Developer - Raven Software
Publisher - Activision

Features

1 Player
1 MB to Save Game
HDTV 720p/1080p/1080i
Game Content Download

When it comes to super hero video games based on movies, many experienced gamers tend to stay clear. Incomplete, rushed and full of glitches are often the words used to describe even some of the most promising movie based titles. So when X-men Origins: Wolverine for the Xbox 360 arrived at my home office, I kept my expectations in check. Inspired by Twentieth Century Fox’s feature film, Wolverine did arrive with some hoopla as the amount of gore in the game was generating its fair share of buzz on podcasts and the net. I have to say after the first few minutes into the game I certainly understood why the game has a mature rating. There is no doubt Wolverine offers up lots of blood and guts, and has many great moments in the game. At the end of the day however I expected a little more from Activision’s latest movie based instalment.

Graphics

Overall, the visuals in Wolverine are solid. Granted it is nothing spectacular or incredibly innovative but the game does have plenty of eye candy throughout and our main hero does look great in high definition. From his razor sharp metal claws to his torn cloths, Wolverine is nicely presented in the game and I have no complaints with the character design what-so-ever. The way his body regenerates after taking some damage is very cool and the way he fights will surely make any Wolverine fan proud. He animates fluidly too and when you see him in third person you almost get that feeling you are actually watching the movie. In terms of the rest of the characters, the various enemies you come across as pretty generic. They look good and are very detailed however their diversity is not as large as I had hoped. Bottomline, I would like to have seen a little bit more variety in terms of the enemy characters; especially with regards to the bosses.

Another concern with the game’s graphics rests with some of the clipping issues. Unfortunately Wolverine often runs through characters and some of the games environments. It is not a major issue but you can’t help but think a few more months back with the development team would have cleaned-up some of these issues. As for the game’s levels and environments, Wolverine delivers. They can appear repetitive at times and the jungle environments have a ‘Far Cry’ feel to them, however this is not necessarily bad thing as overall the various levels look sharp.

Wolverine uses the Unreal 3 Engine, so it comes as no surprise the game is nicely presented and flows quite well. The cinematics are top notch and the cut scenes are well presented. The games cut scenes seamlessly blend into the action and do not take anything away from the gameplay. If anything they enhance the experience. So all in all, the visuals are solid in the game but they are not quite on the same playing field as say Gears of War 2 or Halo 3.

Sound

Unfortunately the sound left very little lasting impressions with me. That being said, Wolverine is not a bad sounding game it is just that it could have been a bit better. On a positive note, the game’s soundtrack is well done as the music really gives you the feeling you are immersed in the big screen movie. As we typically see with games in this genre, the music amps-up as the action becomes more intense and settles down after you have sliced up all the enemies in sight. In some instances the music seemed ill-timed however for the most part is went quite well with the game.

The voice work is not the best we have seen in recent years but it adequately does the job. We do not get the voices from the movie but they do sound very similar to their on-screen counterparts. Most notably, Wolverine’s brother, Victor, does sound remarkably similar to Liev Schreiber, the actor who plays him in the movie. Some of the other voice actors are good but most are forgettable and seem like they are just going through the motions.

In-game sound effects sound as good as they should but they are nothing spectacular. As an example, Wolverine’s claws slicing up enemies are bang-on but they just didn’t wow me. On the whole I had no concerns with the sound effects and battle noises; I just didn’t find myself awestruck. Another minor concern was the games overall volume. Often during the game the volume would have to be turned up to hear the characters voices but then you scramble to turn the volume back down once the gameplay resumes with all the music and battle noises. Bottomline, the characters voices should have been a little louder in the game.

Gameplay

Wolverine features no cooperative gameplay or multiplayer component at all (offline or online). As such my gameplay section will focus strictly on the single player mode which unfortunately is all that is offered. I have to say this was a huge letdown for me as Wolverine would have been an ideal co-op game considering the overwhelming amount of enemies presented in the game. Not to mention it would have given it additional replay value. So I have to admit I was a bit saddened when I first popped the game in only to find out there was no way I could play with a buddy co-operatively on Xbox Live. Regardless, Wolverine does feature a solid single player experience and the gameplay is very addictive.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine loosely follows the movies storyline but also expands upon it and takes our hero in many different directions. For those who have not seen the movie, Logan (aka Wolverine) was a member of an elite military force known as Team X. Joined by other mutant soldiers, including his half-brother Victor, Logan followed the orders of Col. Striker until one day those orders went too far. As a result, Wolverine fled the force and shacked-up with Kayla, the love of his life, in Canada. Three years pass until one day Victor shows up and kills Kayla. Set to embark on a journey filled with revenge, Striker conveniently shows up and promises Wolverine he will get his revenge by giving him the “tools” necessary to defeat Victor. Without knowing Strikers motive, Logan allows Striker to fill his entire skeleton with an indestructible metal alloy known as adamantium. The procedure also creates Wolverine’s shinny new claws. From there we follow Wolverine on his journey through five main areas as he unleashes his rage upon everything in sight. The story is decent and provides a nice explanation of how Wolverine came to be. Nevertheless, following the games storyline has no bearing on the true enjoyment of the game which is navigating Wolverine through the many areas as he shreds anyone that gets in his way.

As I mentioned, Wolverine takes place in 5 main areas which include: Africa, Weapon X Alkali Lake facility, Outside Alkali Lake facility, Systemized Cybernetics Lab and The Corbeau Casino. The areas themselves are fairly linear however the game does offer up some Tomb Raider-like puzzles to get past certain areas. Some of the puzzles offer up a nice break from the frantic killing but they did seem a tad out of place. But no need to worry as the Wolverine game mainly involves combat hack and slashing. For this the development team scores high marks as they did a fantastic job giving Wolverine a plethora of available combos. Wolverine does not feature a tutorial mode but rather progressively teaches you various combos and functions as you proceed in the game. It is difficult to read when you are mid-hack mode however the screens do appear numerous times. According to the information I received with the game Wolverine has over 100 moves in his arsenal. Decapitating, slicing in half or impaling an enemy onto a spike are just a few examples of how players can reap the rewards of Wolverine various attacks and combos.

There are essentially three types of attacks in the game: Light attacks, heavy attacks and grabs. Each type of attack is mapped to a corresponding button. You can also lunge in the game by simply locking on and using the bumper buttons. Lunging towards enemies who are half way across the map becomes a critical component to the game and a highly enjoyable one as well. There was just something satisfying about leaping onto an enemy and carving him up like a pumpkin. Needless to say, the combat in Wolverine is arguably the games best selling feature. Granted many may make it most of the way through the game button mashing but the game does encourage you to learn the various combos and use Wolverine powers to his advantage in order progress.

Wolverine has a unique ability to regenerate. Whenever he takes some damage his body begins to repair itself. You can either monitor the health meter on the top left side of the screen or simply watch Wolverine as his body begins to mend skin and muscle tissue in real time. Wolverine also has feral powers (yes, similar to the early FarCry games) which points him in the right direction and leads him to the enemies. Even in smoke filled rooms Wolverine’s feral powers allow him to see enemies and hunt them down. Feral powers also come in handy during those puzzle sequences as well. Activating feral powers turns certain parts of the map green thus giving you some indication where you have to go. Many may argue the feral powers are unnecessary but I found them to be quite handy in many situations.

Overall, Wolverine is a surprisingly deep game and I have not even mentioned the power ups and upgrade system yet. Very much like Spider-Man Web of Shadows, Wolverine gains experience points and he levels up to become an even more dangerous weapon. You can upgrade his skills, attributes, heath and the strength of his attacks. I will not go on and on but all you should know is that it is fairly deep and offers up a ton of replay value.

But it’s not all roses for our hero as the game does become extremely repetitive. If not for some of the addictive power-up elements and the variety of combat moves at your disposal, Wolverine would be flat out boring. Battling hordes of enemies can only keep you entertained for so long, so god bless Wolverine’s many redeeming factors. The boss fights were also a huge letdown. Without giving much away, let’s just say the same formula is used to defeat nearly all the bosses. It becomes frustrating to say the least and little bit more variety with the boss fights would have been cool.

The single player experience should take you anywhere from 10-15 hours to complete depending on your skill. There are three levels of difficulty (easy, normal and hard) and plenty of Xbox Achievements for all you gamerscore junkies. Wolverine features a slick little statistics page as well to keep track of your progress with regards to some of the more difficult achievements.