Overview- Critic & User
Reviews - Videos &
Screenshots
News- Codes
& FAQs - Gameplay
Controls - Similar
Games
Answers
Bundles
Critic & User Reviews
Wolverine in a hack-n-slasher... fitting
posted by JCDenton (FREEDOM, NH) Jun 14, 2009
Member since Mar 2006
3 out of 4 gamers (75%) found this review helpful
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a game happy to hack and slash it's way to passability. It's not very long, it's not very deep, but you get to kill lots of enemies with adamantium claws. That counts for something.
The game follows the characters from the movie as Logan goes from the tragedy in the Canadian wilds through his battles with fellow mutants and to the ultimate conclusion that leads him to become Wolverine. It's a nice story, briefly told. Most of the details are omitted from the game, mostly because it's so short (well under 10 hours long).
Gameplay breaks down to killing enemies and... well, that's about it. Except for some mild platforming and some quicktime sequences, fighting is what you'll be doing. You can perform light and heavy attacks, as well as lunges. Get in enough good hits and you can enter rage mode for more carnage. It's not deep combat, but it's working combat.
As you progress, you'll gain experience, which allows you to upgrade Wolverine's stats. This is a nice touch, but makes him too powerful by the end of the game. Even the final boss is easily defeated. You can keep your upgrades for a second, harder, time around, but your upgrades make this even easier than the first time.
If there are flaws in the game, they come in design decisions. Your camera is fixed and has a nasty tendency to move at the most inopportune times. Since you dodge with the D-pad, you'll find these odd angles causing you to jump to the side rather than leap forward, etc. And then there are the load screens. Each section, many of which are a couple minutes long, requires a load screen. This gets annoying fast. There are some technical issues as well. I had to battle Blob a few times, because he kept getting stuck in one spot.
The game doesn't feel as fluid or fast as you'd want Wolverine to be. But you still get to use his claws with reckless abandon. That really is worth something.
The game follows the characters from the movie as Logan goes from the tragedy in the Canadian wilds through his battles with fellow mutants and to the ultimate conclusion that leads him to become Wolverine. It's a nice story, briefly told. Most of the details are omitted from the game, mostly because it's so short (well under 10 hours long).
Gameplay breaks down to killing enemies and... well, that's about it. Except for some mild platforming and some quicktime sequences, fighting is what you'll be doing. You can perform light and heavy attacks, as well as lunges. Get in enough good hits and you can enter rage mode for more carnage. It's not deep combat, but it's working combat.
As you progress, you'll gain experience, which allows you to upgrade Wolverine's stats. This is a nice touch, but makes him too powerful by the end of the game. Even the final boss is easily defeated. You can keep your upgrades for a second, harder, time around, but your upgrades make this even easier than the first time.
If there are flaws in the game, they come in design decisions. Your camera is fixed and has a nasty tendency to move at the most inopportune times. Since you dodge with the D-pad, you'll find these odd angles causing you to jump to the side rather than leap forward, etc. And then there are the load screens. Each section, many of which are a couple minutes long, requires a load screen. This gets annoying fast. There are some technical issues as well. I had to battle Blob a few times, because he kept getting stuck in one spot.
The game doesn't feel as fluid or fast as you'd want Wolverine to be. But you still get to use his claws with reckless abandon. That really is worth something.