The X-Men franchise has enjoyed a great deal of success this year. X-Men: First Class opened to strong critical and commercial success in theaters. The comics line has also seen a great reaction, with the Schism event tearing the team in two.
With so much good will towards the series, it would be understandable to hope the latest video game to feature Marvel’s mutants would be a home run. Unfortunately, despite a promising premise and solid combat controls, X-Men: Destiny is a title only hardcore fans of the series will find much to enjoy in.
Developed by Silicon Knights, X-Men: Destiny opens with a peace rally promoting unity between humans and mutants. The scene is soon disrupted by an attack that leaves the entire city in ruins. Suspicion quickly falls on Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, with the master of magnetism seen flying around the city.
The game is full of countless X-Men characters, from famous heroes like Wolverine and Gambit to lesser-known mutants such as Surge and Pyro . The first big problem with the game though, is that players never take control of these popular characters.
Instead, players must choose between three original mutants, none of whom rise above stereotypes that are long worn out. There’s a girl abandoned by her father so she can have a better life, a college football player who is oblivious to the mutant-human conflict until he is pulled into it, and the son of an anti-human activist who is torn between his family and what he is.
Regardless of who players pick, the story sees little change as a result. The main thrust of the narrative follows an investigation into who and what is behind the attack on the rally, with the main character acting only as a surrogate for plot points. In this regard, everything remains painfully linear throughout, no matter what choices the player makes.
Even the game’s titular focus on destiny has no real effect on the story. Throughout the game, players make choices between helping the X-Men or the brotherhood of Mutants. This affects a morality bar that goes from good to evil depending on which choices are made, but this ultimately makes no difference to the story. Aside from one cut scene at the very end, the game plays out the same.
The game’s narrative leaves a lot to be desired, but the gameplay itself is enjoyable enough. Players can choose from three different mutant powers, with projectiles, heavy attacks, and fast attacks all represented. The attacks start off simple, but as the game progresses, more and more abilities are unlocked, allowing for a good bit of complexity by the end of the game.
Unfortunately, though the combat system develops at a steady pace, the battles themselves remain the same from the first fight to the final showdown. The game only offers five different enemy units to battle, so the same tactics that worked early on continue to be effective as the number of enemies on screen increases.
This is a shame as the more advanced techniques are a lot of fun to use and give a real sense of power. If only these moves were a bit more necessary, they wouldn’t feel like such an afterthought.
While the game lacks variety, it’s also relatively short, and dedicated players can get through it in a day or two of play. Though the title’s brevity would be a letdown in most cases, the repetitive gameplay doesn’t quite outstay its welcome before the credits roll.
Another blow to the game’s quality comes in the form of the graphics. The title just doesn’t do enough to set itself apart visually, with everything from character models to environments looking bland and uninspired. Particularly jarring to see is Juggernaut, who’s lack of unity between his mask and head are distracting and bothersome to look at.
Overall, X-Men: Destiny simply has too much working against it to be anything more than a weekend rental to fans of the franchise. This late in the console generation, there’s no reason a title this mediocre should be released. Ultimately, this game’s destiny is to find a place in the GameStop bargain bin.
