The Sports Nerds network

 By Armando Avila

  Games based on movies usually don't fare too well in the fun department. And usually for good reason because they are rushed, have a bad license or it seems that the team doesn't care about what they are making. Thankfully X-Men Origins: Wolverine seems to fall into only one of those categories. 

The first thing that one is gonna notice is how visceral this game is. Which is a good thing considering the character. If I'm playing a game as Wolverine I want to to be able to put those claws to good use and boy howdy, do you. You easily tear through enemies like they were butter. The combat is really where the entertainment of this game lies because when you go into an area you run into battle and lay waste to those around like Wolverine should. Raven studios really makes you feel that they cared about the charter enough to give you the experience that you are this wrathful animal. In fact one might even think that they would just let you run through the game hacking and slashing everything in sight. And you also have the option to mix it up by having a good amount of executions to perform. Whether it be by doing a variety of them depending on the enemy or using the environment to your advantage by impaling them on a tree branch or other sharp object. 

But the combat isn't without it's flaws either because while there is a good variety of ways to take out the countless soldiers, bosses don't adhere to those rules. In fact the best (read: only) way to defeat a boss is to jump on it's back and hack away until it's life hits zero. On top of that I found them incredibly frustrating because since this is the only way to do away with them you have to look for open opportunities to do so. Often it will be while he may be rushing at you or in the middle of an attack, yet the bosses must have a mutant power that enables them to read my mind because it will quickly catch you in mid-air and slam you to the floor. Since they all require the same strategy I get to thinking "Didn't I just do this?"

From a story telling aspect I didn't really have much clue as to what was going on because it is so convoluted. There is so much going back and forth in the timeline of the story that it made my head spin. At some point in the game I was transported to the mid-west, but it didn't bother to tell me where in the timeline I was. But in all honesty this isn't really to be played for a great story either so I can't bash it too much. 

Lastly, this is a decent looking game. Some good textures and environments are to be found. A neat little graphical touch was that when Wolverine takes damage you can at times see his bones and then the flesh heal above it. My main gripe though is that the textures won't fully load by the time the gameplay will kick in. I also had a few moments where the cut scenes would skip, but thankfully that problem never transferred when I was actually playing so it didn't ruin the experience completely.

So while it's flawed in some ways the combat in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is fun and can overshadow the other imperfections. And given that this being a movie based game I'm sure Raven studios had to get it out to coincide with the release date for the movie, but it never feels completely rushed. And they certainly give you the feeling of being a ravaging animal so claw right in. 

A solid 7/10