Not only does this game have one of the longest titles I’ve seen in
a licensed game, but I’ll go on record now and say that it’s one of the
best licensed games ever made. I’m a fucking nerd, through and through,
and this game has given me everything I could have ever hoped for in a
Wolverine game. I say that not only as a comic book nerd, but also a
videogame nerd. This might be a deterrent for you. I can understand
that.
From this point forward I’ll be referring to this game as “Wolverine,”
because I don’t feel like typing out the fucking 8-word title, nor am I
a fan of acronyms. I’m 22 years old, and I refuse to start liking
acronyms now. It’d just be inconvenient…and strange.
So, where to begin? Wolverine
is an amazing game. Its even more so amazing when you’ve previously
played X2: Wolverine’s Revenge. For those of you unfamiliar with Wolverine’s Revenge,
let me give you the lowdown: It was pretty awful. Mark Hammil played
Wolverine, and the story had little to no connection to the X2 movie (why it had the X2
moniker is obviously only for tie-in purposes). There were cameos left
and right, with Beast and Spider-Man, but neither of those characters
could make that game any easier to wade through. It was obscenely
difficult, with no real pay off. But why does this matter in regards to
the new Wolverine game? In X2
(and any other game in which you play Wolverine) you pop your claws and
proceed to bop and smack people around. Never once do you slice a
goddamn thing. No one seemed to care (most likely due to the lack of
people playing it), but then what should come along? An M rated Wolverine game.
I’ll
be the first to say that I was more than skeptical when I first saw ads
for this game. It looked lame, and I wasn’t about to be let down again
by my favorite mutant. But like a battered girlfriend, believing what
he said about not hitting me again, I was drawn back in.
I’m weak.
Raven, the company responsible for the Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and X-Men Legends,
had been working on this game for quite some time. When asked how they
could produce an M rated game based on a PG-13 movie, the developers
responded with “We started first.” And it shows. Considering how the
movie ended up (not good), most people wouldn’t expect much from the
game. But what shipped was a bloody brawler reminiscent of God of War, with a story that makes far more sense and leaps and bounds superior in every possible way.
With
the length of the development cycle, the developers had a chance to
polish up the game quite a bit. So, the game looks really decent. It’s
not the best looking game out there, but it’s quite obvious that a lot
of time, precision and care went into making this game. When shot or
cut up, the damage shows on Logan’s skin (which allows for some
close-ups on his insides), and stays on his clothes after his skin
heals. It’s pretty spectacular. I want to say that there’s never been a
game where Logan has looked this good, but with only one very specific
gripe: the opening cinematic. The cut scene is violent and great, but
Logan has the weirdest hair, and comes off as looking incredibly
awkward. Aside from that? Wolverine is pretty pleasing to the eyes.
The
game play isn’t challenging, but beat’em up games usually aren’t. Nor
is it extraordinarily long; you can finish it around 8 or 9 hours,
which is long enough with a game like this. I doubt most people looking
into a game like this are looking for something that’s going to
revolutionize the videogame world. What Wolverine is, is an example of
one of the better licensed games ever produced. You get an incredibly
violent brawler, with a story that tops it’s Hollywood counterpart
(this happened previously with the Spider-Man 3 game, in which the reason why Sandman helps Venom makes far more sense in the game than in the film).
Going back to Wolverine’s Revenge,
wherein you played Wolverine with what could only be rubber claws… It
never made sense, to be playing a game as a visceral, violent animal,
and only ever “knock out” enemies. The “real” Wolverine kills people;
he slices, as well as dices, them. There should be blood, entrails, and
massive amounts of gore. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
delivers on all of those fronts. You play Wolverine during the most
painful part of his existence, a Wolverine who wants to share that pain
with everyone who gets in his way. If the message I’m trying to send is
unclear, there’s an achievement for dismembering enemies… awesome.
The
game is immensely entertaining for what it is, and it never attempts to
be anything more than it is, which is commendable. Some people might
find the game boring, and nothing to write home about, but anyone who
is a fan of Wolverine (comic books or otherwise) can find some
enjoyment from the game, if for nothing else than finally taking the
reigns of Marvel’s greatest animal. Raven wanted to make a brawler with
Wolverine, where he’s the best at what he does…and what he does? Well,
it isn’t very nice.
