Best movie tie-in game ever. There, I said it. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is without a doubt the best movie tie-in game I have ever played. Usually movie tie-in games are garbage, that’s just how it is. Well X-Men Origins: Wolverine has changed that and if you feel like digging your claws into a great game than look no further than X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The plot of the game unfortunately does not follow too closely to that of the film and honestly that is the game’s biggest fault. The storyline in the game is loosely based on the events of the film and for the most part much of what appears in the game is not in the film. The storyline in the game is messy, convoluted, and disorganized. It is also incredibly confusing as it jumps between timelines very often. One moment you’re in the past, the next moment you’re in the present. Couple that along with some absurd plot elements and cut scenes that make no sense and the story in the game is just garbage.

Fortunately that is one of the only flaws with the game. There are a few minor flaws, repetitiveness does rear its ugly head every so often. Due to the game’s long length (about 10 hours for one playthrough) it does feel repetitive at times. Most of the bosses are killed in the same way and although the game tries to distinguish between different enemies, a lot of them end up feeling the same. There are also a few bosses that appear multiple times throughout the game and they are the same each time. The feelings of repetitiveness only arise because the game is so long. I think if the length had been shortened than this would not be an issue.

The repetitiveness and messy plot aside, everything else about this game works out quite well. The game is divided into five very long levels. Each level is quite linear, steering you through a defined path where you must kill enemies and solve platform/puzzle elements. The only issue with the platforming and puzzle elements is that they were all so similar that once you solved a bunch of them, you essentially knew what you had to do for the rest. That aside it was still a nice addition and helped break up the combat. The combat in the game is pretty fun and it’s what makes the game. Wolverine really feels like a superhero in the game, he’s nearly indestructible and is very adept in combat. You can use X and Y for your basic light and heavy attack, B is a grab and A is jump. Simple enough, you can also string combos together.

Then there are special attacks. Wolverine has four special attacks which are of course much more powerful than his basic attacks and are performed by holding RT and pressing one of the face buttons. The special attacks require rage. Your rage meter is filled by killing enemies and destroying objects.

Wolverine can also execute quick kills. These happen when you grab an enemy. If you grab an enemy and hit Y you can perform a quick kill and depending on the type of enemy they are all different, although they all have one thing in common, their bloody awesome!

The last element of combat is the lunge. You can target enemies who are far away and lunge onto them. I’ve never really experienced something like this in a videogame before but it makes the combat far more enjoyable. Couple all these elements together with a regenerating health system and the fact that the game is probably the most bloody and gory game I have ever played and you get some immensely satisfying combat. When I say bloody and gory I really mean it, bad guys will be beheaded, limbs will be ripped off, people will be torn in half and people will be gutted.

The only complaint I have with the combat is that it makes the game to easy. Wolverine is so incredibly powerful; especially with his lunge attack the game is very easy. I hardly died and I was playing on normal. One other little thing I just wanted to mention was that this game does have quicktime events, which I personally hate.

The game also includes something called Mutagens. These enhance your combat. You find them throughout the levels and you can equip three at a time. For example one mutagen may give you more XP per kill, another might boost the damage of your special attacks, the other may boost your health, another may increase your damage when near death etc.

As I mentioned before there is XP in this game and there is a leveling system. It’s fairly basic though, each kill gains you XP and as you level up you gain skill points to spend on skills that you want to upgrade, fairly standard. There is also a reflex system. You have certain reflexes for each type of enemy. As you kill more of that type of enemy, your reflexes go up, making you more efficient against that type of enemy.

For all you achievement whores let me just tell you quickly that this game does feature an achievement tracker which is a huge bonus as you can see how close you are to certain achievements. The only gripe I have with achievements is that there are achievements for collectibles. Many collectibles are spread throughout the levels and it is a pain to find them all.

For the die hard Wolverine fans there is a neat little feature. The game does feature three classic Wolverine costumes although the way in which you obtain them is the cool part. You find statues throughout the levels, depending on which statues you find, battle arenas are unlocked. These are accessed from the main menu and in these arenas you fight 1 on 1 against another Wolverine who is wearing the costume you are trying to obtain. If you defeat him than the costume is yours, if you lose than feel free to try again.

Overall X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a great game. When it boils down to it, it’s just plain fun. Sure the gameplay is basic and the levels and bosses feel repetitive but with some of the goriest and bloodiest kills and a simple and fluid control scheme the combat in this game is super fun. That’s really what this game is about, just running through levels and destroying enemies. At the end of my first playthrough I had killed about 1500 enemies and guess what? I had fun killing every single one of them.

Sure the game has flaws, a few major ones that can’t be overlooked. Is it the best game out there? No, not by a long shot, but it most certainly is the best movie tie-in game. With X-Men Origins: Wolverine we finally see a decent entry into the superhero beat em up genre. X-Men fans will love the game, fans of the movie will also enjoy it. Even if your not a fan of X-Men in any way (like myself) I think the guilty pleasure of ripping your enemies in half with a ridiculously over powered superhero is just to tempting to pass up on. Due to the low replay value I would not recommend a purchase but I would say this game is a definite rental. So what are you waiting for? Get your claws out and wrap them around X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

8.5/10