You wanted the animal?! You got him!
It shouldn't be difficult to make a game about Wolverine. The guy murders other guys with six razor sharp adamantium claws on his hands, has a healing factor that makes him one tough sum-bitch, and has a sordid and violent past involving paramilitary organizations, ninjas, and robots. How it's taken this long to make a decent game involving the feral Canuck is beyond me, but finally, Logan's time has arrived. X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn't without its faults, but it does what it sets out to do, and that is truly make you feel like you're Wolverine.
The story of X-Men Origins: Wolverine loosely (and I mean loosely) follows the plot of the movie. Essentially, it tells the story of how Logan became Wolverine, his struggles with the clandestine Weapon X program, and the beginnings of his blood feud with half-brother, Victor Creed (better known as Sabretooth). Overall, the story is pretty much an excuse to throw as much comic-book insanity as possible, and in this respect the game is far better than the movie as, unconstrained, many more comic-book references, characters, and just overall ridiculousness is packed in. Either way, it isn't terribly coherent, but it doesn't have to be and, at the very least, fans of the mythos should dig it.
Wolverine features a campaign mode and little else. Clocking in at about 10 hours or so, Wolverine isn't terribly long, but it also doesn't wear out its welcome. Following a play-through, you'll unlock hard difficulty level if you so wish to play through once more. Additional 1 vs. 1 Wolverine battles can be unlocked by collecting various Wolverine action figures throughout the levels, and defeating your doppleganger unlocks new outfits for Wolverine to wear (based off of his more famous comic book duds). Other than this, Gamespot customers get a free Weapon X arena mode which lets you play around with different game elements and mini-games. It isn't horribly compelling, and though the 1 vs. 1 Wolverine battles can be fun distractions, there isn't much to keep you coming back for more blood once the campaign concludes.
It's probably a good thing, then, that X-Men Origins: Wolverine has such a viscerally exciting story. From the word go, Wolverine oozes pure animal brutality. The game plays something like God of War and Devil May Cry, but with a greater emphasis on rabid and frenzied brutality and less on finesse. Between the wild, slashing combos and the unique elements like Wolverine's rapid recovery and the almighty lunge attack, the game really invites you to embrace a more instinctual level of play. In fact, because of this, when Wolverine lets up and puts you through some simple, yet uninspired puzzle and platforming segments, it is really to the game's detriment. At least, Wolverine makes the essense of Wolverine's animalistic persona the center of its gameplay, but that just makes instances where the game deviates from that all the more apparently dull. A few gameplay glitches aside, however, Wolverine is game that never ceases to excite and evoke intensity in its gameplay.
On the presentation front, Wolverine is solid, yet rough. The graphics do not attempt to be too ambitious, though there's little bits of disgusting beauty throughout, It's neat little touches like Wolvie's flesh getting torn off and regenerating minus the shirt, as well as streaks of blood coming from his claws when slashing at his enemies that drive the visceral punch, but its the animation and solid yet varied character models that really sell the look of the game. It's too bad that graphical glitches including slow down and frame-rate choppiness drag down what is otherwise a pretty dang solid graphical presentation. In the sound department, none of the soundtrack will leap out at you, but the overblown sound effects and hammy voice acting makes the game awesomely camp. Hugh Jackman does a great job voicing Wolverine, and Liev Schreiber does a solid job as Victor Creed, giving the voice cast some much needed foundation and star power.
Overall, Wolverine's strength comes in the fact that it's a game that not only transcends the movie game curse, but also can transcend the interest of die hard. It's not the smartest game, the most technically sound, or the most original, but when it comes to delivering the fun, Wolvie is on the cutting edge.
