Though X-Men Legends II: The Rise of the Apocalypse is just your basic dungeon crawler following an action/RPG formula where you control a team of characters, each with unique and evolving skill sets, it's thoroughly drenched in that exquisite anti-hero lore that is X-Men, where there characters are either super-heroically cool, exceptionally weird or a combination of both.

The Brotherhood, sworn enemies of the X-Men but of the same mutant-human stock, is in there too, but this time they join forces with the Men o' X against a newly discovered whacked out mutant called Apocalypse and his band of merry goons.

Again with that stylish, cell-shaded animation look, it feels like a comic book in motion and plays a lot like the last X-Men Legends game; you manage a party of four (from a selection of 19, eventually), upgrade their powers or weapons, swap out control of each on the fly, fight and solve puzzles tag team style. In this new version, you can automated the micro managerial menu of skills and attributes, optionally, and just let the computer decided who should buff up what and how much if enough skill points have been amassed, so it plays heavier on the action than the RPG elements. A nice option for action buffs, because the action is solid, smarter and more involved.

Too, Legends II can be played online with up to four co-operative players, which is also nice (less so on the lag-enabled PS2) for players that don't have any friends at home to hand off a second controller or three.

[TIP: After rescuing Beast on Mikhail's warship in Act 2 of X-Men Legends II: Rise of the Apocalypse, go through the portal that Blink opens back to Avalon then turn around and go right back to the warship. All the items you previously collected will have reappeared for you to collect again (and again).]