The game is loosely based on the movie of the same name and the story is told via cut-scenes, which are mostly flashbacks which take place during a mission Wolverine is on in the African jungles as a part of William Stryker’s team. The narrative keeps shifting from Wolverine’s current mission in Africa to past and future events. Needless to say, the story feels somewhat disjointed and jumps around a lot. It’s not too bad but don’t expect a solid satisfying plot. Thankfully, you’re not here for the plot, you’re here to slice and dice enemies with your adamantium claws and lighting fast reflexes and boy, the game does deliver in this department!
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The gameplay is similar to any hack-and-slash game in the vein of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. You’ll enter an area, slice up tons of bad guys with fancy looking moves, and move on to the next. The combat is very satisfying and quite visceral (more on the “visceral” part later). Wolverine has a large number of unlockable combos and special attacks in his arsenal. There’s the usual light and heavy attack as well as a grab function which can be used to perform some nasty environmental kills such as impaling enemies on sharp objects, setting them on fire or throwing them into large spinning fans. However the coolest combat ability comes in the form of Wolverine’s lunge attack. By targeting a distant enemy and pressing a button, Wolverine will perform a long range lunge attack. Not only does this look amazingly cool, but it’s actually quite deadly since you can quickly link it to a second attack by pressing another attack button. It’s by far the most effective skill and is also the only way to kill certain enemies and bosses.
Speaking of enemies, there isn’t a lot of variety in them as you’ll be facing the same not-so-brilliant soldiers and mutants throughout the game. You’ll also face off against some robotic enemies later and the game will also throw giant rock mutants called Leviathans, W.E.N.D.I.G.O.s or robotic prototypes at you every now and then. These big brutes look intimidating, but the strategy to beat them pretty much always remains the same. Some of the bigger boss fights are genuinely fun, especially one involving a certain giant mutant hunting machine.
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With each enemy you kill you’ll receive experience points, which are used to level up and earn skill points. As you might have guessed, skill points allow you to upgrade various attributes such as Damage, Health, Rage and also Wolverine’s special attacks. The health system is rather well designed. Since Wolverine can automatically heal wounds, the regenerating health system actually makes a lot of sense here. But take too much damage and his vital organs will be exposed and any damage taken at this point will prove to be fatal until he regenerates muscle and tissue by avoiding damage for a while. The health system captures Wolverine’s strengths and weaknesses perfectly. You’ll also find and unlock various “mutagens” which can be used to permanently boost certain attributes or give you extra damage or defence. However, there are only three slots for these, so you’ll have to choose based on your playing style. You can boost Wolverine’s health and healing abilities or choose to increase his combat proficiency.
I’ve always thought that Wolverine was a pretty brutal fighter especially since he’s no Peter Parker and his primary means of attack is his razor-sharp indestructible claws, but somehow the movies never really captured his primal nature and brutality. Well, no need to worry any longer, because this game lets you experience exactly how Wolverine would fight… and he fights dirty. For starters, the game is rated M, which is higher than the movie is, and the game wears it’s rating like a badge, or in this case, a dog tag. It’s unapologetically violent and certainly not in the same league as the PG-13 X-Men movie universe. Wolverine can literally tear his enemies apart in glorious gory detail, much like Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden II. The game also slows down and the camera zooms in whenever you pull off a rather nasty kill showing you the carnage up close. Not just that, but the cut-scenes feature some pretty brutal moments such as Wolverine sticking a soldier’s head into a spinning helicopter rotor or Sabertooth ripping the arms clean off from another one.
Next page: The verdict
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The game is combat-heavy, but there are a few instances where you won’t be shredding enemies to pieces. These come in the form of platforming puzzles and the obligatory stealth section. The platforming isn’t as frustrating as it sounds as Wolverine is pretty agile and the controls are quite responsive. And even if you get stuck, a handy “feral sense” can be turned on, which allows you to see exactly where you need to go while also highlighting various usable objects in the area. These sections do help break the monotony of constant combat, but much of the game still feels repetitive. About half way through the game you will feel like you’re fighting the same enemies and doing the same things over and over again, which, depending on how much you are enjoying the combat, may or may not be a bad thing. The puzzles are also on the easier side and at times just feel “tacked on” just to add some variety.
The whole thing should take you around 12 to 14 hours to finish on the game’s Normal difficulty setting, which isn’t too shabby considering it’s ultimately a movie tie-in and not your next highly-anticipated AAA blockbuster. The difficulty level isn’t too high and the only times I actually got Wolverine killed was while missing a jump during a platforming section. There is also a Hard mode to try and collectible action figures to find, which unlock additional bonus challenges to get new costumes. Still, much like any other hack-and-slash action game, replayability largely depends on how much you enjoy the gameplay.
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine is powered by the Unreal 3 Engine and hence features the occasional pop-in and slowdown. And for some reason Wolverine’s shirt keeps flickering on and off, which is kind of weird, especially with no Jean Grey anywhere near him. With that said, the visuals are pretty solid. The environments look great and the combat animations are slick. The frame rate, although decent, could have been a lot better. The game features the best graphical representation of Wolverine’s healing ability and you will see his flesh torn and his adamantium skeleton revealed if he takes too much damage. I had him looking like a Terminator exoskeleton at one point just for kicks (not that I suck at the game, mind you). Load times are a bit disappointing and it takes a while to reload a previous checkpoint if you happen to die.
Wolverine is voiced by Hugh Jackman and apart from Liev Schreiber, who plays Victor Creed a.k.a. Sabertooth and Will I Am, none of the other actors from the movie reprise their roles here. The music is mostly forgettable, but the sound effects more than make up for it. Wolverine’s claws tearing through flesh and bone sound just as nasty as they should and listening to your enemies scream in terror as Wolverine lunges onto them with his claws bared doesn’t fail to bring a devilish smile to your face.
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Conclusion
Overall, I really enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Once again, it’s not exactly groundbreaking, but does stand apart from other poorly made movie-based games. It lacks some polish, the story is mediocre and the gameplay can get a little repetitive, but the wickedly fun combat makes it worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of the Marvel universe and love hack-and-slash games. Don’t let the “movie tie-in” tag get in the way; there’s some solid bloody fun to be had here.
(+) Combat is wickedly gory and fun
(+) Controls are very well implemented
(+) Great sound effects and decent voice acting
(-) Disjointed story and presentation
(-) Feels somewhat repetitive about halfway through
(-) Long load times on the console versions
Title: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Developer/Publisher: Raven Software/Activision
Genre: Action
Rating: 18+
Platforms: Xbox 360 (Rs 1,895), PlayStation 3 (Rs 2,499), PC (Rs 699)
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