X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Review
Added May 21st, 2009 by Artie Augustyn
Predicting the quality of movie-tie-in games isn’t always the easiest things to do. There are some genuinely great creations such as Spiderman 2 and Goldeneye 64, but the majority of the market is cluttered by mediocre action titles. Included in this category would be Iron Man and Batman Begins. So, when I first popped in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Luckily I was delighted to discover that Wolverine is one of the better movie games there are.
The general gist of Wolverine doesn’t require much explanation - you play as famous comic book antihero, Wolverine (aka. Logan, aka. Jimmy). His rapid healing mutation, along with retractable bone claws, make him to be one of the deadliest mutants in the Marvel universe. The story of the game tries to follow the plotline of the movie released May 1st, but it takes a few liberties in order to lengthen the experience. Needless to say, narrative junkies are better off watching the film and not playing the game.
After playing the game for a few minutes, you’ll realize the big hook: this is probably the most graphically violent comic book game yet. There’s no holding back when it comes to the brutality Logan is capable of. Combos can be strung together to tear enemies’ arms off, or decapitate their vulnerable heads. Every single adversary you dispose of falls to the ground with a torrent of blood spewing from their lifeless body. The violence seems a tad over the top, but is logistically necessary since sharp objects have a tendency to cut things apart. The gore does a good job at keeping the eye candy factor up, despite the character models and environment textures being on the lackluster side.
That’s not to say the combat needed extra assistance to be deemed as “fun.” X-Men Origins is your typical action game, but with a few extra touches added on to make the style of fighting seem unique to the character. Wolverine has several abilities including the popular “lunge” move that allows Logan to jump across hundreds of feet and sink his claws into a foe’s chest. In addition to lunge, there’s a variety of spin attacks and timed power-ups to give some diversity to the flow of the action. You’ll be finding new techniques and stunts to pull off throughout your entire play through despite the rudimentary basic concepts.
The biggest hindrance to Wolverine’s combat is the uninspired boss fights. Many games are often criticized as having bosses that are simply “enemies with more health” but Wolverine brings new meaning to that exaggeration. You’ll often encounter a boss who has a weak point on his back that you’ll have to lunge onto and stab several times. Outside of dodging one major attack, this is the only strategy required for these types of boss fights.
It’d be bad enough if these types of fights only appeared once or twice throughout the campaign. Unfortunately the game’s single player is filled with these boring encounters. I literally fought the same boss fight around a dozen times. Sure, the first time it was a rock monster, and then a wendigo prototype, and then The Blob, but in reality it was the same exact strategy each and every time.
Luckily this was the only fault I could find throughout my play through of Wolverine. Of course, there are a few obvious flaws such as the campaign being rather short, and a lack of replayability, but you’ll find that in any action game including the great genre leaders such as Ninja Gaiden and God of War.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a decent movie-tie-in game, but that doesn’t make it the greatest game of all time. It’s certainly miles better than the other crap you can find on the market, but at the same time there are plenty of other better games you could also be playing. Fans of the film who have cash to spare will find themselves pleased with their purchase. However, if you’ve ever given second thought to buying the game, it’s probably not for you. All I can say is: I honestly had fun with Wolverine, all six hours of it. You can take that however you want.
