group invade a warehouse run by the Purifiers. There, it is learned that vials containing mutant genes are being dropped off here. Going through a panel into the underground, you find a secret laboratory, which houses not only captured mutants and Purifiers, but a deranged group of scientists called the U-Men, who are known for harvesting mutant DNA. You manage to free several mutants, including Quicksilver, Colossus and Surge, heading deeper into the facility to destroy it for good. Unfortunately, one U-Men, named John Sublime, takes some unrefined mutant DNA and turns himself into a horrid creation that uses the powers of Quicksilver, Colossus and Surge. (How... convenient?) However, John Sublime gets his mutated ass kicked and you recover several vials of mutant DNA. There is a choice whether or not to give the vials to Gambit (earning you some Brotherhood points) or giving them to Colossus (getting X-Men brownie points).
Regardless, you meet up with Cyclops who suggests that there is more than one secret facility and suggests you continue searching the tunnels. You get some help from Wolverine as well, which leads you both to the facility. However, Reyes and the MRD show up and Wolverine starts losing his mind for some reason. Eventually, you are left in the facility all by yourself and must fight through several Purifiers to investigate. Cameron Hodge makes a return, with round 2 of your previous fight starting once more. Midway through, Cameron offers his surrender, which prompts you either to continue fighting him (for Brotherhood) or accept his surrender (for X-Men). Regardless, you fight with Cameron Hodge once more and finally putting the bastard down once and for all.
You later meet up with either Cyclops or Mystique (depending on your choice, of course) and explain the situation to them. From here, you investigate another hidden facility, learning that the satellite hovering above San Francisco houses the intelligence of Bastion, who had apparently survived his fight with Professor X and Magneto. It is also revealed the Luis Reyes is working for Bastion, being granted mental powers similar to Professor X. You soon meet up with Caliban, where it is revealed that Pixie has been kidnapped and her power is being harvested by the MRD. You end up fighting through several Purifiers, including ones who are mutated similar to John Sublime, and use Caliban to track Pixie. Apparently, they are using helicopters to keep her moving and you do her best to find which one she is in. However, you get distracted when you cross paths with Wolverine once more. With Wolverine still going berzerk, you manage to hold him off to allow Emma Frost to free his mind.
After explaining the situation to Cyclops and Emma Frost, you all see the helicopter holding Pixie shot down by a laser similar to Cyclops' optic blasts. You do your best to find the crashed helicopter, fighting through super powered MRD troops along the way. When you come across the crash site, the helicopter explodes as you try to save Pixie. She ends up dying as a result, with Magneto and the Juggernaut arriving on the scene. They blame Cyclops for the incident, yet he stands by saying that he would never do that to his fellow X-Man. A fight breaks out, with you and Cyclops trying to defend themselves against Magento and Juggernaut. Eventually, Juggernaut gets taken out and Magento stops the fight and allows one last choice for the player. All the other choices from the game seem to amount to ziltch, since here you choose either to join the Brotherhood or the X-Men. After making your choice, to leave with either Cyclops or Magneto to figure out what to do next.
The final bit is pretty easy to expect: you and your group tackle the MRD head on, pushing to the tower from which Luis Reyes believes will allow him to control the who world (in reality, it will allow Bastion to take control of his body). Eventually, you come across Reyes, who is now decked out in a supersuit containing several mutant powers and would be used as Bastion's new body. You try to explain to him, it doesn't work, big fight ensues (with a special appearance by classic Sentinels as well) and Reyes and Bastion end up defeated. In the end your group is triumphant, many hurrahs and an interesting credit sequence where you try to take out as many enemies as possible.
After writing this review, I still feel a lot of dread for this game, if only because its too quick to play through, too repetitive and not having the full potential it could've had. Here's to marvel, hoping they actually do something in the future that will make me forget about this game.
Until next time...
X-Men Destiny was developed by Silicon Knights and published by Activision.
Thanks to MARVEL for the Youtube video.
You get dropped off into Chinatown and soon meet up with a group of thieves called the Externals, led by Gambit. After helping them deliver a package, you meet up with Gambit and help his group invade a warehouse run by the Purifiers. There, it is learned that vials containing mutant genes are being dropped off here. Going through a panel into the underground, you find a secret laboratory, which houses not only captured mutants and Purifiers, but a deranged group of scientists called the U-Men, who are known for harvesting mutant DNA. You manage to free several mutants, including Quicksilver, Colossus and Surge, heading deeper into the facility to destroy it for good. Unfortunately, one U-Men, named John Sublime, takes some unrefined mutant DNA and turns himself into a horrid creation that uses the powers of Quicksilver, Colossus and Surge. (How... convenient?) However, John Sublime gets his mutated ass kicked and you recover several vials of mutant DNA. There is a choice whether or not to give the vials to Gambit (earning you some Brotherhood points) or giving them to Colossus (getting X-Men brownie points).
Regardless, you meet up with Cyclops who suggests that there is more than one secret facility and suggests you continue searching the tunnels. You get some help from Wolverine as well, which leads you both to the facility. However, Reyes and the MRD show up and Wolverine starts losing his mind for some reason. Eventually, you are left in the facility all by yourself and must fight through several Purifiers to investigate. Cameron Hodge makes a return, with round 2 of your previous fight starting once more. Midway through, Cameron offers his surrender, which prompts you either to continue fighting him (for Brotherhood) or accept his surrender (for X-Men). Regardless, you fight with Cameron Hodge once more and finally putting the bastard down once and for all.
You later meet up with either Cyclops or Mystique (depending on your choice, of course) and explain the situation to them. From here, you investigate another hidden facility, learning that the satellite hovering above San Francisco houses the intelligence of Bastion, who had apparently survived his fight with Professor X and Magneto. It is also revealed the Luis Reyes is working for Bastion, being granted mental powers similar to Professor X. You soon meet up with Caliban, where it is revealed that Pixie has been kidnapped and her power is being harvested by the MRD. You end up fighting through several Purifiers, including ones who are mutated similar to John Sublime, and use Caliban to track Pixie. Apparently, they are using helicopters to keep her moving and you do her best to find which one she is in. However, you get distracted when you cross paths with Wolverine once more. With Wolverine still going berzerk, you manage to hold him off to allow Emma Frost to free his mind.
After explaining the situation to Cyclops and Emma Frost, you all see the helicopter holding Pixie shot down by a laser similar to Cyclops' optic blasts. You do your best to find the crashed helicopter, fighting through super powered MRD troops along the way. When you come across the crash site, the helicopter explodes as you try to save Pixie. She ends up dying as a result, with Magneto and the Juggernaut arriving on the scene. They blame Cyclops for the incident, yet he stands by saying that he would never do that to his fellow X-Man. A fight breaks out, with you and Cyclops trying to defend themselves against Magento and Juggernaut. Eventually, Juggernaut gets taken out and Magento stops the fight and allows one last choice for the player. All the other choices from the game seem to amount to ziltch, since here you choose either to join the Brotherhood or the X-Men. After making your choice, to leave with either Cyclops or Magneto to figure out what to do next.
The final bit is pretty easy to expect: you and your group tackle the MRD head on, pushing to the tower from which Luis Reyes believes will allow him to control the who world (in reality, it will allow Bastion to take control of his body). Eventually, you come across Reyes, who is now decked out in a supersuit containing several mutant powers and would be used as Bastion's new body. You try to explain to him, it doesn't work, big fight ensues (with a special appearance by classic Sentinels as well) and Reyes and Bastion end up defeated. In the end your group is triumphant, many hurrahs and an interesting credit sequence where you try to take out as many enemies as possible.
After writing this review, I still feel a lot of dread for this game, if only because its too quick to play through, too repetitive and not having the full potential it could've had. Here's to marvel, hoping they actually do something in the future that will make me forget about this game.
Until next time...
X-Men Destiny was developed by Silicon Knights and published by Activision.
Thanks to MARVEL for the Youtube video.
