PlayStation 2

X-Men: Next Dimension

Activision has brought this title a long way since its first incarnation, refining Next Dimension to the point of being a fighter that holds its own. The combat system makes the most significant leap forward. It now feels much less random and hectic, and is fairly precise. Performing air combos, regular combos, chains, and super moves is easy with a little training. Although the combat is relatively more open-ended, ND still cannot touch the depth and precision of Capcom’s Marvel titles.

One of the least popular fighting games around the office in quite a long time, X-Men: Next Dimension is certainly not for everybody. Ribbed on as it may be by the other guys in the desks around me, nobody spent as much time with it as I did either. And nobody besides me was privileged enough to discover just how decent this one can actually be.

X-Men: Next Dimension hat was! Zwar kommt es aufgrund diverser Mängel nicht an die Topspiele des Prügel-Genres heran, aber Spaß macht es allemal. Viele Moves gehen nach kurzer Zeit gut von der Hand und auch der Einsatz von Kontern ist nach ein paar Übungseinheiten kein großes Problem. Fans der X-Men sollten schon allein wegen der Charaktervielfalt unbedingt einen Blick riskieren.

This game could have been so much more. Even the Spider-man title, though heavy on action and combat, managed to thread together enough of a story to keep it evolving and entertaining. The storyline in this game is supposedly the reason for all the combat. Well, the very nature of X-men tales was good enough for that ­ not only do they have to contend with the Sentinels, but the Brotherhood as well.

A number of X-Men: Next Dimension's characters require unlocking, and various other extras--mostly alternate outfits for characters--can also be obtained from repeated play. Still, the problems with the fighting system will probably keep you from playing X-Men: Next Dimension extensively. It can be a fine game to play with casual gamer friends who are fans of the source material, but since a number of better fighting games starring the X-Men already exist, it's hard to get too excited about this one. In the end, even the most ardent X-Men fans should probably just rent Next Dimension rather than buy it.

In the end, X-Men: Next Generation is just one big could-of-been. The fighting system could-of-been great if things were executed better, but they weren’t. The game’s story could-of-been great had developer Paradox simply used an old X-Men plot, but they didn’t. Finally, had Paradox tried some new things and built their game around the X-Men license, X-Men: Next Generation could-of-been great. Skip this one, you can thank me later.

Encore une fois, les X-Men ne parviennent pas à convaincre sur console. Manque de rythme, réalisation trop limite, on les préfère largement lorsqu'ils apparaissent en 2D dans des productions plus musclées.

Compared to the GameCube port, the PlayStation 2 version does have the advantage of using the Dual Shock -- arguably a much better controller for fighting games than the GameCube's stock controller -- but it also has to deal with the dearth of fighting game options available to PlayStation 2 gamers. The limited selection of the GameCube library is enough to make gamers consider giving X-Men: Next Dimension a look.