X Men Origins Wolverine

The X-men franchise has seen quite a number of interesting twists and turns in the media. All seemingly to try and stay relevant and cash in on the success of one, Hugh Jackman. Attempts to do this have been hit and miss but when it comes to anything involving Wolverine, the general public seem to lap it up. So, with a origin story for the beloved character on the way, it was elementary that a licenced title would aim to accompany this release. So what we got was X-men Origins – Wolverine.

This game plays somewhat like various iterations of Batman games, relying on a specialist combat system to push the game forward. Though, outside of the superhero world, this title plays sort of like arcade-style hack and slashers like Devil May Cry, Onimusha or Bayonetta.

Guttural, Visceral, Brutal

In previous X-men and Wolverine specific outings, developers have diluted the true nature of the character. Making him a child-friendly and diluted version of the clawed mutant. Though, this title brings the authentic Wolverine, giving players the tools to be the most violent, brutal and gory versions of the animalistic, bladed assassin.

Players will not only witness some of the most visceral cut scenes within the series. The player will have these same moves in their repertoire when given full control of Logan. You’ll be hacking off limbs, beheading bad guys and literally tearing guys in half if given the chance. It seems like an over the top blood bath and perhaps with any other character it wouldn’t work. This is Wolverine though, it’s the perfect fit for this monstrously powerful mutant.

This gritty realism transfers to more subtle areas of the presentation too. If the player takes too much damage or eats too many bullets, you’ll see that in all its gory glory. This is rendered in an amazing level of detail. Take an explosion for example, this will blow all the flesh off Logan’s arm, revealing his adamantium skeleton and will heal if you rest and find cover. It’s small details like this that really along you to feel like Wolverine.

A One Note Performance

Here’s the issue with the approach of all-out action. Starting from a ten leaves you with nowhere to go or any means of upping the stakes. That’s exactly what stops this title from being a masterclass. The enemies begin to become predictable as they aren’t anywhere near as varied as they could be, the simple and accessible combat scheme eventually loses its gimmicky fun as you enter the second half of the title Even the boss battles have this issue. The variety is slim to none as each will play out in the same fashion. You’ll have to dodge, find the weak spot and magically hack at it until they go down. This is really fun the first time but becomes a chore after boss battle three or four.

A weak narrative

When following the plot of a movie, it’s almost impossible to get the story wrong, just follow the script. Well, this title fails to competently deliver a story that was laid out for them. Its not down to the content but the timeline that they adopt, making the content hard to follow unless you are a fan of the comics or movies, so casual players may be turned off with this confusing layout.

Style Over Substance

Pros

• No more kid-friendly Wolverine
• Great combat scheme
• Presentation is great and detailed
• Lack of varied enemies
• Boss battles are a chore
• Storyline is a mess