JEPSTER TOGLE

Videogames based on movies are always known to either be mediocre or turn up really bad. None of them actually turn out to be really good. Some even believe that if the movie is bad, the game it’s based upon will turn up worse. The reasons could be because it was rushed to meet the same date as the film’s release or maybe because not enough thought was put into the game at all. Let’s just say it was “marketing”.

This is not the case for the X-men Origins Wolverine game. If you’ve read my  movie review, you would know that I loathe the movie so much. I loathe the movie so much that I believed the game would really be not worth a rental at all.

It turns out that this game is the best Wolverine game (or a game including the Wolverine character) there is on the market right now. Past attempts like X2: Wolverine’s revenge turned out to be a bit disappointing and those Capcom team-ups just weren’t my type of games. Activision’s latest release based on a Marvel Comics character is actually a huge surprise in a lot of aspects.

Graphics

Running on the Unreal 3 engine, this game shines brightly like the glimmer on Logan’s claws. The textures are well done and the details on the environments are seamlessly put together as if those locations weren’t designed for a game but for a film. The character details are superb and well designed that even those grunts were seperately designed from each other.

Aside from the visual aesthetics of the environment and 3D models, this game features one of the best real-time healing effects in a game ever used. Wolverine, mostly known for his fealing factor, actually acquires real-time wounds in this game. So if he gets shot, he’ll get bullet wounds. If he gets burned, he gets burned and his skeleton will show. All of his wounds, no matter how many or how much of his skeleton is revealed, will heal in real time. So, the more wounds you acquire, the longer it will be for him to heal. You’ll be spending most of your time watching Wolverine heal for sure.

The ladies would go gaga over that ripped shirt.

Gameplay

This is where I thought I would really be disappointed. But to my surprise, I had a blast playing a repetitive game. Even if the game is repetitive in a sense not all battles would end up the same. With an interactive environment and a large amount of moves in your arsenal, the game gives you a visual spectacle while only pressing two attack buttons. What makes this game fun and likeable is the fact that there are various animations for most of the moves especially when you’re near an interactive object in a battlefield.

It does not stop there. The boss fights, although simple in nature, are quite a challenge and aren’t frustrating. The game never bullies you with too much too do in so little time. In fact, the game is so forgiving that it plays around with it’s own features to help you access platforms that are unreachable.

You’ll be doing this a lot in the game…

What I’m talking is the “Lunge” move. Wolverine can jump towards anyone he’s facing as long as he’s not too near nor too far. The maximum distance that he can jump towards can be from the three-point-line to the ring in a basketball court. The move can also be used as a stealth kill as long as your enemy hasn’t detected you yet.

Aside from all the killing the game has an RPG-like upgrading system where you can upgrade Wolverine in anyway you can. Aside from the ritual “stats” to upgrade, you can also set skill sets Wolverine can use. These skill sets are called “Mutagens” you can only assign three mutagens at a time and this is a great addition to what seems an exciting game.

The one thing that brings the gameplay down though is also it’s repetitive nature. As fun as I said it could be repetitive, the game looses its magic if you play it too long. That would mean that the game is best played in small doses. The main culprit behind this may be because of the same type of enemies you face every now and then. Even if there are a large amount of enemy types in the game, they mostly do what they were designed for.

You can also unlock costumes when collecting their respective statues within the game, then battling the “costume” as a bonus game. Battling another wolverine is great. Although, the costumes don’t give you any special abilities and are just a visual change when using them in the game. I just hope that they could have extended the game to have a versus system where in you could choose any of the main characters in the game and duke it out in a chosen environment. Because the boss fights are extremely entertaining especially with the character called “Gambit”.

Presentation

X-men Origins: Wolverine is God of War with more slashing and instead of Kratos, you get Wolverine. At first it sounds like it isn’t Wolverine but it actually works. The game feels so much like God of War that even the puzzles, the camera angles and even the context-sensitive actions are much of the same thing as the popular Sony game. What makes it different though is the Marvel License. The amount of production values and amazing FMVs (Full motion Videos) make this game worth getting even if only for viewing purposes and having someone else play the game for you.

Instead of having a griffon to tear apart, Wolverine gets helicopters.

The way the story was presented was actually made the game a bit repetitive. Going back and forth in the past could have been presented thru the cutscenes but you actually had to play through flashbacks. It’s funny that you get better skills in the game and still be able to use them in flashbacks.

Story

The story is basically the same as the movie but there are a lot of changes that make it better. An example is the inclusion of a certain popular X-men villain. The presence of that villain added a lot of depth to the story and even created a twist that could be hint of something from the second X-men film.  Also, there are some appearances that were changed as well as some names. One noteable change is Stryker. He’s neither voiced or modeled after Danny Huston who played the role in the film. In my humble opinion, this Stryker is more cut-throat and closer the original role played by Brian Cox in X-men 2.

Aside from that, we also get a better look at some surprise enemies from the X-men universe that were included in the game. I won’t spoil it for you, but you’ll be surprised to know that you’ll be fighitng something really big.

This guy is actually small compared to what you’re going to face early in the game.

The main letdown though is that the followed the same final act of the film, which is actually what makes the story of the film really awkward and shall I say, an insult to intelligence.

Overall

The game is a lot of fun, but it’s not highly original. In fact, it gave me that feeling of God of War that I really miss when playing videogames.  The whole RPG-ish like feature is a welcome addition but sometimes it barely adds to the enhancement of the game. The production values and aesthetics are great and even a whole lot better than the film. I just hope they used a different ending and made this game a lot more separate from the movie.

All in all, it’s a game that seems to be really well done. It just doesn’t revolutionize action gaming even a bit but for a game based on a movie. It’s one of the best you can get out there at this moment.

Rating:

This game gets three out of 5 stars.

View Related Articles

• X-men Origins: Wolverine

2 Responses to “X-men Origins: Wolverine the Video Game”