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X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Activision, Raven Software

Movie licensed games seem to have a tendency to come out as dissapointing, at least in the vast majority of cases. Same seems to go backwards too (see the Doom movie). Even if this might seem a bit harsh because "aw but the movie was so cool, the game can't be as cool" or because "you can't expect to get a game as good as a movie, like duh!", these assumptions are incorrect. You can see this clearly in the exception here, which is X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

About the game

The game here is pure action combined with a little bit of puzzle-solving, along the lines of God of War, so much so actually that you might feel at home playing this as much as playing the other. It is a derivative experience, but what it does is done right, and that is, mainly, claws. Yes, claws. Origins has finally done Wolverine justice by placing the animal into the gore he always craved, making this the most blood-drenched action-hero games ever. Decapitations, amputations, bullet holes through the body, heads through helicopter propellers, whatever you might think a game featuring a mutant with metal razor-sharp claws might have, this one actually has, and does well. While it brings nothing new to the genre, the game is solid and provides hours of guilty fun, despite having a few shortcomings and virtually not much reason to play after finishing the game once.

Starting out

You play the entire game as the titular character, but it's ok, since he's more like a swirling dervish of death anyway, compared to the relative wimp of the other games. The story is loosely based on the movie with the same name, although you will see major differences between the two. You start out in the jungle of Africa, having your helicopter downed by missile fire. After a small free-fall sequence and an awesome landing, you start the game proper. You play mainly on two timelines, this one being the pre-adamantium period, 3 years before the surgery. This means that at this point you do not have your indestructible skeleton. That only has cosmetic effects on you, as the only difference between the normal skeleton guy and the adamantium one is the shininess of the bones.

Slashing into it

As you progress through the game, you will unlock new moves and level your character up in order to keep up with the strength of your enemies. Killing enemies gives you experience and rage. Rage is like mana, and you use fury attacks with that. Fury attacks are like ultimate moves, being both extremely spectacular and strong, usually getting you out of tough situations. Leveling up gives you skill points which you use in order to improve your damage, health, rage and other abilities, thus making Wolverine as powerful as you think he should be. And powerful he will be, because as we all know, one of his mutant powers is regeneration. This is shown in full effect here, as after lengthy fights you will see your body marred with machete cuts and bullet holes in a bloody show of real-time damage. You can actually see through skin and muscle and look at the bones and organs behind. The hole afterwards is slowly replaced by new layers of muscle and skin and eventually making you only look bloodied but in pristine condition. This mechanic though makes the game quite easy, the only ways you will encounter "death" being falling in crevices or out of the playing field, making the last boss battle especially annoying.

Graphics - Gore galore

The graphics in Origins are great and flashy, or at least the moving parts are. The environments are great looking but interiors seem a bit bland, although they still have context in the game, be it a military facility or laboratory. The character models are great looking and very detailed, Logan standing out in the crowd with his rippable shirt and real-time damage applied, the animations look amazing and fluid, as well as disturbing sometimes (losing their head makes it that way I guess). Enemies are also nicely detailed and fit the context well enough, although you'll never look at them more than seeing in how many pieces they lie. Taking it fully, the game looks beautiful and epic most of the time, making full use of the Unreal 3 engine it is powered by.

Gameplay - Hack and Slash

Gameplay in the game is simple but satisfying, fast and furious, and although mashing buttons might help early on, enemies appear that will make most of the killing techniques used obsolete, making you find other strategies. There is one thing in Origins that actually made the game substantially more fun than any other action game. Lounging. Targeting an enemy then pressing another button makes Wolverine fling himself into the air onto the enemy with a variety of methods, like jumping off and hitting it hard, beating down on him or just throwing him stylishly. This mechanic makes you get into battles much faster and keeps action fluid. There is also a puzzle-solving element into the game, simplistic as it might be, making for a good calm before the usually stormy fights. If you find it hard to figure out the way to go or how to solve the puzzles, pressing a button activates your feral senses, highlighting elements in the world you can interact with. The bosses in the game seem a bit lackluster, including even the Sentinel fans had been waiting for, having easily recognizable moves and obvious weaknesses. The fight with the Blob though is one of the better ones, despite still being as easy as all others.

Keeping you into the game exploring are collectible items like action figures that unlock costume challenges, dog tags that give you extra experience as well as mutagens which you use to augment certain abilities Wolverine possesses. Another form of experience Logan has is combat reflexes, which, as you kill more and more enemies of a certain type, give you bonuses to damage against that type. While normal attacks and lounging have their charms, the most gruesome form of killing is the quick kill, which involves you grabbing an enemy and pressing a button at the right time, making Wolverine execute a particularly gory killing blow.

Controls - Is there a button for "DIE!"?

The controls are easy and intuitive, made to cater to the usual console controller but also to the keyboard and mouse setup. There are two types of attack, heavy and light, a jump button, a dash button which in conjunction with a lock on button makes Logan lounge as well as a fury trigger, which used with other buttons makes him execute a fury attack. Making Wolverine a metal/bone dervish of death is easy using these intuitive controls, and they are also easy to learn.

Sounds and atmosphere - Zing!

The good side of the sounds is clearly seen in voice-acting, star Hugh Jackman lending his voice to Logan from the game. The other sounds, while satisfying (metal through flesh, extra blood, coming your way), seem sometimes lackluster and repetitive, and sometimes they don't seem to trigger at all. It feels atmospheric enough though, and you might never be able to get the sound of metal scraping flesh or steel out of your head for a long time after the game is done.

Will it blend?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not the perfect movie game, but it is a solid one, despite it's technical shortcomings (various glitches) and shortness. Finishing the game would take you less than 10 hours, and even on the normal difficulty it's a piece of cake. Finishing it once opens up hard mode for you, although by this time, the game is spent. Completists might want to unlock the costumes by doing the costume challenges. These imply beating on another Wolverine wearing those clothes. After beating the game though, there is not much incentive to pick it up again, and while it is a very fun and visceral action game, it doesn't have enough content to keep players interested.

All slashes considered, you might love this game or just like it. Either way, if you are a Wolverine fan, and not a young one either, this game is most definitely catered to your tastes.