X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

April 26, 2022

It's rare for a game based on a movie to achieve the same level of popularity as the movie itself, and even rarer for it to actually surpass the movie. But in the case of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this is pretty much exactly what happened – the game not only lived up to the great expectations the gaming crowd held for it, but it also turned out to be a highly innovative title packed full of interesting gameplay and a solid storyline.

Gameplay

The game puts you in the role of Wolverine, as you go through a plot which closely resembles that of the movie, which also reveals a lot of new information about the character which you can only see in the game. It's mainly an action game with some elements of adventure and exploration – but the main focus is placed on combat in all its glory. You've got several types of attacks, all of which attribute to a “rage” meter – when filled up, you can temporarily attack your enemies in much more vicious ways, taking care of entire groups at once.

Health is handled in a regenerating system, which was to be expected, considering the nature of Wolverine himself – so it's a perfect opportunity for the developers to utilize this concept. You can see your wounds heal in real time as you go around the levels, and the visual effects associated with that are very good-looking (more on that below).

Also, combat isn't only limited to ways you can strike your enemies in – you can make creative use of your environment to aid your cause, for example throwing enemies at large spikes and watching them die a bit slower.

Graphics and System Requirements

Yet again we see the Unreal Engine 3 in action (not for the mobile versions, of course – those are powered by the Hybrid engine). YOu can expect the standard level of eye candy associated with games on this engine, such as high-resolution textures, lots of dynamic lighting and realistic shadows, and highly-detailed models. Some of the scenes are truly breathtaking, and capture the feeling every movie-based game should have.

The developers have done quite a few alterations to the base engine, and sadly the game's system requirements have gone up as a result – so you'll need a slightly better computer than what your average Unreal Engine 3 game requires. Still, it fares well enough on older machines, and if you're able to run other UE3 titles comfortably, you should at least get a playable experience from X-Men Origins: Wolverine if you turn down some of the graphics settings.

Other

The game has a PS2 version – surprisingly. However, the experience is somewhat different there, as the game utilizes a more simplistic combat style, as well as a different system for character development.

Conclusion

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a shining example of what movie-based games should be like – that is to say, even if it didn't come with the fame of the movie, the game would still be very well-received and recognized.