So, I preordered and bought this game with high anticipation. What I got, well, I don't know yet.
It's being billed as an RPG game, though most of the decisions and directions are preordained. Yes, you get to choose from one of 3 newly "awakened" mutants. Yes, you get to decide if you want to follow along with Cyclops' X-Men, or Magneto's Brotherhood. However, you get to make that choice several times, so you can go back and forth all you want. And the maps are not very open, you MUST go the way they have it laid out for you to complete it.
I found overall game play to be pretty easy. I finished it in less than 8 hours overall. Granted, I began on the "New Mutant" difficulty setting, but I'm playing through on the "X-Man" setting the 2nd time and am having very little problems with it. Granted, when you "Continue" after the game is complete, you start at the beginning of the game with all of your powers intact, so it's a bit easier. The Villains are tougher to match, but still not that hard.
The graphics are ok. I'm not overly impressed, because I've played better. They're not the worst, by far, but some of the animations aren't as clean as they could be. The sound is pretty nice, no complaints there at all.
In order to complete the game 100%, you'll HAVE to play twice. Some of the "X-Genes" (enhance your powers with other X-Men and Brotherhood powers) are only available if you do side missions and challenges. The problem is, you have to do them with an X-Man (X-Men Faction Points Gained) or a member of the Brotherhood (Brotherhood Faction Points Gained). If you're trying to stay on the good side or the bad side, you'll miss some of them. On top of that, sometimes you have to choose which character you'll follow on a mission, and again lose that chance to get an X-Gene.
As for the 3 different players you can choose from, I really don't think it makes much of a difference on which one you choose to begin with. Probably dialogue, but the goal is always the same. There are only 3 sets of powers you can choose from: Density Control, Energy Projection, or Shadow Matter. Once you choose one of those, you will eventually earn 3 upgrades to that power and a Finishing Power. Each upgrade, you have to choose between two different powers on that level. So, there are 7 powers overall in your power set, and you have to choose 3 of them, with the final one being only one option. Not bad, but they are even more powerful when you choose an X-Gene to amplify them...
The X-Genes come in 3 different categories: Offensive, Defensive, and Utility. You can pair, say, Pyro's flame powers for Offense with Emma Frost's Diamond Form for Defense and Psylocke's Shadow Dash for Utility. In addition, you can find various versions of other characters uniforms for additional boost, such as Wolverine's costume (tailored for your character, you won't look like Wolverine) to increase your health regeneration. If you combine one single character's uniform, offense, defense, and utility, you'll have an additional X power, you'll be stronger and more amplified. This is perhaps one of the coolest aspects of the game, as you can really put together some great powers and be pretty powerful.
Overall, I'd say the game is fun, though I'm not sure it was worth the $60 I paid for it. I always get pissed off when I buy a game for a vacation, something to take me awhile, and finish it in one day. Sure, I still want to play through with the other characters and power sets yet, but after awhile, I can see it getting very tedious by the 3rd or 4th playthrough, especially if I want to collect 100% of the findable items. Buy it used if you have the opportunity and save the money.
