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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (video game)

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Developer(s)Raven Software (PC/PS3/X360)
Amaze Entertainment (Wii/PS2)[1]
Griptonite Games (PSP/DS)
Publisher(s)Activision
EngineUnreal Engine 3 (PS3,PC,XBOX360), Hybrid Engine (All other versions.)
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS,[1]
ReleaseMay 1, 2009
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 action-adventure game loosely based on the film of the same name. The game release coincided with the release of the film on May 1, 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable. The game was developed primarily by Raven Software, who used Unreal engine technology to develop the game. Amaze Entertainment developed the Wii and PS2 ports and Griptonite Games developed the PSP and DS ports. Origins was published by Activision.

The game allows players to take control of James "Logan" Howlett (codenamed Wolverine) and for the first time in a video game discover the character's origins.

Gameplay

Origins takes influences from games such as God of War and Devil May Cry. The Uncaged version of the game also features a large amount of blood and gore. [2]

Uncaged Edition

The Uncaged Edition was released exclusively for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Raven Software addressed a major deficiency of previous Wolverine video games: their lack of a regeneration factor, by creating a progressive damage system. When Wolverine sustains injuries the damage will be reflected on his character as chunks of his flesh and clothes are removed, and his injuries will heal in real-time, allowing you to see his muscles and skin grow back.[3] Layers of skin and muscle are peeled back to eventually reveal his adamantium skeleton. Wolverine also possesses enhanced feral senses, which can be used in a variety of ways, such as solving puzzles, revealing hidden escape routes, and finding weak points in opponents.

Combat relies on three options - light attacks, heavy attacks, and grabs, mapped to one button apiece - but doesn't ask players to memorize long combo strings. Another form of attack is the lunge, which allows Wolverine to quickly close the distance between him and an enemy. Not only can Wolverine dispatch enemies via his variety of attacks, he can also use the environment to his advantage, such as impaling foes on spikes. During combat, Wolverine's rage meter begins to build up, and when full allows him to unleash more deadly, devastating attacks, like the claw spin and a berserker mode.[3] While in berserker mode, Wolverine's eyes and claws will glow red.

PlayStation 2 & Wii

The PS2 and Wii versions are less graphic, with almost no blood and gore, less language and slightly different combat. Feral senses are still obtained, which can detect doors, traps, enemies and sentinel observers. Lunges do not have the same range, and must be performed at closer distances. They can be repeated, useful for things such as ascending elevator shaft, or fleeing to safety. Blob cards are featured as tokens, which gives the player a rematch with Frederick Dukes / Blob. Rage mode is still implied. XP is collected from defeating enemies, completing mission, defeating all enemies, destroying all turrets, and defeating bosses within five minutes. The XP is used to freely purchase upgrades. Dr. Trask and Darkholme are not in the game. Instead of Leviathans, Mark I Prototypes and W.E.N.D.I.G.Os as random bosses, Giants and Gambit's henchmen are bosses. The life bars of bosses are bars at the bottom of the screen instead of bars at the top right in the Uncaged Edition. The bars also don't have blood splatter. The menus are hi-tech, instead of bloody main menus.

PlayStation Portable

The game has similar graphics to the PS2 and Wii version. There is little blood. Combat has no differences from the PS2 version. Upgrades can only be obtained once sub-missions are complete (ex. Complete the level in five minutes). The main plot is slightly different. Lunges are renamed "pounces", and can only be activated once the circle button appears on top of the enemies' head. Rage is only obtained once the rage meter is full - the meter can decrease once combat stops. Such weapons like fire can stop Wolverine's regeneration ability. Menus are identical.

Synopsis

The story is comprised of a combination of the Wolverine backstory explored in the film as well as an original plot created by Raven Software, which was influenced by major events in the X-Men comic series. In recent interviews, lead developer Dan Vondrak indicates that roughly 90% of the movie storyline is in the game. However, that comprises less than half of the overall videogame story, with the balance being exclusive to the game. The primary storyline is the back-story of Wolverine. Exploring his time in military service, relationship with his animalistic brother Sabretooth, desertion from the military, new life in Canada, eventual recruitment into William Stryker's Weapon X program, and his final confrontation with Weapon XI

Plot

Wolverine lunges toward an enemy helicopter.

The game begins in Africa, which is implied to be Wakanda, due to Stryker's interest in meteorite deposits in the regions. The Africa missions, which are in the chapters as flashbacks, chronicle the events which have Logan disbanding from Team X, and at the end of the mission, it shows that his own morals conflict with that of what Team X is forced to do (i.e. massacres of innocents for strategic purposes).

Three years later, when Logan has settled in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox, his brother Victor Creed reappears at a local bar where he and Logan battle. Creed emerges victorious, breaks Logan's boneclaws and knocks him unconscious. Upon waking up, Logan finds Kayla (apparently) dead. Col. William Stryker appears before Logan and promises him two things, that: he will suffer more pain than any other man could endure and, second, that he will have his revenge. Logan accedes, and undergoes an indescribably painful procedure that melds his bones with adamantium, an indestructible metal processed from the meteorite deposits found back in Africa. After the procedure, Logan overhears that Stryker wants his memory erased, becomes enraged and breaks out of the Alkali Lake facility, killing many of Stryker's men in the process, including Agent Zero.

Logan travels to the Project: Wideawake site searching for John Wraith, where he has a confrontation with Bolivar Trask and his mutant hunting Sentinel. After freeing Wraith, Wraith leads Logan to Fred Dukes, who in turn leads Logan to Remy Lebeau, who mistakes Logan as one of Stryker's agents. Their confrontation is interrupted by Stryker's men, and a battle between Wolverine, Stryker's men, and Lebeau's personal assassin bodyguards erupts. Logan pursues Lebeau to the roof of the building, where he convinces Lebeau to take him to Stryker's island base. Arriving at the island, Logan learns that Silverfox is alive and her "murder" was a ploy to get Logan to volunteer for Weapon X. Devastated by the truth, Logan accepts Stryker's offer to erase his memory, but changes his mind after Creed takes Silverfox hostage. Following Creed and Logan's fight, Stryker's Weapon XI, Deadpool, is sent to kill Wolverine, and after the ensuing battle, Logan's memories are damaged by an adamantium bullet from Stryker's handgun. Silverfox decides to allow Logan to forget everything that happened to him and leaves him alone on the island.

In the epilogue, Bolivar Trask, who has perfected the recreation of human body parts via robotic replacements, has taken Logan hostage. Logan breaks free of his chains, but Trask flees. An army of Sentinels are seen in the distance in a ruined city, destroying everything in sight.

Characters

  • Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine:[4] A mutant with powers of regeneration, animalistic instincts, enhanced strength, unbreakable bones and six retractable adamantium claws (Bone claws before the adamantium transfusion).
  • Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed:[5][6] Wolverine's half-brother who has a healing factor, animalistic instincts, and retractable claws.
  • Dave Florek as William Stryker: A Colonel of the military who formed Team X, and is a major part of the Weapon X Program.
  • April Stewart as Kayla Silverfox: Logan's lover; she has the ability of tactile hypnosis: the ability to control someone as long as she is touching them.
  • will.i.am as John Wraith: A mutant who has the ability to teleport. A former member of Stryker's team. Owns a bodybuilding studio in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • Robert Wu as David North / Agent Zero:[5] A member of the Weapon X Program, Stryker's second-in-command. Zero possesses expert tracking skills and is a lethal marksman.
  • Gregg Berger as Fred Dukes / Blob:[5] A mutant and former member of Stryker's mutant strike team. Fred has an indestructible layer of skin. After leaving Stryker and the team, he developed an eating disorder and became obese.
  • Chris Edgerly as Remy LeBeau / Gambit:[5] A former prisoner of Stryker who can manipulate kinetic energy.
  • Steven Blum as Wade Wilson:[5] The "merc with a mouth." Wade is a highly trained mercenary who was the annoyance of the team.
    • Weapon XI / Deadpool: The altered Wade Wilson is the mutant killer. He was given a healing factor, teleportation, and optic blast powers and had his mouth forced shut. Stryker also had adamantium blades surgically implanted into his arms.
  • Anna Graves as Raven Darkholme: A female mutant with shapeshifting abilities and a CIA operative who was working in conjunction with Stryker's team in Africa. She later encounters Wolverine when they both are searching for Wraith. She is Wraith's lover and the mother of his child.
  • Bumper Robinson as Dr. Bolivar Trask: Creator of the Sentinels. He kidnaps Wraith to use him in his study of the mutant gene for sentinel programming. His hand is cut off by Wolverine, he later replaces it with a prosthetic hand. In the future as shown in the game, he appears to be the one directing the soldiers attacking Wolverine in an attempt to capture him.
  • Sentinels: Robots created by Dr. Bolivar Trask, built for the sole purpose of hunting and terminating mutants. Wolverine encounters a smaller prototype and later fights a larger Mark I model. At the end of the game, in the future, many sentinels are seen walking through the ruins of a city, seemingly terminating mutants as they are detected.
    • Sentinel Prototypes: Prototypes of the Sentinel; bosses in the cybernetics lab missions.
  • W.E.N.D.I.G.O. Prototypes:[2] In keeping with the somewhat realistic tone of the film series, these are genetically engineered super-soldiers, instead of magically cursed beings. They are bosses in Weapon X areas.
  • Leviathans: Bosses that are seen in the African missions.

Development

Raven Software set up a developers blog[7] and project lead Dan Vondrak also set up a Twitter account to post updates and impressions on the game.[8] Blur Studio, who also worked with Raven on X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance provided all of the cgi cutscenes for the game.[9] The developers published a large number of 3D screenshots, virtual three-dimensional renders of a particular setting that could be viewed in a web browser.[10] The music for the game was composed by Paul Haslinger, who composed the music for the Underworld film series and such games as Need For Speed: Undercover, Rainbow Six: Vegas and its sequel, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.[11] Raven worked with publisher Activision to provide easter eggs from other games to be found, such as the Lich King's sword from World of Warcraft[12] and the cake mentioned in the game Portal.[13]

Reception

Reviews were mostly positive saying that they enjoyed the gore which made it different from most movie games. They criticized the repetitiveness of the game however.[citation needed]

Gamespot stated the Uncaged Edition has disappointing (and sometimes buggy) boss fights, the plot is weak, the game is too easy and there are cheap deaths.[21] The game, however, had raw, brutal action, varied enemy types, and a good showcase of Wolverine's powers.

IGN's Greg Miller stated the Uncaged Edition version of the game is an "awesome guilty pleasure", despite criticisms of boss repetitiveness and others. Miller loved the cinematics of the game, as well as loved the bloody sights of the game. The visuals received a mixed review from IGN, stating the game looks great sometimes and shoddy other times. Miller further criticized that the only sounds that sound good are Hugh Jackman's voice and claw sounds. [16]

He also criticized the Wii and PS2 version's presentation. IGN also didn't like boxes in the game, Wolverine's burly chest, and the framey part of the PS2 version. They say that voices are repetitive and there is lack of music. They say that "you will get pissed at the PS2's controls" and "you will never really love or hate the experience" of the Wii. The PS2 got a 4.5 and the Wii a 4.8.

He stated in the PSP version that the presentation is not exciting nor confusing. He also criticized the bland environment, but stated, "The title runs smoothly for the most part and the character models look good enough." They also praised the music. They say that the claws don't really "feel sharp". The version got a 5.1.

IGN's Sam Bishop says the DS version is not what he really expected from Griptonite Games. He says that not much enjoyment is presented, like no voice and long levels. The characters, he says, have nice comic book animations, but it is repetitive. He also didn't really expect minimal sound effects. He liked the secret collectives. He stated that the combat had its' bright moments, but "they're almost always during segments where you're not taking on three hulking creatures at once." The version got a 5.

In the Screwattack top ten 'Top 10 Movie-Based Games' the Uncaged Edition of this game came in sixth.[25] Reviewers told parents not to buy this game for their child, as it's a 'violent little bit of entertainment'.

References

  1. ^ a b Faylor, Chris (December 9, 2008). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Platforms Unveiled". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  2. ^ a b Ramsay, Randolph (2009-01-15). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Impressions". Gamespot. Retrieved 2009-01-15. Cite error: The named reference "gamespot1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Vondrak, Dan (2009-03-07). "Raven Q&A: Volume 1". Raven Software. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  4. ^ Vondrak, Dan (2009-03-11). "Gameplay Trailer Released". Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  5. ^ a b c d e toutski (2009-01-19). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". thesixthaxis.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  6. ^ Dinges, Justin (2009-03-18). "Art Level Design Blog – 3D: Creed Bar Fight". Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  7. ^ Vondrak, Dan (2009-05-16). "Inside Look: Blur Cinematics". Raven Software. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  8. ^ Vondrak, Dan (2009-05-19). "Dan Vondrak (Vondrak) on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  9. ^ "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Official Video Game Site - News". Raven Software. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  10. ^ "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Official Video Game Site - 360 Screenshots". Raven Software. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  11. ^ Vondrak, Dan (2009-03-24). "Wolverine Developer Q&A – Round 2". Raven Software. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  12. ^ Fahey, Mike (2009-05-01). "Wow, Check Out One Of Wolverine's Secret Places". Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  13. ^ Good, Owen (2009-05-03). "Another Pic of Wolverine's Secret Areas". Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  14. ^ Hayward, Justin (2009-05-01). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine UNCAGED Edition (PS3)". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  15. ^ Hayward, Justin (2009-05-01). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine UNCAGED Edition (XBOX 360)". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  16. ^ a b Miller, Greg (2009-04-30). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine -- Uncaged Edition Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  17. ^ Miller, Greg (2009-05-04). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  18. ^ Bishop, Sam (2009-05-07). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  19. ^ Miller, Greg (2009-05-04). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  20. ^ Miller, Greg (2009-05-04). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  21. ^ a b Ramsay, Randolph (2009-05-07). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  22. ^ "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  23. ^ Herring, Will (2009-05-01). "X-Men Origins: Wolverine (360)". GamePro. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  24. ^ Reiner, Andrew. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Game Informer. Retrieved 2009-05-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ "Top 10 Movie-Based Games". GameTrailers. 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
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