X-Men: Next Dimension

Game Informer Magazine (7.75 out of 10) (78%)

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.

IGN (7.2 out of 10) (72%)

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.

Playzone (71 out of 100) (71%)

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.

GameZone (7 out of 10) (70%)

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.

4Players.de (67 out of 100) (67%)

Schade, an der Playstation hatte ich damals mit den X-Men eine Zeit lang wirklich Spaß. Die nächste Generation artet aber viel zu sehr in Arbeit und Ärger aus, als dass sich eine nähere Betrachtung für den Tekken 4-verwöhnten PS2-Prügler wirklich lohnen würde: mistige Grafik und langweilige Levels schrecken schon beim Hinkucken ab, die unsaubere Kollisionsabfrage und der unausgewogene Schwierigkeitsgrad erledigen den Rest. Zu dumm, denn abwechslungsreiche Helden, eine brauchbare Steuerung sowie vielerlei Extras böten eigentlich genug Motivation für ein längeres Verweilen. Comic-Fans mögen einen Blick riskieren, Prügelfans im Allgemeinen sollten besser gleich mit Tekken´s Heihachi und Konsorten weitermachen, ohne die flügellahmen X-Men einer näheren Betrachtung zu unterziehen - es lohnt sich nicht wirklich.

GameSpot (6.4 out of 10) (64%)

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.

Gamereactor (Sweden) (6 out of 10) (60%)

Efter mina första intryck låg motorsågen och puttrade, men efter lite mer tid och möda visade spelet sig vara helt okej spelmässigt. Det går att åstadkomma rätt snygga kombinationer och förutom några pinsamma buggar så håller motorn hög klass. Det måste också påpekas att Playstation2-versionen laddar ohemult mycket. Du får räkna med minst en halv minut från det att du lämnar valskärmen tills striden drar igång. Spelet är alltså ett typiskt medelmåttigt spel. Problemet är väl att det finns minst fem bättre fightingspel till maskinen så motivationen att ägna sig åt det här är inte den högsta. I de flesta fall är dessutom Marvel vs Capcom 2 ett bättre val för Marvel-fans. Men om du känner till samtliga namn jag har hävt ur mig i den här recensionen finns det nog en chans att du kommer att gilla det här. Pröva åtminstone.

Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault) ( ) (60%)

Novices will have a hard time with X-Men Next Dimension, while experts will begin to spot its weak points almost instantly. Slightly sluggish controls hurt the faster characters, leaving some of the mid-speed characters’ blend of movement and power overbalanced in the grand scheme of things. Despite these issues, X-Men Next Dimension is a fun game that manages to capture the fighting styles, if not the personalities, of the comic characters, making it a solid choice for rookies who are fans of the franchise. Hardcore grapplers would be best to run this release through at least a rental test, where it’s easy to see some potential, but equally easy to see its quirks.

Gaming Target (6 out of 10) (60%)

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.

Jeuxvideo.com (10 out of 20) (50%)

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.

GameSpy (38 out of 100) (38%)

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.

Eurogamer.net (UK) (3 out of 10) (30%)

Perhaps the most damning thing of all about Next Dimension though is that throughout our time with the game, we never once felt the impact of a blow or watched a character reel in pain - there's virtually no weight to any attack and hit contact is unconvincing. For a game based on a collection of the world's most powerful superheroes, that's as good a reason as any to avoid it.