Wolverine. One of the most beloved comic book characters comes to life finally in his own game loosely based on the same titled movie in cinemas now. I didnt have big hopes for this one as the movie to video game concept doesnt usually work. I gotta be honest, I was never a comic book geek and I only started to learn about X-men from the films so I dont have any extensive knowledge of the man whos the best at what he does. As soon as I heard about the film and game I was quite intrigued. From what you see Wolverine do in the movies it would seem a brilliant idea to have a game about him. The leaping, the dicing, the regenerating health. All points to a video game from what I can see. So as soon as I got my copy I slammed it into the 360's disc tray, turned up the speakers to 11 and sat back waiting for the blood to spill!
From the off, the main menu looks extremely polished. It's basically Wolverine ( or Logan as he is referred to ) in the tank where he is injected with the, let me get this right, adamantium, which basically reinforces his skeleton. Logan moves and wriggles about in the background while you surf about the menu. As this is only a single player game thats all you got to choose really apart from the obvious options menu. So, you start the single player campaign and get the ball rolling as they say.
The game starts off with a short intro cutscene which tells you the background of Logan's missions in the jungle with the black ops team led by William Stryker who runs the whole Weapon X programme. Oh yeah by the way, if your not familiar with X-men, Wolverine, or anything to do with these two you wont understand the story at all. I would think many have seen the X-men films anyway so it shouldnt be too much of a problem. Stryker and the team go around killing who they see fit to get answers but Logan doesnt like killing the innocent villagers for no reason so he pretty much ups it and leaves Stryker and the rest of the team of mutants which includes marksman Agent Zero, mercenary Wade Wilson, teleporter John Wraith, invincible Fred Dukes and electricity-controlling Chris Bradley in the jungle. From here on in the game jumps from the movie story which is in the present and in the past before he left the Weapon X programme in the jungle.
The story is a bit hit and miss, if you seen the film then played the game like I did it makes sense, if you do it the opposite way around though it may become a bit confusing. You play through a couple levels here and there then all of a sudden you go to a flashback and your in the jungle again working for Stryker. Do a bit there and your chucked back into the present. Makes you feel like your in an episode of Lost sometimes. Anyway, onto the core gameplay.
This game is what you would call a hack 'n' slash. God of War comes to mind? Indeed. Take away Kratos god powers, give him claws and your not far off. The game consists of battling through various "areas" which are cornered in by everyones favourite invisible walls. When your in the jungle you fight tribesmen and the like. In the present day you fight armed forces sent by Stryker to hunt you down. Thats pretty much all you need to know. That is the core game in a nutshell. There are quite a few Tomb Raider like platforming levels and a few puzzles thrown in but the focus is really on the combat rather than jumping around levels.
One thing that makes the game extremely fun to play is the combat system itself. You can take aim at someone and pounce like a rabid animal across the screen onto them. Oh its awesome! Most games makes you run across the screen to other enemies. Wolverine? Running? Hell no! He leaps and lands on the victim with the claws embedded deep into their chest. On the earlier stages that will kill them instantly. Later on, not so easy. This is easily done by aiming with 1 shoulder button and making the leap by tapping the other. Simple. As you play it more and more it becomes second nature. After that you have the standard basic attack, strong attack and grapple motions. All done by the X, Y and B buttons. By holding the RT you can bring up "raged" versions of these attacks. Rage builds up by every kill you achieve. Once the meter is full up enough you can launch one of these major attacks which unleashes hell onto whoever is near by. One awesome thing this game does is an RPG like character building system. Every kill gives you XP. XP gives you access to new moves etc etc. You also can find and assign Mutagens which give you specific help. If you find an Experience Mutagen, you gain extra XP per kill. You get the idea. Very good system indeed. One mroe thing I HAVE to mention. Physical Damage. You can actually see Wolverine get damaged right in front of your eyes. Someone cuts him? He gets a cut. Take alot of damage, his clothing gets ripped. Take enough damage and you eventually see his skeleton! Now that is frickin' awesome! Sometimes I would get my ass handed to me on purpose because it was so cool seeing Wolverines skull!
Graphics wise, its pretty decent. Not the best looking game on the console, not the worst, its fine for what it is. The damage on character model deserves praise. Definately. The levels are well designed even if they are pretty linear. But its a hack 'n' slash. I didnt expect an open world. All in all the textures aren't too bad. With all the blood and limbs flying around everywhere I dont think a few odd textures here and there are gonna bother you.
Few pitfalls in this game are the mini bosses. Without spoiling anything, one boss comes to mind when I think about what is wrong with this game. As you progress there are 2 types of mini bosses. A rock type creature that you face numerous times in the jungle levels and soldiers who transform into towering monsters in the present day levels. Variation indeed. Only problem is you take them both down the exact same way. Leap onto their backs, smash the X button a few times, jump off and repeat. You have to dodge a few of their attacks but its not reaally that hard. Other bosses that I actually enjoyed fighting against is various characters from the film. One being Deadpool and the other being Gambit. They were nicely handled I thought. Tough in all the right areas.
To sum it up, I would say X-men Origins: Wolverine is a pretty good purchase if all your after is a fun and violent single player experience.
7/10
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