X-Men Origins: Wolverine The Game

[poiuytre]

Traded in InFamous for it and I must say, I'm liking it a lot so far. Wasn't a big fan of the movie, but I don't think I should fault the game for using it as a reference. I mean, it did the best it could do with the available source material.

The graphics range from fantastic to washed out and blurry. Luckily the worse looking parts of the game are hidden by the frantically fun battle system that keeps you occupied. The combat with tight controls has staggering amount of depth if you're willing to look for it, which the skilltree and plentiful collectables only add to. I didn't like the excessively graphic nature of the violence, but it did allow for a great looking damage effect on Logan. (I might even argue it should have replaced the entire life-bar and gotten rid of the HUD completely.) The puzzle elements are pretty straight-forward and not all that original, but they're still managed to provide a breath of fresh air that is normally absent in the genre. They break up the action nicely and never feel like a chore.

I have to address the abundance of collision glitches tho. I bought this game on recommendation of a friend of mine, who told me all the moping about the glitches was greatly exaggerated. As much as I'm enjoying it so far, he was wrong. Wolverine frequently grabs onto thin air when trying to hold onto ledges or climb ropes. Worst case scenario was when I had to stop playing just now because an enemy I threw got stuck mid-air. He was completely invulnerable up there, nor was I able to progress to the next room due to the fact that he wasn't dead. Granted this only happened once and the game is very generous with checkpoints, but these bugs are the wine-stains you can't get out on an otherwise really nice shirt.

In spite of the few blemishes, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a modern beat-em-up done right. Especially commendable when you compare it to other licensed games.