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<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/utility/FeedStylesheets/rss.xsl" media="screen"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>User Reviews</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/default.aspx</link><description>User reviews for X-Men Origins: Wolverine</description><dc:language>en-US</dc:language><generator>Telligent Community 1.5.134.12297 (Build: 5.5.134.12297)</generator><item><title>X-men origins Wolverine</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2010/07/02/x-men-origins-wolverine.aspx</link><pubDate>Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:46:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:396127</guid><dc:creator>Gtakid</dc:creator><slash:comments>0</slash:comments><wfw:commentRss xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/">http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=396127</wfw:commentRss><comments>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2010/07/02/x-men-origins-wolverine.aspx#comments</comments><description>&lt;p&gt;Most games based on movies suck. They never get the story straight , u never see things in the movie like the game except for this game. This game is just pure great. It draws the intension of the movie into a deeper story. The only flaw is to the game is that its not good after u unlock and complete everything becuz there is nothing to do but replay missions. Although of that con it is still a great game with so much combat and its violence if u get the uncaged edition. Its graphics are highly detailed and u could see wolverine as he heals and it looks awesome his rib bones and guts. The cuts scenes are the best part of the game so intense that i dnt want to ruin it for you. worth the money you paid for so get it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="clear:both;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=396127" width="1" height="1"&gt;</description></item><item><title>best marvel game ever made </title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2010/01/08/best-marvel-game-ever-made.aspx</link><pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:20:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:157598</guid><dc:creator>DJ JEMANI</dc:creator><slash:comments>0</slash:comments><wfw:commentRss xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/">http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=157598</wfw:commentRss><comments>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2010/01/08/best-marvel-game-ever-made.aspx#comments</comments><description>&lt;p&gt;wolverine is the best marvel game ever , the only thing keeping this game from getting a higher score &amp;amp; mention for best games of 2009 is the end ! talk about hard to beat . i never played a game with suck a dificult boss. other then that the game is great &amp;amp; should be in the top 10 of 2009 . &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="clear:both;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=157598" width="1" height="1"&gt;</description><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/User+Review/default.aspx">User Review</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/PlayStation+3/default.aspx">PlayStation 3</category></item><item><title>Raven Crafts A Well-Done Movie Tie-In </title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2009/11/28/raven-crafts-a-well-done-movie-tie-in.aspx</link><pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:04:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:99374</guid><dc:creator>Pipo</dc:creator><slash:comments>0</slash:comments><wfw:commentRss xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/">http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=99374</wfw:commentRss><comments>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2009/11/28/raven-crafts-a-well-done-movie-tie-in.aspx#comments</comments><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="141" width="552" src="http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/X_Men_Origins_Wolverine/x-men_origins_wolverine_movie_logo.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fact: Wolverine is awesome. And his new game defines what it is to be him, making you feel awesome every time you tear through an enemy&amp;rsquo;s flesh. As it just so happens, X-Men Origins: Wolverine may actually be one of the best licensed games out there this generation, mostly because it doesn&amp;rsquo;t do what so many license-based titles do: play it safe. Bub, this is as visceral and bloody an adventure that you can get this side of God of War &amp;ndash; no T-rating censorship here. Wolverine may be lacking in quite a few areas, and where Kratos&amp;rsquo; adventures are massively epic Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s is a little anticlimactic and frustratingly short. Worse yet, the game is forced to live under the shadow of &amp;#39;Batman: Arkham Asylum&amp;#39; as &amp;#39;the&amp;#39; comic game of the year. But&amp;nbsp;Wolverine&amp;#39;s game is&amp;nbsp;still a thrill ride worth experiencing, for sure. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[note &amp;ndash; I have seen the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine as well, so any comparisons I make are appropriate] &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;----------------------------------------&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AT A GLANCE:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHAT IT IS:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;A&amp;nbsp;visceral action slasher that captures the spirit of the man who is Wolverine, and serves as an example of a movie tie-in done well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHAT YOU&amp;rsquo;LL LIKE: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Satisfying, layered combat. Possibly a better Wolverine experience than the film. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHAT YOU WON&amp;rsquo;T LIKE:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;The short length, and the repetitive fights against groups of foes.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;----------------------------------------&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;STORY:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just like with the film, this game tells the origin story of Wolverine. Well, sort of. Instead of starting with the young James Howlett (Wolverine) and his brother Victor Creed (aka Sabertooth) as children in the 1800s, it begins with the titular hero as a part of William Stryker&amp;rsquo;s Team X, who are on a mission in Africa. The game than fast-forwards to after Wolverine left the team, and now Sabertooth is on a rampage killing members of the team, and apparently Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s girlfriend, who is the reason Howlett takes on the name Wolverine. Now, Wolverine is on a mission to kill Victor Creed as well as Stryker, &lt;img height="264" width="381" src="http://games.mattsarrel.com/games/WolverineReviewScreenshot1X360.jpg" alt="WolverineReviewScreenshot1X360.jpg" style="FLOAT:right;" /&gt;who has had some maniacal plans all along, which included replacing Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s bones with the unbreakable Adamantium before trying to erasing his memory. The game&amp;rsquo;s story constantly flashes back and forth between Africa and the present, which ends up being a little disorienting at times, partly because the Africa levels are terribly repetitive, but also because it convolutes the otherwise simplistic story. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the film, events occur in chronological order, but the game makes everything a bit more confusing, and leaves some questions frustratingly unanswered. It isn&amp;rsquo;t impossible to follow, it&amp;rsquo;s just unnecessarily difficult. The redeeming factor story-wise is that the game goes beyond just the movie&amp;rsquo;s storyline. The Gambit encounter is expanded significantly, and an entire side-story tied to the main quest is added, featuring the first Sentinel - because really, can you make a Wolverine game without at least one of those giant robots? Oh, and as a side note, the game&amp;rsquo;s story will probably be easier to follow for the most part if you&amp;rsquo;ve seen the movie as well, since many story points are glossed over in an attempt to get the player to the action as quickly as possible. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ESSENCE OF WOLVERINE:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The team behind X-Men Origins: Wolverine obviously had a very clear goal in mind while creating this bloody, quick, and empowering action game. Their goal was to create an experience which took all of the elements that makes Wolverine the loveably beastly dude that he is, and make players feel like they truly wield his mutant/metalloid powers. It&amp;rsquo;s important to note that Raven didn&amp;rsquo;t just want the X-Men experience based on the movies. They wanted the true Wolverine &amp;ndash; The Wolverine without PG-13 rating restraints. The Wolverine where cutting through an enemy&amp;rsquo;s body doesn&amp;rsquo;t just make them fall down dead with a few scratches. This is what it would be like if a wild mutant with steal claws were released upon the bad men of the world. And it is sweet. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what is it that exactly makes Wolverine who he is? What is core to the Wolverine experience? Raven nails the true spirit of Wolverine, which is emphasized by two things in particular: Blood and Adamantium. When the game first boots up, you can see that these two things are synonymous with comic book Wolverine. Blood splatters the menu, and the menu text is made to look like the same unbreakable alloy that runs through Wolvie&amp;rsquo;s entire body. It&amp;rsquo;s a testament to Raven&amp;rsquo;s goal of making their Wolverine game as completely &amp;lsquo;HIM&amp;rsquo; as possible when the menus perfectly encapsulate what the guy is all about. Showing Wolverine asleep in Stryker&amp;rsquo;s Adamantium tank is the perfect visual for the main menu. But that&amp;rsquo;s all just the tip of the iceberg. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This game is in-your-face bloody the whole way through. Despite the fact that X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been made into a movie tie-in, the gory action has little in common with the mostly bloodless brawls in the film. When Wolverine swings his claws through an enemy, real world consequences occur &amp;ndash; limbs are detached, blood flows, and general awesome ensues. The blood is what headlines the presentation in the game, and while it may shock few who have never seen Wolverine like this before, Raven got him right. Fans will probably be really happy by the path the developers took. The game does have a noticeably dark tone to it, just as the movie did for the most part. The gore adds to this, with the added effect of the deaths sometimes being so outrageous it becomes funny instead of just gruesome. But what&amp;rsquo;s bloodshed and Wolverine without a little humor, right? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PRESENTATION/GRAPHICS:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wolverine features some nice looking visuals. Over the course of the game you&amp;rsquo;ll visit environments such as an African jungle, multiple factories, a snow-covered hill side, Vegas, and a short bout in an Idaho grocery store. Each and every location you visit looks pretty nice in general (despite some repetitive tile patterns, but the real attraction is Wolverine himself. His animations are fluid, acrobatic, and quick, just like they should be. The multiple ways Wolverine finishes off his enemies are a sight to behold (at least for a while), but above all other things, the real time regeneration effects are the main attraction. As Wolverine gets shot up, his skin opens up, eventually revealing bones and tissue, among other bloody details. Get to cover or clear the area and you&amp;rsquo;ll immediately begin to notice the wounds start to close up in real time. Blood vanishes, skin grows back, and soon enough his body will be as good as new in no time, all before your eyes. Wolverine may not be the last game to employ this technique (the new Splatterhouse reboot will feature very similar technology), but as the first to use this effect, Wolverine gets the accolades. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some moments stand out in particular and truly look great. A &lt;br /&gt;brawl with Sabertooth early in the game features some sweet rain and lightning effects, while the battle stays as fast and furious as any of the other fights in the game. While things like barrels and boxes are always destructible throughout the game, the destructible environments in the grocery store fight are also quite impressive, as is the scale of the fight with the Sentinel. There are also subtle effects, like the scratch marks that appear on most surfaces when Wolverine slashes into them. The few pre-rendered cutscenes that are sporadically placed throughout are without a doubt the best-looking part of the game, the blood-colored icing on the graphics cake. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, it isn&amp;rsquo;t all praise for the game&amp;rsquo;s visuals. The biggest problem I noticed with the visuals is that there are many graphical oddities to be found throughout the adventure. I would commonly find Wolverine and enemies standing in mid-air. Voices will occasionally not sync up with the lips, and the texture work isn&amp;rsquo;t the greatest. Clearly, Wolverine isn&amp;rsquo;t the most polished game graphics-wise, but it never effects the gameplay negatively, so it&amp;rsquo;s nothing much to worry over. Also, some of the environments, especially Africa and the assorted factories keep repeating and often last too long, so the initial shine of the good-looking levels began to wear off on me, but everything is generally nice and crisp-looking overall. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="251" width="412" src="http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/04/46/44683_orig.jpg" style="FLOAT:left;" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And let&amp;#39;s not forget about the audio aspect of the game.&amp;nbsp;Hugh Jackman voices his character in the game. If you&amp;rsquo;ve seen the movie, you&amp;rsquo;ll notice a large amount of the exact same lines that were in the movie used in the game. I can&amp;rsquo;t prove it, but I even have a feeling they might have transferred the movie lines straight into the cutscenes. Either way, Jackman does a great job, and most of the others do a good job as well (though Gambit says &amp;lsquo;Mah Fren&amp;rsquo; a hilariously numerous amount of times). I was mostly impressed by the performances, which aren&amp;rsquo;t always so great in comic book games or licensed games in general. However, whatever little girl plays the voice of the little mutant girl Wolverine rescues early in the game comes off as unintentionally freaky, and clashes badly with the reasonable performances of everyone else. She&amp;rsquo;s only in one level though, so it&amp;rsquo;s only a small blemish. Meanwhile, Wolverine ripping through bad guys and objects sounds great, and the enemies scream are just wonderfully horrifying. The score that plays in the background is intense enough to be fitting, but it&amp;rsquo;s nothing memorable. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GAMEPLAY:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The gameplay is one of X-Men Origins: Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s crowning achievements. Despite the fact that games like God of War have pretty much captured the sweet spot of the balls-to-the-wall pure action experience, Wolverine still manages to put its own mark on the genre, albeit not quite as polished or varied. Just like Raven captures the Wolverine character through the presentation and his fluid visual animations, the gameplay also goes the distance, making the player feel like they wield ridiculously agile and violent moves. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And this isn&amp;rsquo;t just generic button mashing action, as different layers like grabs and use of the environment are added to the combat to prevent mindless reliance on one button over and over. The ability to pull together combos makes for some great moments. Charged slashes send enemies into the air, while light slashes are standard damage-causers. Grabs allow you to use awesome, gruesome finishing moves, throw your foe, or allow you to pull off environmental kills if you can. My bet is most players will rely heavily on the lunge move, which takes the place of long-range weapons (rightfully so, because when would Wolverine ever use guns?). The lunge move features a s&lt;img height="228" width="378" src="http://games.mattsarrel.com/games/WolverineReviewScreenshot3X360.jpg" style="FLOAT:right;" alt="" /&gt;imple lock-on feature, and with one more click, Wolverine leaps all the way onto distant enemies. Once on top, if the enemy isn&amp;rsquo;t weak enough to die right away, you can combine it with another brutal blow. Lunging is so easy and powerful enough to be a constant reliance. Luckily, the game rewards you for using all of your moves, via achievements and the fact that lunging doesn&amp;rsquo;t look as cool as the finishing moves and environmental kills. Anyone who cares enough will experiment with all of their moves, and realize that they are all just as satisfying as lunges. Mixing all of your skills together makes for a much more satisfying experience. Add in the decent variety of environmental kills, and you&amp;rsquo;ve got plenty of killing methods to test out, mix, and match. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As you progress, an RPG-lite system awards you with experience for your killing skills. You can then upgrade your different attacks, while new attack powers are doled out throughout the storyline. Mutagens are like gene tonics is Bioshock. They boost Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s stats and can be upgraded just like your attacks can. You must find these scattered around the environments. As expected, mutagens and attack upgrades add layers to your character.&amp;nbsp; Light puzzle elements and platforming is added for varieties sake. The puzzles are an awkward fit for the claws-first attitude of Wolverine, but I&amp;rsquo;d rather the change-up than the same monotony of battles from beginning to end. On the other side of the coin, unlike my suspicious, platforming isn&amp;rsquo;t just carelessly tacked on. When you climb, the camera shakes from side to side along with Wolverines climb movements, adding some subtle, yet visceral immersion to this (usually) bloodless portion of the action. Fun quick-time events and finishing move button presses also punctuate the average combat. Still, while there may have been a lot of effort to mix up the gameplay experience, most of the time you&amp;rsquo;ll be mindlessly pulling together the same strings of combos. As immensely satisfying as it may be, it does get repetitive after extended play sessions, so it&amp;rsquo;s best to play in shorter bursts, lest the possibility of growing tired of the mechanics arises. Besides, if you play too much at once the game will probably end too quickly anyways&amp;hellip; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As far as enemy variety goes, it&amp;rsquo;s merely alright. Some enemies will charge with melee attacks, MOST will shoot at you with your standard line of weaponry. Some have shields, blocking your lunge attack. One type seems to use some sort of magical aura. Another turns invisible with special armor, making your Feral Sense power a must. Feral Sense is a great extension of Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s ability. A sixth sense of sorts, your feral abilities can be flipped on and off like night vision goggles. They highlight all enemies, hidden dead bodies with collectible dog tags, what you can pull off environmental kills with, ropes, ladders, and surfaces you can climb up/across. It even shows you exactly where to go next, even though the levels are usually linear enough already. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Going back to enemies, the bosses game range from surprisingly fun to incredibly dull. First of all, the game&amp;rsquo;s mini-bosses are absolutely terrible. There are only two mini-bosses you&amp;rsquo;ll run into again and again &amp;ndash; a rock golem of some sort, and a W.I.N.D.I.G.O. Prototype (whatever that means). Both play out exactly the same: While you can hack away SLOWLY at them, the easiest thing to do is lunge to their backs and hack away until they try to smack you off. Jump off to avoid them, then jump right back on. Problem is, the health bars still go down awfully slow, meaning you&amp;rsquo;ll be pressing the slash button over and over and lunging onto them over and over in just one fight. The first time it&amp;rsquo;s pretty fun. After five, it&amp;rsquo;s a bit annoying. &lt;img height="214" width="353" src="http://cdn.uncaged.com/marvel/wolverine/images/blog/Sentinel_01.jpg" style="FLOAT:right;" alt="" /&gt;Twenty? It feels like there were that many, don&amp;rsquo;t blame me for inaccuracies though. Four at the same time? UGG!! I understand they kept throwing in these guys to break up the enemy waves, but its way overkill, especially when they&amp;rsquo;re so boring to fight in the first place. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &amp;lsquo;real&amp;rsquo; bosses usually fair much better. The strange thing is that the boss placement in the game is very unique. You have an early fight with Sabertooth, and then against Nord after a long gap. After those two, the game places the last four bosses in one semi-marathon of boss battles at the end. After beating the Sentinel, you go straight into fighting Blob, and then again to a more drawn-out battle with Gambit, which also features about a levels-worth of normal enemies. Then, it&amp;rsquo;s directly to the final boss. Believe it or not, I actually liked this strange pacing with all of these bosses coming one after the other. As for how these boss battles actually are? The early brawl with Sabertooth in and then outside a bar was one of my personnel favorites. I would have liked a rematch though, but it never happens. The Blob&amp;rsquo;s fight in a grocery store is a wonderfully unorthodox setting, and the destructible store shelves are a pretty cool feature. Gambit and the final face-off with Deadpool felt strangely repetitive, like fighting average enemies with huge life bars and some interesting powers. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So for a quick recap, the combat is visceral and very satisfying, while it can get tiring since you&amp;rsquo;ll be doing it so much. The other stuff like puzzles, platforming, and boss battles do their part in mixing up the gameplay, while not always making an impact. Its solid fun through and through, and the regenerating health makes the game just easy enough to make you feel like Wolverine with his badass meter on full, without feeling like you&amp;rsquo;re cheating. Oh, just be aware that mini-bosses are a complete bore. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REPLAY VALUE:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A lot of games really drop the ball when it comes to this category. Raven tried their best, but for the most part Wolverine follows suit. The quest is short &amp;ndash; I had beaten the game within three days of buying it. While I liked the variety of environments in the game, a lot of them somehow manage to still feel repetitive, especially since they usually don&amp;rsquo;t play any different than one another. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A hard mode is unlocked after completion, and those who really want more may find playing through a good alternative. You can also replay any section of the game (chosen from the menu) with all of your fully upgraded abilities. There is a good amount of hidden doodads to collect. &lt;img height="196" width="270" src="http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/games/xbox360/x-men-origins-wolverine/small/x-men-origins-wolverine_008.jpg" style="FLOAT:right;" alt="" /&gt;Mutagens directly relate to gameplay, but the action figures only equate to unlocking alternate costumes. While fighting a Wolverine clone to be able to wear the costume after collecting enough figures is cool, the costumes will only be important to completionists and huge X-Men fans. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition, there are tons of dead bodies with collectible dog tags to collect. The bodies can be found more easily with Feral Sense, but Raven made one huge flaw here: no tracking mechanic, for knowing how many you&amp;rsquo;re missing on each level. This effectively makes collecting all of them too grueling to deal with, unless you&amp;rsquo;re crazy enough to keep a strategy guide of internet walkthrough with you at all times. I would like to think nobody would ever do something like that for the sake of achievements. Speaking of which, three funny easter eggs referencing Lost, World of Warcraft, and Portal are easy achievements, and the secret achievements are pretty creative. Truth is, there are games with way better replay value then random collectibles, achievements, and a hard mode, but I&amp;rsquo;ve seen games that don&amp;rsquo;t even have those things. I&amp;rsquo;m actually not sure what else Raven could have done with this one, so I supposed they didn&amp;rsquo;t do a terrible job in this area. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;IN CONCLUSION:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So X-Men Origins: Wolverine is missing some polish and a longer experience, but the combat is surprisingly awesome. This is a pretty good rental game, and once the price goes down from the steep $60, it&amp;rsquo;ll be a lot more attractive of a purchase. X-Men fans will likely love this game, but any fan of gory action&amp;nbsp;looking for something to play without Kratos in it should check this out.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="242" width="174" src="http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/files/2009/06/x-men-origins-wolverine-uncaged-edition-box-art.jpg" style="float:left;" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Title: X-Men Origins: Wolverine&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Developer: Raven Software&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Publisher: Activision&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Genre: Action/Adventure&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Players: 1&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Release: May 1, 2009&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="clear:both;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=99374" width="1" height="1"&gt;</description><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/User+Review/default.aspx">User Review</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/Xbox+360/default.aspx">Xbox 360</category></item><item><title>sinkt: Wolverine's claws are always out in this game, and sharper than you could imagine.</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2009/10/07/sinkt-wolverine-s-claws-are-always-out-in-this-game-and-sharper-than-you-could-imagine.aspx</link><pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:42:35 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:14888</guid><dc:creator>Steven</dc:creator><slash:comments>0</slash:comments><wfw:commentRss xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/">http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=14888</wfw:commentRss><comments>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2009/10/07/sinkt-wolverine-s-claws-are-always-out-in-this-game-and-sharper-than-you-could-imagine.aspx#comments</comments><description>&lt;p&gt;Most gamers know to be suspicious of movie-based games because,
frankly, they&amp;#39;re almost always terrible - even if the material they&amp;rsquo;re
based off of is excellent. Well, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a bit of
an anomaly because the game is probably better than the actual movie,
and for one reason: rewarding, visceral, brutal combat. Don&amp;#39;t read too
much into the 7/10 score; what&amp;#39;s seven but a number? Keep reading and
you&amp;#39;ll see why the game got the score it got, but also realize that
this game is a blast.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This isn&amp;rsquo;t &amp;ldquo;Saturday-morning cartoon&amp;rdquo;
Wolverine or even the Wolverine seen in the film; it&amp;rsquo;s a whole
different beast, more true to the original material&amp;rsquo;s primal nature.
The game features gore and violence befitting of its &amp;ldquo;M&amp;rdquo; rating, which
is the reason why the game is so fun. From decapitation to dismembering
to ripping the mechanical arm off of an enhanced soldier and beating
him to death with it (One of my personal favorites), Wolverine never
runs out of brutal, satisfying ways to dispatch his foes. The game also
employs slow motion and cinematic camera angles beautifully,
capitalizing on each and every insane moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of that,
Wolverine is almost unstoppable. There is a bar on the screen
representing Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s regeneration. Take more damage than he can
regenerate, and Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s vitals are exposed, opening up another bar
that can be drained, leading to a game over. However, it&amp;rsquo;s not a screen
most will be encountering very often, as Wolverine heals rapidly, and
the game&amp;rsquo;s foes are rarely enough to incapacitate you. The coolest
thing about taking damage in the game is that it&amp;rsquo;s displayed in
real-time. As Wolverine survives an onslaught of bullets, explosions,
and whatever else the enemies throw at him, his shirt rips to shreds
and layers of skin are destroyed, exposing muscle. Take more damage,
and his adamantium skeleton is exposed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The average 15-hour
experience also gives you an extra layer of depth when you&amp;#39;re not
hacking people to pieces with experience and a leveling system. Skill
points can be used to increase health, damage dished out, and rage, as
well as be used to increase the strength of certain, special moves.
Aside from maxing Wolverine out, the game also features unlockable
costumes and trophies. The unlockable costumes are a nice addition,
however, because collected figurines in the game only opens up the
option of getting secret costumes. After opening up the bonus option,
you&amp;#39;ll have to defeat whichever Wolverine you&amp;#39;re trying to unlock,
which can lead to some rather fun, challenging battles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It
doesn&amp;rsquo;t revolutionize the third-person action mechanic, but the game is
elevated far beyond hack n&amp;rsquo; slash, as varied enemy types and situations
force the player to react in different ways and take advantage of a
wide variety of moves, including &amp;ldquo;Fury Attacks&amp;rdquo;, which can be activated
after filling a Rage Meter. Furthermore, some of the best death
sequences require skill, combos, and the implementation of &amp;ldquo;Quick
Kills&amp;rdquo;, which can be done by pressing Heavy Attack after grabbing an
enemy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had so much fun with the combat that I never felt it
get stale, which is why the boss fights were a bit of a disappointment.
There are two different types of bosses that reoccur frequently
throughout the game, and the strategy for killing both is exactly the
same, making them feel more like a chore than an accomplishment. But
while the more frequent boss fights got stale quickly, the game also
features some unique ones which fare much better &amp;ndash; particularly a
multistage one against a 250-ft Sentinel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Unfortunately,
rewarding and enjoyable combat is where the heavy praise stops. The
game sports a few pre-rendered CGI cutscenes, which look fantastic, but
the actual in-game graphics aren&amp;rsquo;t much to look at. They occasionally
shine, but generally don&amp;rsquo;t look too spectacular. Even the real-time
damage, while still cool, lacks detail. Thankfully, Hugh Jackman lends
his voice to the character, but the majority of sound effects are
average at best - though they serve their purpose well enough. A few
glitches, while not a deal breaker, can be a minor annoyance. Once I
&amp;ldquo;fell&amp;rdquo; into an area I wasn&amp;rsquo;t supposed to fall into, forcing me to
restart a checkpoint, while the AI occasionally lapses into stupidity
and doesn&amp;rsquo;t move. During the rather uninspiring platforming sections,
your enemy will occasionally be the camera, which locks in place every
once in a while.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most disappointing, however, is the disjointed,
utterly confusing narrative. The game hops between &amp;ldquo;Three Years in the
Past&amp;rdquo; (In Africa) and &amp;ldquo;Three Years in the Future&amp;rdquo;&amp;hellip;which is the
&amp;ldquo;present&amp;rdquo;, but not really because the opening cinematic is further in
the future than the supposed &amp;ldquo;present&amp;rdquo;. Sounds confusing? It is.
Furthermore, characters are rarely introduced properly and almost never
expounded upon. With the liberties the new film takes in regards to the
source material, even X-Men fans that have yet to see the new film
might end up confused. Of course, I can&amp;rsquo;t knock the game for certain
liberties it took with the story, because it&amp;rsquo;s based on the movie, but
Deadpool fans are bound to be disappointed, as well as those (Such as
myself) hoping that gambit would play a large role. While the actual
story is poor because the story in the movie is poor, the game doesn&amp;rsquo;t
help the cause any by making it even more confusing and disjointed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wolverine&amp;rsquo;s
past videogame outings have left the player with a feeling of
disappointment because the character feels weakened or has a health
bar, despite his regeneration ability. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, on the
other hand, embraces the character for all that he is: a badass killing
machine. Words can&amp;rsquo;t do justice to the visceral, savage, and brutal
combat this game champions. Even a terrible narrative and occasional
technical hiccup can&amp;rsquo;t hold this game back, thanks to the unadulterated
fun and satisfaction the gameplay brings, as Wolverine is thrown from
set-piece to set-piece. The game starts off with Wolverine jumping out
of a plane without a parachute, you can beat a certain enemy-type to
death with its own arm, and most enemies you face will lose a limb or a
head, and that&amp;rsquo;s really indicative of the entire experience. The game
is a brutal thrill ride; certainly not the deepest of games, but a ton
of fun.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="clear:both;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=14888" width="1" height="1"&gt;</description><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/User+Review/default.aspx">User Review</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/PlayStation+3/default.aspx">PlayStation 3</category></item><item><title>X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2009/10/06/x-men-origins-wolverine-review.aspx</link><pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:36:04 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:13993</guid><dc:creator>JohngPR</dc:creator><slash:comments>0</slash:comments><wfw:commentRss xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/">http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=13993</wfw:commentRss><comments>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/2009/10/06/x-men-origins-wolverine-review.aspx#comments</comments><description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s no mystery that licensed video games have gotten a bad rap over the years. &amp;nbsp;There have been a few games that have not lived up to the stereotype of licensed games being bad (such as Spider-Man 2, The Punisher, KOTOR, etc) but it always seems like these games are often overshadowed by&amp;nbsp;&lt;span&gt;games&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;ldquo;products&amp;rdquo; that are rushed out the door to tie into a movie. &amp;nbsp;So what happens when you base a game on something that&amp;rsquo;s based on a movie that&amp;rsquo;s based on a comic book character? &amp;nbsp;A pretty *** fun time, that&amp;rsquo;s what.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You start out with a basic set of moves that can be leveled up as you go along by gaining experience for every kill you make. &amp;nbsp; After you gather a certain amount of experience and level your character up, you are awarded skill points that allow you to make Wolverine even more powerful. &amp;nbsp;This is something that Raven Software has obviously borrowed from their previous games (X-Men Legends 1 &amp;amp; 2, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance) and it&amp;rsquo;s certainly welcome.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is one of the few times that blood and gore will genuinely enhance your enjoyment of a game. &amp;nbsp;Wolverine has been in plenty of crappy games in his day, none of which did justice to the brutality and violent rage the character possesses. &amp;nbsp;It never did make sense to me why a character that is based around having razor sharp claws and a violent disposition couldn&amp;rsquo;t have a game that reflected that. &amp;nbsp;Bravo to both Marvel and Raven Software for making an M-rated Wolverine game happen. &amp;nbsp;With that said, as Wolverine you will decapitate people, dismember them all the while making them shed copious amounts of blood (in style of course). &amp;nbsp;He will take real time damage with bullet holes damaging his clothes and you will even see muscle and bone exposed due to explosions (he&amp;rsquo;ll even heal back up in real time which makes for a cool effect).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Seeing such an iconic character doing all of these things is a trip because it really taps into every comic book nerd&amp;rsquo;s boy hood fantasy of seeing Wolverine completely flip out an&amp;nbsp;dismember everyone in the room. &amp;nbsp; It all works in the game&amp;rsquo;s favor from all the brutal looking quick kills, to going into berserker rage and tearing into enemies. &amp;nbsp;This game does a great job of empowering the player and making you feel like a complete bad ass .&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The reason why all of this blood and gore works without it all falling flat or seeming completely superfluous is because Raven Software actually developed a solid game around it. &amp;nbsp;Although the game is strongly based around gameplay found in the God of War series and other games like it, it adds enough elements of its own to make it stand out. &amp;nbsp;I think the most important of which is the lunge maneuver. &amp;nbsp;One problem I&amp;rsquo;ve always had with action games of this type is that you&amp;rsquo;ll be locked into combat with three or four enemies, while two or three other enemies are off screen shooting at you (I&amp;rsquo;m giving you the stink eye Ninja Gaiden). &amp;nbsp;This makes for a cheap and frustrating experience that artificially increases the difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Well now you have a move in your arsenal that can combat against this cheap tactic. &amp;nbsp;By locking on and hitting the lunge button, Wolverine will jump towards an enemy and pounce on them, giving you the advantage. &amp;nbsp;It sounds minor, but this move really added a lot&amp;nbsp;to&amp;nbsp;the gameplay in my opinion and made it more fun. &amp;nbsp;Not only is it a good offensive/deffensive move, but it also keeps the action flowing at a brisk pace since it decreases the amount of combat moments where you are running after an enemy to kill them.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Outside of the blood and gore, another thing that surprised me about this game is the Tomb Raider like elements that were included. &amp;nbsp; I will admit that the Tomb Raider-style areas aren&amp;rsquo;t as strong as the rest of the gameplay and most of the environmental puzzles are sort of mindless. &amp;nbsp;Personally, I didn&amp;rsquo;t mind these parts because I enjoy the Tomb Raider series . &amp;nbsp;They did an admirable job of breaking things up and keeping things fresh. &amp;nbsp;Speaking of which, the game does a good job of keeping things fresh by having you play between two time periods at the same time throughout the game. &amp;nbsp;So essentially you are playing through a huge jungle level while you are playing in other locales in a different period of time within the story all at the same time. Just when you felt you were getting bored of the level you were in, the game switches back to another locale. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;I don&amp;rsquo;t recall another game doing that before but it was something I felt needed to be pointed out because it kept things going.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The last thing I want to mention is the boss fights. &amp;nbsp;Although some of them are a bit on the simplistic side, most of them are fun because they force you to use the game&amp;rsquo;s more advanced move set and gameplay features to defeat them. This turned out to be great because there are quite a few tactics I honed while fighting the bosses that came in handy while playing the rest of the game. &amp;nbsp;There is one boss fight in particular that I wish I could speak about freely without spoiling anything. &amp;nbsp;Let&amp;rsquo;s just say that fans of Wolverine and more specifically X-Men comics are in for a treat.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To sum things up, I had a blast playing through Wolverine and see myself playing through it again. &amp;nbsp;Some may find the gameplay a bit on the repetitive side but fans of the source material will get a kick out of playing as Wolverine and slaying enemies left and right. &amp;nbsp;Like any game, it has its defecits (like a weak overall story, and a few non game breaking bugs that creep up from time to time), but none of which detracted from the fun I had. &amp;nbsp;This is highly recommended for fans of Wolverine and comic book fans alike and is a great rental for everyone else.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WARNING:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;If you are playing this game for achievements, don&amp;rsquo;t start a new game once you beat it. &amp;nbsp;Doing so will erase your previous progress! &amp;nbsp;The thing to do is simply choose a level under the level select option. &amp;nbsp;The game still keeps track of your stats after you beat &amp;nbsp;and saves after every checkpoint so you can continue your progress.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="clear:both;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=13993" width="1" height="1"&gt;</description><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/Raven/default.aspx">Raven</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/Logan/default.aspx">Logan</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/X_2D00_Men/default.aspx">X-Men</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/Wolverine/default.aspx">Wolverine</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/User+Review/default.aspx">User Review</category><category domain="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/x-men_origins_wolverine/b/user_reviews/archive/tags/Xbox+360/default.aspx">Xbox 360</category></item></channel></rss>
