Video Game Vintage Title: X-Men: Destiny

X-Men: Destiny

X-Men: Destiny is an action role-playing video game based on the X-Men comic book series. It was developed by Silicon Knights, it is written by Mike Carey, the writer of the X-Men: Legacy comic book series, and was released by Activision for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles.

X-Men: Destiny, along with most other games published by Activision that had used the Marvel license, was de-listed and removed from all digital storefronts on January 1, 2014.

X-Men: Destiny Plot

X-Men Destiny is based in San Francisco, which has been divided into human and mutant areas due to a conflict between the two groups. The game begins at a peace rally being held in memory of the deceased Professor X, where the player chooses from one of three mutant characters to play as, who have been originally created for the game. The game allows for the player to decide which mutants become their allies and enemies through choices made in the course of the story.

The peace rally held in San Francisco by the Mutant Response Division Chief Luis Reyes quickly turns into a disaster as the rally is attacked by an unknown force. Immediately after, the player character's latent mutant powers are awakened and he/she is forced to defend civilians in the area from the Purifiers, an anti-mutant extremist organization. While being guided by Emma Frost, the player character meets mutants from both the X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants and sides with either group as he/she goes after Cameron Hodge, leader of the Purifiers. Hodge is wearing a power armor and personally joins the hunt for mutants, while many characters wonder why the Purifiers are capturing mutants alive instead of killing them. The player character eventually corners Hodge on top of a building but the fight is interrupted as Magneto, who is accused by Reyes for attacking the rally, drops a steel bridge on top of the combat zone.

The player character is saved by Nightcrawler at the last moment and teleported to China Town where he/she is tasked to find Gambit. Gambit left the X-Men after the death of Professor X and currently operates a casino in the town. After meeting him, Gambit asks the player to help him raid a Purifier warehouse which contains the technology Purifiers use against the mutants. After the raid, Gambit gives the player the location of the secret underground lab where Purifiers hold captured mutants.

At the lab, the player meets several captured mutants such as Quicksilver, Surge and Colossus, and meets the U-Men, a group of anti-mutant soldiers that somehow uses power drained from mutants. With their help, the player eventually defeats Sublime in the lab and saves the mutants.

Acting on intel gained by the X-Men, the player goes after a secret underground base used by Hodge and Purifiers. Along the road, he meets Wolverine and Reyes again but Wolverine goes berserk for some unknown reason and attacks Reyes and the player is forced to continue alone. He/she eventually find Hodge who is now wearing a more powerful suit of armor armed with captured mutant powers. Hodge states that with the power drained from Pixie and Caliban, they will be able to find and capture any mutant they want. He also slips that he is helped by some other group or person. After the fight, Hodge falls from the generator tower and is presumed dead.

Depending on the player's choice, the player either goes to Cyclops or Mystique with the new-found information and is tasked with finding Pixie and Caliban. The player eventually find Caliban and with the aid of Forge, realizes that the person who is pulling the strings so far is none other than Bastion, the robot who killed Professor X. Bastion somehow survived and uploaded himself to the MRD satellite and it is revealed that Reyes also works for him. With Caliban's help, they find Pixie but the helicopter carrying her gets shot down by a laser beam and crashes. The player eventually finds the crash site but the wreckage explodes and Pixie is killed in the blast. Immediately after, regardless of the player's choices so far, Magneto accuses Cyclops of shooting down the helicopter and attacks both Cyclops and the player alongside the Juggernaut. After the fight, Magneto grudgingly gives the player a chance to join the Brotherhood and he/she is forced to make a decision.

Regardless of which side the player chooses, he/she is tasked to find and eliminate Reyes who seems to have mind control powers to influence other mutants. Reyes plans to amplify his power with Bastion's satellite so he can control anybody (human or mutant) on Earth. After fighting several allied mutants and saving them from Reyes' mind-control, the player eventually finds the broadcasting tower used by Reyes and shuts down the signal with the aid of both Cyclops and Magneto. Bastion however downloads himself into Reyes' mind and takes control of him, who is now wearing an even more powerful version of the armor Hodge was wearing. Bastion also sends several Sentinel robots to the fight. After taking out both Reyes' Sentinel and himself, Reyes states that he wishes to surrender to the authorities, to which the player responds that they (either X-Men or Brotherhood) are the law now.

The ending depends on which side the player chooses to join at the end of Chapter 7.

If he/she sides with the X-Men, Cyclops and rest of the team is seen watching the remains of the city and promising that they will create a world where mutants and humans can live in peace. Cyclops states that there's another storm coming that might be worse than the ones they endured. Cyclops tells the player that it is good to know that the player is with them.

If he/she sides with the Brotherhood of Mutants, Magneto and the player are seen watching the ruins of the city, with Magneto declaring the formation of a mutant-only nation and saying that he will teach the player to how to survive in a world that despises mutants.

X-Men: Destiny Gameplay

In X-Men: Destiny, players are put in the role of new mutants who join the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants; they have to make choices to decide the ultimate destiny of their character. X-Men: Destiny places an emphasis on choice, as opposed to a more traditional linear type of gameplay. According to the official press release, "the all-new original video game casts players as new mutant recruits in a rich, branching storyline that features a deep element of choice and gives players ultimate control of their destiny".

Throughout the game, players collect power enhancements called "X-Genes". Every X-Gene can unlock three types of abilities: offensive, defensive, and utility. X-Genes can be mixed and matched as the player sees fit for a unique experience.

Some retailers packaged the game with exclusive pre-order bonuses. Those who pre-ordered on Amazon.com received an early unlock code for Emma Frost's outfit and X-Genes; Best Buy offered an early unlock code of Juggernaut's costume and X-Genes; and GameStop's pre-ordering customers received Havok's suit and X-Genes.

Reception
X-Men: Destiny received generally negative reviews, with most pointing out the button mashing combat, lack of consequences to choices, and overall lack of polish. Joystiq criticised the sluggish gameplay and short story, stating the game feels unfinished and awarded it 1.5 stars out of 5. GamesRadar, although praising the fan service of the game, echoed the sentiment of the game feeling unfinished, calling it mediocre and citing the graphics being similar to "an HD remake of a last-gen game" and although the boss battles received some praise, the majority of the fighting was considered dull and repetitive, awarding the game 5 out of 10. However Game Informer gave the game a 7 out of 10, again praising the fulfilment of fantasy for mutant lovers the game provides, as well as replay value, despite the questionable graphics.