For my first ever review I am going to be reviewing the latest game taken from the X-men universe:
X-men origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition
Backstory
Though there have been many games featuring Wolverine in the past, but none have ever really expressed the true feel of being a nigh-on indestructible killing machine.. until now. The series of X-men games definitely seems to have matured with this title, including high levels of gore and violence, which has resulted in a big '18' certificate being slapped to the front of the box, a first for any X-Men game.
The game is loosely based on the film, with the storyline being a combination of the movie, and also some original story created by Raven Software. The story focuses on Wolverine and his backstory, from his birth, military service and his eventual recruitment into the Weapon X program. The game features many recognizable faces from the X-Men universe, such as Victor Creed (A.K.A. Sabretooth), Fred Dukes (A.K.A. Blob), Remy LeBeau (A.K.A. Gambit) and, of course, Deadpool.
Gameplay
First off, if you like boss fights, you're gonna' love this game. I've honestly never seen so many bosses packed into a single game, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the fact that nearly all of them consist of 'run behind, lunge, slash, repeat' makes them a very repetitive experience, especially when you are dealing with 2, 3 or even 4 of these bosses at once.
Overall, combat is a thoroughly satisfying experience, with the new levels of violence and gore really making you feel like Wolverine, you're guaranteed to have a huge grin on your face as you hack, slash, and chop your way through hordes of enemies, lopping off limbs and sending blood splattering all over the place. However... while this is a great experience at first, in time the combat does get quite repetitive, with the bulk of the games attacks mapped to the X and Y buttons (Square and triangle if playing on the PS3), with the X button being light attacks, and the Y button being heavy attacks. There are four 'rage' abilities that you gain access to throughout the game, but I found that I didn't use these much, as I could kill most enemies by simply lunging or mashing X and Y.
There are quite a few quick time moments in the game, such as some very God of War-style boss finishers which require you to mash X or B as fast as you can to execute one final finishing move, again, these start as a fun gimmick, but eventually get tiresome and repetitive. The game also features an upgradable skill system, with each level granting a set number of points that can be applied to give wolverine extra damage, health, rage, and a variety of other things.
One of the games many 'scripted' events sees wolverine take out helicopters by, you guessed it, mashing X.
Presentation
Overall, the in-game visuals are of a high standard, one standout feature being that, when wolverine takes damage, be it from getting shot, to getting a little too close to an exploding barrel, you can really see that damage on the character model. Wolverines character model has 3 'layers' that are visually affected when you take damage, firstly his clothes, secondly his skin, and finally his skeleton. But obviously wolverine has regenerative powers, so the skin will slowly 'grow' back over the skeleton as his health replenishes, this is the games 'party piece' in some ways, and is definatley effective in portraying wolverines powers.
You can really see the damage system working here, with his clothes ripped and torn, and holes in his skin.
Audio
I found the games voice acting to be of a reasonable standard, not bad, but not excellent, and I felt that Hugh Jackman did a good job on voicing Wolverine in the game (Yes, he plays him in the movie but.. y'know).
The sound effects in game are very good, with a satisfying 'schink' sound as wolverine extends his claws, and some brutal sounding slashes as you hack your way through countless waves of enemies.
Lasting appeal
I managed to soldier through the game in around 8 hours, not really going out of my way to collect many of the collectibles or achievements. The collectibles in the game would add a few more hours gameplay, with the main collectible being tog tags collected from various dead soldiers scattered throughout the level, most of these are very easily spotted, and i collected somewhere around 80 of the 95 tags whilst playing through the game, without really going out of my way for any. There are also a number of Wolverine figurines hidden in some levels, and collecting these unlocks a 'bonus' challenge, where you have to fight another wolverine with a different costume, defeating them then unlocks this costume for use in the main story, which is a cool feature.
Conclusion
Overall, i would this game a rating of 7.5/10, I would definatley recommend it to any X-men fan, or anyone who likes a good beat 'em up, but do not be surprised if you get bored around 3/4's of the way through. I would recommend renting this game, as once you have beaten it once, there isn't really anything to draw you back in for a second playthrough, other than maxing out your skills/abilities.
X-men origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition
Backstory
Though there have been many games featuring Wolverine in the past, but none have ever really expressed the true feel of being a nigh-on indestructible killing machine.. until now. The series of X-men games definitely seems to have matured with this title, including high levels of gore and violence, which has resulted in a big '18' certificate being slapped to the front of the box, a first for any X-Men game.
The game is loosely based on the film, with the storyline being a combination of the movie, and also some original story created by Raven Software. The story focuses on Wolverine and his backstory, from his birth, military service and his eventual recruitment into the Weapon X program. The game features many recognizable faces from the X-Men universe, such as Victor Creed (A.K.A. Sabretooth), Fred Dukes (A.K.A. Blob), Remy LeBeau (A.K.A. Gambit) and, of course, Deadpool.
Gameplay
First off, if you like boss fights, you're gonna' love this game. I've honestly never seen so many bosses packed into a single game, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the fact that nearly all of them consist of 'run behind, lunge, slash, repeat' makes them a very repetitive experience, especially when you are dealing with 2, 3 or even 4 of these bosses at once.
Overall, combat is a thoroughly satisfying experience, with the new levels of violence and gore really making you feel like Wolverine, you're guaranteed to have a huge grin on your face as you hack, slash, and chop your way through hordes of enemies, lopping off limbs and sending blood splattering all over the place. However... while this is a great experience at first, in time the combat does get quite repetitive, with the bulk of the games attacks mapped to the X and Y buttons (Square and triangle if playing on the PS3), with the X button being light attacks, and the Y button being heavy attacks. There are four 'rage' abilities that you gain access to throughout the game, but I found that I didn't use these much, as I could kill most enemies by simply lunging or mashing X and Y.
There are quite a few quick time moments in the game, such as some very God of War-style boss finishers which require you to mash X or B as fast as you can to execute one final finishing move, again, these start as a fun gimmick, but eventually get tiresome and repetitive. The game also features an upgradable skill system, with each level granting a set number of points that can be applied to give wolverine extra damage, health, rage, and a variety of other things.
One of the games many 'scripted' events sees wolverine take out helicopters by, you guessed it, mashing X.
Presentation
Overall, the in-game visuals are of a high standard, one standout feature being that, when wolverine takes damage, be it from getting shot, to getting a little too close to an exploding barrel, you can really see that damage on the character model. Wolverines character model has 3 'layers' that are visually affected when you take damage, firstly his clothes, secondly his skin, and finally his skeleton. But obviously wolverine has regenerative powers, so the skin will slowly 'grow' back over the skeleton as his health replenishes, this is the games 'party piece' in some ways, and is definatley effective in portraying wolverines powers.
I found the games voice acting to be of a reasonable standard, not bad, but not excellent, and I felt that Hugh Jackman did a good job on voicing Wolverine in the game (Yes, he plays him in the movie but.. y'know).
The sound effects in game are very good, with a satisfying 'schink' sound as wolverine extends his claws, and some brutal sounding slashes as you hack your way through countless waves of enemies.
Lasting appeal
I managed to soldier through the game in around 8 hours, not really going out of my way to collect many of the collectibles or achievements. The collectibles in the game would add a few more hours gameplay, with the main collectible being tog tags collected from various dead soldiers scattered throughout the level, most of these are very easily spotted, and i collected somewhere around 80 of the 95 tags whilst playing through the game, without really going out of my way for any. There are also a number of Wolverine figurines hidden in some levels, and collecting these unlocks a 'bonus' challenge, where you have to fight another wolverine with a different costume, defeating them then unlocks this costume for use in the main story, which is a cool feature.
Conclusion
Overall, i would this game a rating of 7.5/10, I would definatley recommend it to any X-men fan, or anyone who likes a good beat 'em up, but do not be surprised if you get bored around 3/4's of the way through. I would recommend renting this game, as once you have beaten it once, there isn't really anything to draw you back in for a second playthrough, other than maxing out your skills/abilities.
Thanks for the comment.
