This week I rented X-men Legends II and let me tell you right off the bat that I can?t stop playing it. My current employment situation, my education, love life and friendships have all been thrown into an absolute state of jeopardy as a result?okay I?ll admit they were before, but now I at least have an excuse. Now that we?ve settled that let?s get this column rolling.

X-men Legends II (XL2) is available for Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. You can play online with the PS2 and Xbox versions but not Gamecube ? Nintendo must be too superior to make great games with online compatibility.

Just like the original, XL2 is an action RPG in which you have four characters at your service. You can cycle through and command any one of them while the computer will control the other three for you, or one to three players can take their place. In truth, it?s quite possibly one of the best co-op multiplayers out there. As you slash through the levels characters gain experience and level up to get new specials and moves.

XL2 is not without some great new features.

First of all, since the story follows that the world as we know it is threatened by the most unforgiving mutant of them all, Apocalypse, you have not just the X-men but also some of their most powerful villains at your disposal. I was mightily impressed with variety and number of characters available this time around.

Needles to say, my most formidable and downright coolest team consisted of Magneto, Juggernaut, Storm and Colossus.

Secondly, and perhaps this improvement is debatable, there is now an automatic setting for distributing experience points. Because XL2 is so engaging it can be rather annoying constantly having to distribute points every time a character levels up. Personally, I keep it on manual just to make sure the best moves are unlocked first but with the new online feature having an automatic setting is a good idea.

Thirdly, in the original X-men Legends characters would learn four similar moves that would improve as progress was made. This time around, characters learn tons of new moves, even specials, all of which can be cycled through at any time.

Fourthly, depending on what combination of characters you select andor costumes you choose, you can gain bonuses on things such as attack or defence. For example, if you make it so that all four of your characters all wear the Age of Apocalypse skins, which look the best by far, your team will gain 100% to attack.

And finally there?s the improved ally A.I. With the original I needed a partner to beat the game because the odds sometimes seemed unfair. I recall instances in which every enemy on the screen was mauling my character meanwhile the rest of my team would be relaxing somewhere firing an energy blast every now and then. And even though at any time you could summon your team to come to your aid I always thought it would be best if the team would just split up and each take on an enemy, especially when you?re trying to take on mammoth bosses. With XL2, your allies never hesitate wasting your enemies. Magneto in particular I found would always calmly hover into a room and start single-handedly tossing swarms of enemies around in a furious surgical storm.

If you?ve played the original, the controls haven?t changed but if you haven?t, fear not for it takes no time to get comfortable with them. I?m not going to say which characters are available for unlocking but they do make for terrific rewards.

The original X-men Legends was fantastic; four characters at your disposal, quality FMV sequences, voice actors from the movies such as Patrick Stewart, an engaging plot and a true challenge to beat. XL2 encompasses all those great aspects and offers more. Indeed, with online compatibility this game surely becomes a worthwhile investment.






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