Video Game Review: “X Men Origins: Wolverine” for Xbox 360

Game Rating: M
Game Publisher: Activision
Platform: Xbox 360 — also available for PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, Nintendo DS, and PC (Win XP/Vista)
Release Date: May 1, 2009
Buy this at: Amazon for $59.99

“Playing Wolverine is so awesome it makes every little flaw (such as monotonous gameplay) worth it. With the ability to fully step into the role of one of the most beloved superheroes of all time, Activision offers one of the hottest games of 2009…”

It doesn’t really matter what sucks (if anything!) about this game. Seriously. Playing Wolverine and playing him the right way is just so awesome I could easily overlook it if the game’s graphics or gameplay modes sucked. Luckily, they don’t. Still, the true key in making “X Men Origins: Wolverine” was finding a way to logically play the complex, claw bearing Wolverine.

Wolverine has always been one of the coolest superheroes to exist, but gaming technology never could have captured the essence of Wolverine and his fighting style even five years ago. Now, we have platforms that allow for an immersible ability to take on a role all of us have (until now) only dreamed of playing. Add in a gore filled fun fest and you’ve got yourself one heck of a game.

The…claws…are…cool. That is an understatement really. The claws are the bomb (or whatever phrase you’d use for ’so dang good you can barely put how cool they are into words’). What the claws can do ensures that the high tech graphical worlds, intensive fight scenes and an intriguing back story are simply the icing on an already delicious cake.

I’m going to say this only once. Don’t purchase this game for your kids. This game has a Mature rating for a reason. It is one of the bloodiest, goriest games I’ve played. I absolutely love it, for this reason. I have heard some reviewers complain it is too graphic, but I’m not sure what they would want Wolverine to do if not slash and claw. That’s the coolest part of the character, and it is certainly a refreshing change from all the other heroes I’ve been playing in recent games, most of them shooters. Wolverine doesn’t need a gun. He has his own, permanent weapons, and everything that makes Logan Wolverine, from his ability to heal to his stealth-mode style Wolverine attacks is represented to the max, in this game.

The powerful graphics make the gore even more intensified. You literally rip enemies apart, as their blood and guts spew across the screen. There is something primordial, rugged, and animalistic that makes those of us with too much common sense giddy. Yeah, I’m not going to go out and shred a human being to pieces, but it’s fun to pretend to do it in this game. I’m sure “X Men Origins: Wolverine” will get some harsh criticism due to its intensively graphic violence, but I don’t see the point in denying those of us who like these kind of games the pleasure of playing them. This game isn’t going to make any of us murderers just because watching fake people on a screen’s guts fly is fun. It’s called pretend people. Get over it.

Story:
If you haven’t seen the movie, X Men Origins: Wolverine, don’t be surprised if you find out quite a bit about the movie plot. While the vast majority of the movie storyline is in the game, this is combined with an original story created by the developers of the game, Raven Software. The game explores Wolverine’s origins, with a major focus on his time in Col. William Stryker’s Weapon X program.

The story starts when Logan is a member of a covert CIA team, Team X. When his helicopter crashes in Africa littering his team around the region, he must kill all the enemy soldiers and rendezvous at an enemy temple with his half-brother, Victor Creed. When Victor is nowhere to be found, Logan must escape before the temple, which Creed has wired with explosives, blows up. After he escapes, he meets up with the rest of the team downriver.

The game skips forward three years. Logan has left Team X and the government behind. He’s happily enjoying peace and obscurity with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox. When Logan senses Victor, whom he has fallen out of favor with, he sends Kayla off to safety. Ignoring his warning, Kayla watches as Victor breaks Logan’s bone claws and knocks him out. When Logan awakens, Kayla is dead, Victor has gone rogue and Col. William Stryker has promised Logan revenge.

Logan is going to have to endure a painful procedure where adamantium coats his bones, but this will make him nearly indestructible. While Logan is under, he overhears a plot to kill him, by Stryker, who thinks he is too dangerous to let loose. Breaking free, Logan takes over the facility, facing soldiers and even super solidiers called W.E.N.D.I.G.O. prototypes. With the help of Dr. Carol Frost, Logan is able to escape and free another mutant, a child with teleporting powers named Anna.

The story returns to the past again, to Operation Firestorm, when Logan still worked for Stryker. After a brief look into one of the missions Logan experienced, the scene returns to the facility where Logan is trying to escape. Logan is pursued and does battle with his former ally, Agent Zero. He vows to kill both Victor and Stryker. To aid in his search for Victor, Logan visits Wraith, who isn’t there but he finds a message from Raven Darkholme concerning Victor’s whereabouts.

Logan is shocked because he though he killed Raven years ago. He heads to a facility in the U.S. which is home to “Project Wideawake.” He is looking for Wraith, Raven, and any link he can find to Victor, so he can seek the revenge he so badly wants. With a lot more story to be told, we’ll leave it at that. There is a lot of gameplay to be had here and yes, it can get quite repetitious. Still, the gore and the coolness factor of murdering with those awesome claws makes the entire game worthwhile.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor:

Features:
The main feature of “X Men Origins: Wolverine” is the ability to realistically play Logan/Wolverine. The claws retract on their own. There are a series of moves that can be combined and used to defeat enemies. I like the spin attack, in particular, though the lunging attack is also quite effective, especially when an enemy is targeted from a long distance.

Another major feature of the game is the feral senses mode. This is an important part of Wolverine and when he loses his feral senses briefly in the facility after the adamantium bonding process you will be missing them. With feral senses, you can see ghost soldiers, which is helpful as they attack while invisible. You can also find treasures and avoid using your claws to smash barrels and boxes filled with explosives.

Logan/Wolverine has the ability to heal. You will want to find a corner to hide behind if your energy is low and you are being attacked by a variety of enemies. The further along you go in the game, the longer it takes to drain your health. This is much better than other games, which may require power packs to increase health.

Replayability:

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick is in his late 20s. Having been born in the 80s gave him a unique advantage to experience the development of gaming into the massive industry it has become today. From the days of Atari to the purchase of his very first NES (before his 10th birthday), Dominick has been involved in gaming. Initially, a huge fan of Nintendo, he's delved more into the exciting world of Xbox 360, and everything Microsoft in recent years. His favorite games are Action/Adventure, Shooters (especially WWII or Historical based games) and racing games. Of course, some days he enjoys playing an old fashioned game featuring his original gaming heroes, Mario and Zelda. In a wheelchair since age 16, Dominick has the unique perspective of gaming with limited mobility. When not gaming, he is a human rights activist, a creative mind, and he enjoys spending time with his family.