X-Men Destiny Reviews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on October 2nd, 2011

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While the game was billed as an (action-RPG), calling it that would be a gross overstatement. Sure, it satisfies a few terms of similarity, but even with an upgrade system thrown in and some hidden collectibles, this is very much a straightforward action game with extremely light RPG features (not much more than you'd find in, say, God of War). Even for an action brawler, this one is as mindless as they come.

X-Men: Destiny is an ugly, boring, lazy little game. Even if it were free, it would be insulting to have one's time wasted in this way, but the fact it's being sold for sixty dollars rubs salt in the wound. It tries to eke out an existence by pretending to be a far richer and more satisfying game than it is, but the promise of a better experience only serves to hammer home just how bad the final product actually is.

The only purpose Destiny serves is to demonstrate exactly what happens when developers don't care about what they're making. It's an exercise in apathy, and any customer who buys it would be within their rights to feel angry that they paid good money for something that never had any intention of being enjoyable, existing solely to make easy money off a comic book's name.

Fans of the comic may also be put off by Destiny's cavalier treatment of turning newbies into Sentinel-slaying prodigies by borrowing powers from other mutants especially when it makes the game feel unbalanced. Other X-Men aficionados may not care as much, though the plethora of issues and the numbing repetition might test the resolve of their wallets and sense of fun. This is especially true when it only takes six or seven hours for a single playthrough. The short length could be a heavy-handed hint to try the other characters and powers, but given how boring it can be the first time through, there's little incentive to do so.

X-Men: Destiny feels like a demo for a bigger game that never was. Little of the excitement that could have followed in the booted footsteps of X-Men Legends or Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is buried within its too-short campaign and thin smattering of gameplay. It's Dynasty Warriors for mutants; it can be fun at the outset, even with all the button-mashing, but the boxed-in world is not enough to distract from the hollow feeling of this particular destiny.

All in all X-Men destiny is a very mediocre game. It's difficult for me to admit that I actually had a decent amount of fun during my play through, as I know that it wasn't well made at all. The title will take approximately six hours to beat the first time, but it does have some replay value with a second play through for a different side of the story, and some boring challenges to undertake if you happened to fail them while playing. I wouldn't guarantee that you would actually want to play through it a second time, but if you happen to be a huge fan of the X-Men series, it might be worth it for you. The game is worth a rent if you have some spare time, but I wouldn't warrant a full $60 purchase.

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