Gaming Target - Xbox: X2: Wolverine's Revenge

Written by Leigh Culpin on June 26, 2003

Full Review: Revenge? What did I ever do to him?

X2 was a pretty damn good movie, if somewhat controversial in that the story wasn't as strong as the first (according to some) and that the action level was exceptionally higher. Wolverine's game, which isn't really linked at all to the movie aside from the title, presents a somewhat different issue Ц the story's there, the action's there, the stealth's there, but it still isn't the game it really should be.

That's not to say that it's a bad game Ц it certainly isn't. It just has some big problems Ц namely gameplay balance and a rather painful lack of checkpoints or a save anywhere feature. You save after each level, and that's it. Which becomes problematic when you get killed or the mission ends because you've been detected when you weren't allowed to be and you have to start a VERY lengthy mission over. Truth be told most of the levels aren't really THAT long, they just take a lot of time to complete considering how easy it is for Wolverine to die.

For anyone unaware, Wolverine is one of the most famous of the comic book originating X-Men, who survived a process that grafted an indestructible metal to his skeleton thanks to his mutant healing factor. He even has three extendable claws in each hand, making him extremely lethal in the comic book and movie worlds. The game, however, is a different story Ц the ol' canucklehead ain't nearly as powerful as you'd expect, having to dish out quite a beating to a single guard to permanently down him.

The game twist on these abilities is that you can't heal while your claws are out or while you're fighting, and since your claws give you the real edge in fighting (and since Wolvy can't use guns or weapons period aside from a couple droids or turrets later on in the game, all you'll really be doing is fighting) you tend to have to take out as many guards as you can before finding a remote corner somewhere to hide and heal in. You can always hit each guard in any given room once to knock their weapons away, causing them to run after you to try to beat you to a mindless pulp, but that can chop up gameplay a fair bit, even if it really is the only way to survive some of the later levels.

The story is relatively simple, but reveals some interesting tidbits about Wolverine along the way (and not just Wolverine Ц included in the limited Bonus section is a place to access files you've collected on various characters in the X-Men universe) and certainly progresses the game well: You have a deadly virus and only a few days to live. Your quest, then, is naturally to find the cure, which isn't as easy as one might think since you'll have to infiltrate the labs where Wolverine was reborn and you'll encounter baddies such as Sabertooth, Magneto and Lady Deathstrike along the way.

The fighting system itself if solid if simple Ц the X and Y buttons punch and kick respectively, and having your claws out does significantly more damage. Additionally, when two or three enemies are around and if Wolverine is in the right position, you can perform strike moves Ц initially you simply hit the B button when in the right position (though as your strike levels increase all the way to level four you'll have to hit an additional button per strike level) and Wolverine will perform a sweet looking move which takes out all of the bad guys targeted with it. While these do look super-sweet and certainly do the job very well, there aren't really enough of them throughout the game that you won't be more than ready for the next level of them when you get there.

To get there, however, you need to perform stealth kills (by sneaking up behind a bad guy using the sneak mode, senses mode or running around on all fours) or kill bosses to collect dog tags. Reach a certain dog tag requirement and you'll get an increase in strike level, which becomes very important later on, since weaker strikes won't kill tougher enemies.

The stealth kills themselves are also cinematic Ц just like the other strikes, you just tap the B button and watch. While this is somewhat movie-like and certainly cool for the first while, it's almost a shame the developers didn't at least include an option to manually perform different combos in real time beyond the basic kick and punch ones. Having said that, the coolness of some of the strikes (such as jumping down on an enemy from a higher platform or stabbing two guys on either side, throwing them into the air and then kicking the guy in front of you in a spinning back flip) are way up there and certainly help give Wolvy back his lethality.

Wolverine's bag of tricks doesn't end there, though; you'll also find the senses mode extremely handy. It'll turn the whole screen a shade of red and certain things, such as enemies and footprints, will glow to give you a heads up on the whereabouts of your opponents. Additionally, you can see the scent trails (which looks somewhat disappointing yet are very useful) of enemies floating about in most cases. Senses mode will automatically make you stealthy, but by the same token slashing or anything of the like will bring you out of it (though you can Уcrawl,Ф which is really more of a run using your hands too, and is accompanied by a very stylized and damn sweet animation).

The other key ability is going feral Ц if Wolvy takes (or dishes out) too much damage, a meter above his health bar will fill up until he loses himself to rage and becomes amazingly more powerful (somewhere around where you'd expect him to be in the first place). You can activate feral mode yourself once the meter starts to turn red, but if it fills up he'll turn automatically, which can be problematic Ц when feral you ALWAYS have your claws out, and though you do more damage and get hurt less, this means you can't heal. So in the event that you're going hit for hit with some boss who can back off and throw flying objects your way (such as magneto) you might end up getting stuck in feral mode for a brief time and end up dying because of it. Thus, an option to turn it OFF would have been really nice.

The gameplay is generally that of a trial and error approach, and while some areas are a cakewalk the first time through some are frustrating enough to make you want to shut off your Xbox for the rest of the day to find something else to do. Often you'll make your way ╛ through a level only to die and have to restart it over, which in some cases is REALLY annoying when stealth elements or tedious sections are involved, and they frequently are.

Having said that, it can be a really fun game. Once you get used to the controls (which aren't really that hard to get used to in the first place) you'll find yourself having a mix of fun with frustration, something tolerable for most gamers but something that the developers should have managed to avoid.

Graphically X2 is pretty decent, with Wolverine having a really cool cartoonish look, complete with some excellent animations and the ability to wear his various costumes as you unlock them throughout the game. The other characters get a bit generic after a while, but the animations are all well done and the levels all look quite good. Nothing astounding was really pleasant, but you could do a lot worse.

The sound is another matter Ц the music is scored yet somewhat repetitive and less crucial than the voice acting, which is a really mixed bag of tricks. The guards really only have one voice, and you'll be encountering a lot of guards, most of which will say the same thing. However, Mark Hamill's (of Star Wars fame, also the voice of the Hobgoblin on one of the Spider-Man TV shows and the Joker on Batman amongst others) rendition of Wolverine, while different at first, is actually very well acted for the most part and does an excellent job of portraying the character.

The level design itself is pretty decent, and while most objectives end up basically being Уfind this and kill everything between here and thereФ there do certainly get the job done. My biggest issue with the levels is the lack of breakable objects Ц there's the occasional box, but considering what's in Wolverine's body I was kind of hoping for more to destroy.