X-Men Origins: Wolverine

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.