Best known for being recalled and having all remaining copies destroyed, X-Men: Destiny is the final chapter in Silicon Knights’ fall from grace. Beyond the lawsuits and mismanagement of a once promising studio, the game was met with middling reviews and consumer indifference. As was the case with Silicon Knights’ previous disappointment, Too Human, X-Men: Destiny overpromised and underdelivered, specifically around player choice. Having finally given it a proper go, I went in with zero expectations and came out pleasantly surprised, but not exactly impressed.
First of all: I’m a lifelong X-Men fan. From dynamics to aesthetics to themes, they are easily my favorite superhero team of all time. Also: I love a mid licensed brawler. Forget the promises of RPG elements and meaningful player choice: X-Men: Destiny is just a (dated) modern take on Konami’s 1992 X-Men arcade game. With that top of mind, I think it’s much easier to appreciate the game for what it actually is.
So what is it? I’d say 75% of the game is combat arenas. You can customize your character with powers borrowed from other famous mutants in a way that’s never quite explained. You don’t actually play as a known mutant, but rather one created for the game. It doesn’t make a ton of sense story-wise, but it’s a good gameplay mechanic because experimenting with different power combinations makes the repetitive combat a bit more interesting.
So if 75% of the game is combat what is the rest? 10% is exploration and traversal. This part of the game isn’t terribly compelling; you basically go back and forth between dull city streets and dull factories. The visual fidelity isn’t great, and neither is the performance: there are frequent, significant frame rate drops, sometimes at seemingly random times.
10% of the game is story. This is mostly a bright spot. The story was by Mike Carey, one of my favorite X-Men comic writers. This is far from his most compelling work, but it’s a decent X-Men video game plot, with a couple of good twists and lots of cameos. The player choice however, is mostly inconsequential. It’s all extremely binary, but there are occasional moments of nuance.
So what’s the remaining 5% that makes X-Men Destiny what it is? Some honestly pretty killer boss fights.
I don’t want to oversell them, because at the end of the day they’re nothing you haven’t seen in games before, but I really enjoyed pretty much every boss fight in the game. These fights provide a rare bit of spectacle, but also a true test of mechanics and your powers selection.
I’m not going to pretend that X-Men: Destiny is a hidden gem, or that “the critics were wrong.” It’s a mindless brawler with some interesting mechanics, a decent story, and some cool boss fights. I’m not necessarily recommending it, but if you’re curious for whatever reason, you may end up as pleasantly surprised as me.
All screenshots and video captured from an Xbox 360.
Leave a comment