“I’m the
best there is at what I do, but what I do isn’t very nice.” – Wolverine
Raven
Software is no stranger to visceral combat. After all, the development company
(owned by Activision) has worked with id Software and is credited with 2005’s
Quake 4 title. But it is easy to forget everything the company has achieved
before. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – a game that has been released in conjunction
with the national film release – is the most graphical game the company has
created for the PC – hands down … it is also the most violent.
Let’s get
this out of the way immediately: if you deplore excessive violence in
video-games, where there is gore as well as dismemberment, stay clear of this
title. Logan is wicked, vicious, mostly feral and totally the character created
back in the mid-70s (he first appeared in Incredible Hulk #180 in 1974, broke
out a bit in 1975’s Giant Size X-Men #1 and then was revised in late 1982.
But that
digresses from this game. Through a series of trips into the past, the story of
James Howlett (a.k.a. Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine) is told, from the death of his
love to his agreement to be part of the Weapon X project headed by William
Stryker and have his skeletal structure coated with adamantium. Yes, Logan
always had the claws, but they had been bone. He also had the regeneration
ability and feral senses. The game starts with a tutorial that introduces you to
Logan during a Black Ops mission with Sabretooth, when things go awry. This also
introduces players to the gameplay mechanics they will see for a long time in
this title. And therein lays one of the downfalls of the game – the repetition.
The levels are designed in a linear manner, and players will have to progress
from point A to point B either by wading through silly enemies that still come
at Logan – even though they have seen fellow fodder dismembered in a very
vicious and brutal manner – or by solving simplistic puzzles.
Yes, there
are boss battles and they jump from drawn-out affairs where the opponent
regenerates to prolong the battle to tactic-based combat wherein Logan must plan
attacks, take advantage of openings and generally avoid the heavy attacks of his
opponents.
When it
comes to Logan’s own abilities to attack, perhaps the most potent is the lunge
move. This allows Wolverine to launch himself across a good distance and impale
his foe. If a peon, the move is likely devastating; if a boss-type foe, it opens
the door for a flurry of attacks that will impact the health bar significantly …
for a time. But that’s not all he can do; he can grapple opponents, button mash
out combo attacks, and even use environmental elements to impale opponents.
The game
itself is broken down into chapters, each with a series of sub-levels. Once
unlocked, players can go back and play the level over. Of course, like most
games of this nature, the idea is not only to work through the levels
efficiently, but to also level up the principle character. In many ways this
aspect follows the formula established in other Activision-based Marvel games.
You level the character and are awarded points, which then are used to skill up
Logan’s abilities. Does this give you an advantage? Not really. The enemies get
tougher as you progress through the story as well and at times advancing skills
feels more like keeping pace than it does getting ahead.
There are
several difficulty levels in the game and this sometimes translates into smarter
or tougher A.I. foes, or more of them.
The sound is
very, very well done, featuring the voice of Hugh Jackman (as well as his
likeness). You can hear Wolverine mumble under his breath at times, and this can
be amusing at times.
What does
steal the show, so to speak, are the game’s visuals. As mentioned, Wolverine
looks like Jackman, but included are his remarkable regeneration powers. There
will be times when bullets, and other things, will shred through Logan,
revealing either holes that go all the way through or his metallic skeleton. It
is quite remarkable to see the healing that takes place until you cannot even
tell he was injured. You truly learn to appreciate this early in the game when,
after covering all his bones in adamantium, there is a level and a half where –
because of a virus meant to kill him – he loses that ability for a short time.
The
animation is remarkable, and the environments are superb. There were many
jaw-dropping moments when Wolverine attacked with a viciousness not seen before
in a game and the results were horrific. But honestly, while some might think
the violence excessive, this is a character that produces about 15-inch blades
from his hands. He slices, he dices, but it is exactly what the character does.
Wolverine
may not sport some of the most original gameplay elements seen in the superhero
genre, but what the game does do is delve deep into the Logan’s character and
really does an admirable job of making the player feel as though they are
Wolverine. This is a game that is true to the character. That does translate
into an M rating, but it is nice to see that Raven gave remained true to the
character rather than worry about the ESRB rating.
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Gameplay: 7.8
The levels are
somewhat repetitious and linear, but the action does attempt to keep a brisk
pace. There are a few problems with the default keyboard layout – most notably
in how the WASD keys are used for movement, but the shift-Z key is a defensive
stance (players will have to use both command sets at times, and that is a lot
of fingers working one side of the keyboard) – but the game will also recognize
a gamepad.
Graphics: 8.8
There are a few
framerate issues, but the game was run on high settings with an nVidia 9800 GTX
Black card on an HD monitor with a resolution of 1920×1080 and looked superb.
Sound: 8.3
Some clichés, but
generally the sound is very nicely handled.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8.4
Some of the
elements have been taken from other games, but the way combat is handled is
cringe-worthy, jaw-dropping (at times) and amazing.
Overall: 8.3
Give Raven kudos
for staying true to the character and producing a highly visceral gaming
experience. The game could have paid a bit more attention to the story flow and
varied up the levels a bit more, but for Marvel comic fans, and Wolverine fans,
this is certainly a chance to become Logan.
