It’s been year since the release of a quality X-Men title. Not since X-Men Legends and its sequel has there really been a game that captured the essence of Marvel’s band of merry mutants, especially with the pitiful movie tie-in titles that have been released.

When X-Men: Destiny was announced by Activision and Silicon Knights, the makers of Too Human, players hoped their prayers would be answered as they would get to experience what it was like for an emerging mutant caught between the turmoil of the X-Men, Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants and the humans who seek to end the “mutant menace”.

Instead, what they got was a half handed execution that feels like a franchise cash-in rushed out in order to hit the holiday game season before the larger releases like Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3.

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People who complain that DC Comics reboot their universe too many times needs to take a look at Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe line.

Founded in 2000 with the debut of Ultimate Spider-Man, the Ultimate universe was always intended as a continuity free entry point into the Marvel Universe. Characters and origins were updated to feel as if they were created in the 2000′s, and many of the movie properties of Marvel took several ideas and storylines from the Ultimate Marvel universe. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the Ultimate Universe became confusing and has been rebooted not once, but twice in ten years! Let me say that again, twice in ten years. Even with all the odds stacked against it, Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 turns out to be a decent issue.

Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, is dead. Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, and Magneto are also in the ground. This ain’t your papa’s Marvel Universe. The issue begins with a scene that could have been ripped out of an X-Men movie. Karen Grant a.k.a. Jean Grey, who has changed her name for safety reasons, visits the parents of a little girl who has just discovered she is a mutant. Karen discusses options with the mother while the father of the little girl is upstairs with her.

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At Comic Con, the Flickcast got our first hands on with X-Men: Destiny to mixed reviews from the team. While the game is still some time away, there lies a lot of potential for the game to take a turn for the better or the worse. When we had the chance to talk to Denis Dyack, who also headed up past projects such as Too Human, it helped sooth some of our concerns. Now, with PAX this weekend, the team at Silicon Knights gives us some further insight into the game with its new Powers trailer and a host of new screen shots.

In the new X-Men: Destiny screens, our main characters Aimi, Grant and Adrian can be seen in costumes different from their original character designs. The most notable are Grant fighting alongside the Juggernaut in similar wardrobe and Aimi who is wearing what looks like a New Mutants style uniform. This could be a sign that over the course of gameplay, certain decisions will not only change the world in front of the characters but the appearance of the characters themselves.

In the Powers trailer below, all three power sets that can be chosen by any of the game’s three characters are seen in action. At Comic Con, we chose the Density Control which used close by rock and asphalt to create a melee focused set, giving players an experience similar to that of the X-Man Rockslide. Energy Projection looks to be more of a sniper class where players will have the opportunity to take out enemies from a distance, playing more like Cyclops. Shadow Matter looks like it combines a mix of the two giving players some distance attacks and other close up enhancements.

Take a look at the trailer and screens below. As always, stick to the Flickcast for more on X-Men: Destiny as it approaches its September 27th release for XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS.

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Recently, we got the chance to get hands on with X-Men: Destiny for the first time. In our demo we got to check out the first level of the game where we had the opportunity to choose between the game’s three possible protagonists Aimi, Grant and Adrian. When a massive Purifier attack hits downtown San Francisco, the player must also decide on the spot which of the three power sets they would like to equip their character with.

The early level surprisingly has a lot of conversation within it as players meet members of both the X-Men and Brotherhood who are both fighting against the Purifiers. Because of the noise in the Activision event, we couldn’t really hear the dialogue at the time but the gist we got was that both sides were already actively beginning to recruit this new mutant to their side.

X-Men: Destiny plays much like a standard 3D street brawler with the added bonus of mutant powers. There are your basic light, heavy, special and grab attacks along with blocking and dodging mechanics as expected. The gameplay itself was fun but the story possibilities are definitely the most intriguing part for us.

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The X-Men have potentially been one of the greatest comic book to video game franchises possible. Looking back to the classic arcade days, X-Men was a title that many gamers in their twenties pumped handfuls of quarters into to no end.

After that, pickings were fairly slim until the X-Men Legends games came out, followed by another drought until Wolverine: Origins, one of the few video game movie tie ins that was not only good, but ended up surpassing the quality of the film it was based off of. The X-Men seemingly would be perfect for the video game world with their plethora of both compelling characters and wide variety of powers to play with. But, as seen from title’s like Arcade’s Revenge, not everyone can seemingly get the franchise right.

Take a peek at Silicon Knight’s attempt at the X-Men franchise with X-Men: Destiny. Destiny looks great in motion as all the footage in this trailer is in-engine, not prerendered cut scenes. Each of the characters does a good job capturing the look and feel of the comics, although it is strange that the Juggernaut looks to have almost the same appearance as he did in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, a game not produced by Silicon Knights.

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Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• We finally get the first sounds of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull in a new teaser for Captain America: The First Avenger. Funny…he sounds a lot like Megatron.

• It looks like the lawsuit against Warner Bros for use of Mike Tyson’s tattoo on Ed Helms in The Hangover Part II may force them to CG the tattoo out of the DVD’s. This seems like a completely reasonable use of that $400 million the film made in the box office.

• Dark animated film 9 director Shane Acker is planning on a big-screen adaptation of Thomas The Tank Engine. Our hope is that Tim Burton also produces this film and Thomas is now a train…from hell!

• Ever want to know what Raiders of the Lost Ark would be like with Tom Selleck and Sean Young? Here you go, but we warn you: the mustache did not help him in the audition.

• Before we ever get the inevitable leaked pilot, we’ve got a whopping 7 second teaser from the failed NBC Wonder Woman series. Who knew you could sum up the entire reason why it failed in 7 seconds?

• In hoping to leave the kids table and join the big boys, Nintendo has teamed with Ubisoft to work on a new raunchy game for the WiiU, titled Killer Freaks from Outer Space. We’re totally sold.

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Big summer super-hero movie scores carry with them a certain set of expectations. The broadness of the source material opens the doors for large and exciting music that should play with the imagination and enhance the very feel of the movie. Of course with great expectation comes great pressure and not all blockbuster scores can resonate beyond the background of the scene. The X-Men franchise has always been one to deliver the goods on the soundtrack, and the newest installment continues that trend nicely.

The franchise has yet to have a single recurring composer, and the new film doesn’t break tradition with Henry Jackman stepping up to the podium for this round. Jackman has not done much as yet in his career, but has written music with Hans Zimmer on some high profile projects and has two other scores later this year. As a relative unknown he is a wild card, it is hard to know what to expect.

Well, we now know that we should be expecting great things from Mr. Jackman. The score for X-Men: First Class is a solid and often rousing musical experience. One that stands shoulder to shoulder with most super-hero scores of the past decade. It might lack the bombast of Spider-Man or the sheer scope of X-Men 3, but it packs a serious punch and excels in all the right places.

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I am conflicted. On one hand this fan opening credits sequence is visually stunning. The 60′s Saul Bass-ian style animation fits so well with the X-Men universe in the 60s. It is detailed, lovingly crafted and clever to boot.

On the other hand it features the single worst variation of the classic 90′s X-Men animated theme ever. I have heard hip-hop versions, death metal versions, even a trendy house music version and nothing compares to the nut kick to the ears that this video presents.

Not only is the song just horrible to listen to, it is also wrong for the tone and style of the visuals. The music needs to be fast, upbeat, jazzy and most of all flow and sync with the visuals. I suggest going to you tube and playing the normal version of the 90′s X-Theme while watching this sequence in mute.

And you should watch this sequence, it is awesome. From a strictly visual standpoint this opening sequence gets everything right. I have a metric ton of hope for this film, and fan produced projects like this only re-affirms my feelings. The 60s are the foundation for everything the X-Men have become, and to get that encapsulated in a film should be high watermark for the genre.

Check out Joe D’s excellent title sequence after the jump.

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With 2011 flying by already, it is only a matter of time before Activision’s next big superhero release with X-Men Destiny.  As we already discussed, X-Men Destiny will follow players as one of three new characters on their path to mutant destiny.

The first of these characters, Aimi Yoshida is profiled below. From the screens, Aimi looks to be a contemporary take on the classic Japanese school girl look. This seems very appropriate since some of the screens reveal villainous ninjas attacking Aimi and Colossus. It’s also interesting to note that Aimi’s mouth is covered, whether or not this is significant to the character or just a piece of cool character design remains to be seen.

Take a first look below at screens and the profile of Aimi Yoshida from our friends at Silicon Knights.

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A year and a half ago, we came home from San Diego Comic Con and were given the chance to review the XBox Live Arcade rerelease of one of our top games of the previous decade with Marvel vs. Capcom 2.  The game was an instant hit and was quickly brought over to the PlayStation 3 as well.

It’s not surprising that soon after, seeing the game’s tremendous success, that Capcom announced Marvel vs. Capcom 3. With a super stylized trailer, the hype hasn’t died down. Even last week at release, it was almost impossible for players to get a hold of the Special Edition of the game, a problem not usually seen in retail anymore.

As we have talked about with our previous hands-on experience, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 brings the series’ classic feel and action back with a shiny new coat of graphical paint and effects that players expect and demand.

Gameplay:

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds doesn’t change the formula that brought Marvel vs. Capcom 2 so much success. The game relies on single round matches between two 3 on 3 teams. Players have three basic attacks of increasing strength, their special attack button, and two assist buttons. These assist buttons can be used to either call in teammates for a quick attack or to switch the character the player is in control of for the fight.

As players throw more attacks and successfully defend against their opponents, they increase their combo meter which builds at the bottom of the screen to unleash Hyper Combos. These hyper combos are special moves that can deal tremendous damage if successful.

This simple control scheme allows for all levels of players to enjoy the game. Expert players will learn advanced combos, juggling and snap backs to eliminate their opponents while newer players will be able to feel like they are setting off tremendous attacks even by just button mashing.

It is an interesting dynamic compared to other fighting games where experience will almost always prevail. While it may be frustrating for an “expert” to get beaten by a lucky combination from a “newbie”, it also makes the game more exciting that outcomes aren’t always so predetermined in multiplayer.

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It’s been about five years since X-Men Legends II: The Rise of Apocalypse, the last true X-Men game, was released. Since that time, the band of merry mutants has only played second fiddle appearing in other Marvel titles. Now, Silicon Knights, with the writing of Mike Carey, will be tackling the X-Men saga.

In the new trailer below, there is the first reveal of gameplay footage as well as some better hints of the mutants who will actually be featured in the game. These look to be Cyclops, Emma Frost, Quicksilver, Pyro, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Magneto and Surge. The final three look to be the possible characters players can play as.

In the trailer, the first actual gameplay footage is shown very briefly with a young mutant covered in tattoos facing off against a large mutated freak. This could be a reveal that Ink of Young X-Men may be one of the characters playable in the game.

Check back right here for more on X-Men: Destiny as it becomes available.

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What ever happened to simple numeric suffixes to titles like Jaws 2 or Friday the 13th Part 4: The Dream Master? In the past decade, films have gotten more ridiculous with titles of sequels like Step Up 2 The Streets or Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Now, Darren Aronofsky’s sequel to 2009′s X-Men Origins: Wolverine is taking another route by going by the name The Wolverine.

In an interview with HitFix, Aronofsky explained that his film isn’t a traditional sequel.

The film that he’s directing is officially called “The Wolverine,” and there won’t be a number attached to it.  In our interview, he referred to the movie as a “one-off,” and he emphasized that the film isn’t a sequel in any conventional sense.

In 2009, Origins was said to be the beginning of a film series based around the backstories of specific characters. For a while, Fox was toying with the idea of doing an X-Men Origins: Magneto with Ian McKellan attached. That idea was more than likely put on the shelf due to a certain Hobbit.

We already know that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is heading to Japan in the upcoming film, in which we expect to see run ins with the Yakuza-like gang The Hand and possibly even the classic villain Silver Samurai.

The Wolverine begins shooting in March for a possible release in the summer of 2012.