X-Men Origins: Wolverine was one of the many box office hits from last summer that was an ultimately hollow movie, deviod of any nuance, a good plot, and, with the exception of Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber, just generally awful acting.  So how is the video game based on the movie?

I am quite pleased to say that the game is way better than the movie.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition is easily the best Wolverine video game ever made.  This game has everything you want out of a game starring our favorite bezerker raging mutant.  You follow the events from the movie with additional material from RAVEN, linking specific events from the film seamlessly to an overarching storyline that involves several flashbacks to Africa, as well as a visit to Project Wideawake, which for your non comic geeks, is the project that unleashed these three story tall robots that hunt mutants on the X-Men.  You play as Wolverine, as you hack, stab, maim, slash, and kill anything and everything in your path. I think it’s safe to say that  this is by far the goriest game that has come out with an X-men character.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing.   A really good thing.

I was surprised at just how much gore there is specifically from the amount of damage that you take as Wolverine.  That said, because Wolverine is a mutant, one of his abilities includes a healing factor where essentially your life bar restores itself slowly and you get the treat of seeing Wolverine’s wounds heal themselves.  You can get stripped down to a near skeleton and still recover from that thanks to the two life bars that you have if your first life bar is depleted, then that means Wolverine’s vitals are exposed, therefore renderng you vulnerable.  At this point, it’s best to take some cover from your opponents or expect to be killed.  The kills that you get to deliver on the bad guys are incredible.  One of my favorites is where Wolverine stabs the victim in the stomach, and pulls up, thereby decapitating and leaving the poor bastard so shredded up that he won’t be getting up even if he could.

The boss battles are epic.  One battle has you going up against a Sentinel and that one alone is worth making the game worthy of a play through.  The fight with Gambit spans an entire hour of game play, taking place all over a casino, and even outside.  That fight is one of my favorite parts of this game.  The final fight with Weapon 11 is interesting and it actually challenges you to vary your moves against the enemy more than you have up to this point.

If I have any complaints with the game, it will be about the repetition.  The gameplay is as follows, lunge, hack, slash, rinse, repeat.  The repetition in this game is a major issue especially when you return to areas that introduce one new villain to fight.  When I say new, I mean in looks only.  The boss fight with The Blob is also a disappointment in that you have already fought big guys like him and the strategy for fighting him is nothing new by the time you get around to him.   (Spoiler) Also the fact that the idea of the magical memory erasing adamantium bullet is in the game just infuriates me to no end.  I hated that aspect of the movie and I hate it here as well. (Spoiler end)

The extras are minimal but neat.  You are able to find Wolverine action figures in different costumes from every aspect of the character’s history in the various stages of the game and when you get three of the same one, you unlock a challenge.  The challenge involves you fighting the Wolverine in that costume.  If you defeat him, then you unlock that costume and it’s instantly a selectable costume in the game.  Otherwise, you are playing ad Hugh Jackman in a  wife beater and jeans and let’s face it, it’s not the most interesting costume in the game.

My final verdict: If you want a good, solid action game that won’t take too long to finish, then X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not a bad choice.  I might even say it’s one of the best comic book based video games out this year after Batman: Arkham Asylum.  There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to cut loose with Wolverine and finally give some much needed gore to this already violent character.  While the repetition can get a little tedious, it’s definitely a guilty pleasure of a game and worth your time.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition: 7 out of 10