Difficulty:

Very Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Disastrous"

Beat'em up games are a dying breed and X-Men Destiny is the perfect example why. Taking place shortly after a rally to commemorate the achievements of the recently deceased Professor X, you take control of one of three individuals who develop mutant powers after an attack on the rally.

Don't be fooled by choices however, as they all lead to the same result. While the powers and characters are different, combat is largely the same. Punching with a simplified version of a two button system, even all the powers usually end the same: throw a few punches, end with a knock back ender.

The unique mutant powers that you acquire are different throughout though. The density manipulation set gains the ability to throw rocks that explode like grenades while the shadow strike set gains the ability to create a whirlwind on the first level. So while there is a lot of monotony, at least the powers are varied.

In addition to your natural mutant powers, you have the ability to equip X-genes from various mutants you meet throughout the game and acquire costumes as well. These are separated into costume, offensive, defensive, and utility. When combining all of the variants from one character, you gain the access to powers very similar to the mutant counterpart.

All of your powers and most of the X-genes are upgradeable and you'll certainly want to. Though you could largely get away with upgrading very little considering the enemy AI is pretty stupid. Most of the enemies will stand there aimlessly for several seconds before even bothering to attack. Bosses have similarly predictable behavior with only a few attacks and following the same dumbfounded patterns as their lessors.

The visuals for the game are woefully under par for the era of the PS3. In fact, they look like they could be from the PS2 era. Facial animations look stiff to the point of almost not moving at all. The majority of the backgrounds are static and poorly done. There are also frame rate issues when lots of enemies are on the screen or explosions happen.

Sound design is also pitiful. Dialogue for most of the characters is suitably wooden with only a few characters delivering any emotion at all. Sure the characters do sound like you would imagine, but that doesn't cover up the fact that they are poorly done. Background music is also pretty lame too.

Rounding out the disaster package is the utter lack of value. One could reasonably complete the entire game, hardest difficulty with all the trophies, in less than 20 hours. Possibly even less than 15.

Still, there were a few moments that are enjoyable. The comic characters are true to their appearances and personalities. The player characters each have their own personalities, but the Purifiers supporter is arguably the best of the bunch. Not only does he have to rectify what he has become in the game, he's also certifiably insane. As you progress through the game, voices of his father disapprove of him. It's an interesting experience, but not worthy of saving the game as the story is boring and predictable.

The Good: Power progression is good and varied, X-gene swapping is useful, characters are true to their roots.

The Bad: Dull visuals, stupid AI, repetitive gameplay, lackluster sound, no replay value, boring story.