One of the biggest draws of X-Men games is the fact that you get to play as one of the super powered mutants. With X-Men: Destiny, Activision attempts something new and puts you in the shoes of an entirely new mutant who is just coming to terms with their newfound abilities. Does this bold direction pay off or has evolution chosen a bad batch of genes?

From the start, you’re able to select one of three new mutants. There’s the stowaway Aimi, who just immigrated to San Francisco from Japan, the beefy football player wannabe Grant, and Adrian, the son of a mutant-hating Purifier. Who you choose doesn’t really matter aside from a few changes in dialogue in the story. What mutant power you have is entirely up to you as well. Density Control, Energy Projection, and Shadow Matter all have their own unique set of abilities but you’ll find yourself button mashing through the game no matter which you pick.

It’s been a rough future for the mutants as Professor Xavier has died at the hands of the powerful Bastion. The world is on the brink of separation as humans and mutants fail to reach any sort of peaceful resolution. Things quickly escalate after an attack at a peace rally downtown and it’s up to you to decide who you want to pledge your allegiance to; the X-Men or the Brotherhood.

X-Men: Destiny is a fairly simple action beat’em up where you face off against waves of enemies as you progress through the stage in a linear fashion. In addition to a normal and strong attack, you have M-Power which allows you to unleash more powerful mutant abilities. There are also various X-Genes to collect that boost your offensive, defensive, and utility skills. You’re free to mix and match any of the genes you have with others, allowing you to adapt to any given situation. Using experience points you gain in battle, you can upgrade your mutant powers and X-Genes to make them all the more powerful.

The thing is, once you level up your normal attack to the max, there isn’t much of a need to do any more. X-Men: Destiny is disappointedly easy to the point where all you need to do is mash a single button and jump out of the way every now and again. There are a few varieties of enemies but they all can be taken down in the same manner. Even boss encounters don’t require much skill to complete. If you’re looking for a challenge, it’s best to look elsewhere.

As you progress through the story, you’ll encounter fellow mutants such as Nightcrawler, Gambit, Wolverine, and Juggernaut. Occasionally they’ll have side missions or challenges for you to take one, and depending on who’s asking, you’ll either side with the X-Men or the Brotherhood. Like your selection in who to play as and what power you have, who you help out is somewhat pointless. Ultimately, it comes down to a final decision towards the end as to whether you’ll want to side with Cyclops or Magneto. The decisions you made beforehand play no role into affecting the game really, aside from opening a few more side missions.

That’s the most disappointing thing about X-Men: Destiny. With all the options you have, you never feel like they make any difference in the game. It’s practically the same storyline regardless of who you pick, aside from a few minor details. Finding all the X-Genes and collectibles is neat for a while, but their charm quickly wears off once you’ve found a combination suitable to your liking.

As original as X-Men: Destiny is, it ultimately fails to live up to its X-Men moniker. You can’t help but want to play as Gambit, Wolverine or Pyro, or at least use their abilities. Instead you’re stuck with some generic mutant with generic powers who constantly reminds you how of awesome everyone else is. Being a mutant was supposed to mean something special. X-Men: Destiny somehow manages to take that all away. 

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