'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' offers gory fun

This game will keep players' bloodlust satiated.

By Chris Stachiw

Published May 8, 2009

Movie games are generally a drag, due in part to the game's developers rushing them out to coincide with the release of the movie. This causes players to avoid them and move on to games the developers take time on. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition" breaks the mold of movie games and delivers a gory, blood-soaked experience that keeps you coming back for more.

After the beginning cut scenes, you'll realize although the game is based on the movie, the plot is the only thing these two have in common. The game is rated M, and pushes the rating to its fullest potential with some new concepts not previously seen in any video game. Dismemberment, decapitation and impalement are just some of the choices in the dispatching of enemies.

The gore also applies to Wolverine's body, which is one of the most dynamic character models seen in a video game for a long time. Since Wolverine has regenerative abilities, his body automatically heals over time. This trait is displayed in the game with real-time healing. As Wolverine takes damage, his body shows the bullet holes, slash marks and explosions in graphic detail with musculature and blood, then regenerated over time.

Most of the gore is present during game play in which Wolverine dismembers enemies, cutting off limbs, blowing off heads and generally creating a gory mess of the baddies. This butchery gives an authentic feel to the game unlike any Wolverine game previously, and it really makes you feel like you are a clawed badass.

Along with the limb-severing, there are several more memorable moments, including a midair fight with a Sentinel. But most of these scenes aren't completely interactive, bringing down the overall fun of the game. One would expect quick-time button presses to be present during these moments, but they are weirdly absent. This makes it seem like the developers didn't really feel like they needed to make the most epic parts of the game interactive.

Although this is one of my only complaints, the other is quite substantial: the boss battles. They feel rushed and broken, seeming like the developers spent more time on the game play than making the game solid overall. The boss battles don't feel very well put together and lack the wow factor the basic game play employs. Fans of X-Men will notice character cameos and pertinent series information the developers threw in for series fans.

Unfortunately, the storyline is weakly presented through a convoluted flashback/flash-forward system, which tends to become confusing. While this storytelling style works in other games, it falls flat in this one since the story isn't exactly strong to begin with. Overall "X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition" is dumb, bloody, gory fun that will keep the blood lust of fans of God of War and Ninja Gaiden satiated.