X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a fast paced and brutal hack and slash action game that draws story inspiration from the film of the same name. Releasing at the same time (2009) the game offers two different experiences with an Uncaged Edition developed for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 while a different game version was released for other platforms that toned down the gore, language and some of the combat elements.
If you’ve seen the film then you’ll recognise some of the plot elements as X-Men Origins: Wolverine is entirely based on the movie though with some original plot coming into play throughout your adventure to fill out the gameplay experience. During the prologue you’ll see an older Wolverine being hunted in an almost post apocalyptic urban setting by a number of soldiers. It’s during this running away that the player begins to reflect and look look back at the events that took you to this point in time. Your first flashback takes you to Africa and follows your adventure as part of Team X and the eventual departure from the team.
This is just the first of many story elements though in X-Men Origins: Wolverine with players interacting with a number of well known franchise characters which means fans of the series will find higher personal engagement. Fan or not though the story provides sufficient information and background on characters so that the casual observer or complete newcomer will still understand their goals as Wolverine. This adventure eventually leads the player to the opening prologue with all the information that led you to your current fleeing situation.
Gameplay in X-Men Origins: Wolverine focuses on fast paced and flowing combat of a hack and slash style that fans of the genre would be familiar with. Of course you’ll be put in control of the powerful Wolverine as he jumps around the battlefield to dispatch his enemies in often brutal ways utilising his famous claws. Choosing between grabs, light and heavy attacks players will have to quickly deal with the enemies on screen while minimising the damage taken in return which generally requires you to consider the enemy type in the encounter.
These enemies range from the simple machete wielding soldier to machine gun, stealth or grenade wielding enemies with most having tiers of challenge based around similar design elements. In addition to your claws players can also rely on the environment for extra damage from impaling people to throwing them off cliff edges for dramatic effect. Attacks will also slowly build up your rage which when full allows you to unleash devastating and powerful attacks known as fury moves to overcome a difficult enemy or a group of them. These fury moves include a claw spin, a temporary berserk strength boost, a claw drill and heightened feral vision.
Of course it wouldn’t be a Wolverine game if you didn’t regenerate from your injuries over time given that is your mutation. While this has been included the developers have also done a great job in balancing this mechanic to ensure that it gives you just enough power but not so much that you can afford to not think strategically in battle encounters. This means ensuring your combo your attacks with timing, grappling enemies, lunging at them and countering their own attack patterns.
For missions, killing enemies and other objectives in game you’ll slowly generate experience to upgrade your skills as well to provide some basic RPG mechanics. Players can also equip mutagens which act like items to give you completely new abilities or alter current ones once unlocked to further that sense of progression throughout the story. Ultimately playing as Wolverine is fun, bloody and feels responsive from start to finish with some well designed depth added through skills and abilities this is definitely a game worth playing, especially so for X-Men fans.
Summary:
- Play as Wolverine and discover your origin story with links to the film of the same name.
- Plenty of skills and mutagens to customise your experience and provide a sense of RPG like progression.
- Master combat of combos, counters and grappling moves with the added threat of environmental elements.
- Fight over a dozen different enemies with their own AI and combat specialisations.
- Available on a large number of platforms with two different game versions.
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Review Platform: PC