It seems that any time a movie/videogame combo hits, only one is allowed to be good. The movie Iron Man was plenty entertaining, but the game was reportedly bland and pathetic. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was a well-loved game for the Xbox, but the Chronicles of Riddick film pretty much got panned. It seems that the best you can ask for is one or the other, and never both.
Well, if I had to choose between which would be the winner when it came to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I’d have chosen the game. I’m clearly far more gamer than film-lover. And lucky me - I got my wish.
Let’s go ahead and get the dirt out of the way here first though. This game isn’t perfect. There are a lot of bugs, especially when the action takes you to New Orleans in pursuit of Gambit. Fortunately, these mostly result in things like pieces of the background turning black, or a special-move glitching out. They are minor annoyances, but aren’t deal breakers.
However, on one occasion, an entire room failed to materialize and I walked out into nothingness. And enemies have gotten stuck in walls where they could not be reached, preventing me from being able to proceed further into a level. In both circumstances, I had to restart from a checkpoint in order to proceed, but fortunately those checkpoints are plentiful. Still, you can tell the game didn’t get as much QA time as it should have, all so that it could meet the release date coinciding with the film.
But beyond these flaws, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a fun little brawler that I enjoyed playing quite a bit. And unlike the film, this one is going for broke on blood and violence. And damn it feels good.
If I had to sum up the game in one word, it would be ‘brutal’. Wolverine gets to show his inner animal in this game, with blood and limbs flying every which way. But it isn’t just the copious amounts of red fluid flying around, or the vast amounts of limbs getting severed. It’s the animations that Wolverine can go through that really make the attacks feel raw and merciless. My favorites include the quite valuable pounce maneuver, which lets you perform a flying tackle against your opponent, which I would then follow up by mercilessly stabbing my downed opponent more than a dozen times in mere seconds.
As the game progresses, you are given more and more opportunities to shred your enemies apart. I started out with just button mashing between my quick and strong attacks, and this proved useful enough for the early chumps you face. But as you move deeper into the game, the enemies grow stronger, and different attacks and strategies become more desirable. And instead of becoming frustrating or drawn out, this progression stays fun and visual, resulting in such things as cutting a man’s arm off and beating him to death with it, or grabbing an attacker’s spear, thrusting it in the ground, and impaling its owner on top of it. Classic stuff.
This growth is also paired with RPG elements - a standard these days - that help you evolve Wolverine as you see fit. You gain level ups, and with them come points to spend on new abilities (things like increased life or stronger claws). You also gain “Rage Powers” - essentially group attacks that are easily triggered and fueled by destroying your enemies and materials around them. You can also have a hand in how you progress via the use of Mutagens - equipable power-ups that you find in hidden places that do things like increase the rate you gain XP, or advance your healing powers.
I think the thing that surprised me most about X-Men Origins: Wolverine is how much game there is to have here. Aside from a rockin’ kegger-party, I spent most of my weekend playing this game. There are five chapters, with multiple levels within, and they all cover a butt-ton of ground. On ‘normal’ difficulty (you have to beat the game to unlock ‘hard’ mode), it took me about 15 hours, give or take, to play through. And with the substantial amounts of secrets, upgrades, and easter eggs, I still have the desire to keep playing through in hopes of finding things I may have missed the first time around.
In closing, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a damn fun game, and a better one than I expected it to be. It’s not perfect, but if you’re a fan of the character, or of brawler games in general, then this very well could be your cup of tea.
Keyan Reid
Professional Hero
JRE Thug Division - Core Elite
(X-Men Origins: Wolverine is available for all systems. This review was based on the Xbox 360 version)
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