Marvel Comics may not be held in such high esteem right this moment. Certain elements have changed in it and that is quite a shame. There is a large fanbase out there that will never give up on one certain time in the storyline. The 1992 animated series is held as one of the greatest parts of the timeline. We all remember Wolverine, Storm, Gambit and all of them being a part of the X-men and following Professor X out on missions to fight the Brotherhood of Mutants led by Magneto.
Throughout the duration of the comics, a lot has happened. New characters have come and gone and the comic book scene has changed a great deal. Honestly, I haven't followed any of it. Also, this game is not set in that timeline, but it's fairly close. There are some of the old school characters like Cyclops, Wolverine, Pyro and Magneto, but it also has Pixie, Surge and White Queen. Yes, this is more than likely set when Jean Grey died for the third or fourth time and Scott Summers got with his new dom-- I mean... girlfriend.
This game is not held in very high regard at all. There is a very good reason for this. The combat system is repetitive, the graphics are rather pitiful and the storyline is rather laughable. The game is extremely easy. Once you figure out the pattern of the bosses, which is really simple, and you upgrade your mutant powers, then you're pretty much bashing and smashing your way through their best guys.
The shadow ability is not very good, let's get that clear. Go with the Density Control or the Energy Projection with the light power. They do far more damage and have the best abilities. The game isn't the most cinematic because of the graphics, but when you use the powers, it does pack something of a good punch. The beat'em up elements of this game are very satisfying, so someone got that right. It would be something different if you were just punching down cardboard things.
If you are an X-men fan, then it will give you some of those nostalgic vibes. You'll run into Wolverine or Juggernaut and there will come some good memories of those episodes of old. As said before, the story is garbage. However, you do get to choose your own characer and your own powers, giving you some of that good customization. It's very limited, but at least it's nice to see the attempt.
The development of this game was messy and it was clear that some of the people on staff were not very big fans, especially with the character designs.Still, there were several elements that they did get right and there was a lot that came through as a very clever callback to old characters we knew and loved. A lot of it, though, was a little annoying. This is especially true when you get teleported by Nightcrawler and he keeps talking about how you shouldn't do this but doing that is a good idea. Oh, no! Don't go to the Brotherhood!
You have a choice that is not really much of a choice in the end. They attempted to make there be multiple endings, but it turns out the endings are basically the same. Either way, you fight the badguy at the end and Magneto is doing something. A lot of these elements are just traded or stay the same and a lot of it is just rinse and repeat. The big difference that is actually noticeable is, if you go with the Brotherhood, you have a boss fight against Wolverine. If you go with the X-men, you fight Juggernaut. Wolverine is the easier fight, if that makes a difference for you.
This is a guilty pleasure, but there are plenty of great elements that someone can look back on fondly. This is also a great time capsule of a game for 2011. It's a very good game to take some aggression out on if you just want to bash around some Purifiers and smash some big machines apart. It's become something of a rarity as of late. This is mostly because the developers that made it lost their court case and many copies were destroyed. X-men Destiny is seen as something of a weak installment of the franchise, but in a vacuum, it's not a terrible piece of the 2000's property. X-men is worth saving and this title can have a little trailer on the getaway.
