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| Get 'em Wolverine! | This is what Iceman does – put out fires! |
One of the highlights to the game is the fact that it’s not actually based on the movie. Instead, it tells the story of the events that take place between the second and third X-Men movies. Despite being co-written by Zak Penn, one of the films screenwriters, and the legendary comic book writer Chris Claremont, the story isn’t particularly good. While playing the game you’ll go back and forth taking control of one of three different characters. As you switch between characters and missions, the story will jump around a lot, making it hard to follow. Either way, hardcore fans will likely enjoy the chance to see the rest of the story.
You’ll play through the game as Wolverine, Iceman and Nightcrawler. Each of these characters has a unique fighting style and feels distinct while being played. Iceman’s levels generally focus on speed, such as rushing to put out a fire or chasing after a Sentinel. Wolverine’s levels are all about hand to hand combat. Lastly, Nightcrawler’s levels are about being sneaky and agile. Unfortunately, all of the levels end up seeming the same. Beating the crap out of enemies as Wolverine is fun for a while, but every stage follows a similar patter… fight enemies, take a few steps, fight more of the exact same enemies. It becomes extremely repetitive and the only real strategy is to build up your fury meter and go into fury mode, which basically makes you attack faster and stronger for a brief period of time. Iceman’s levels were by far my least favorite. Rather than do anything cool with the character, they essentially turned him into a fire-fighter.
Nightcrawler’s stages are the best part of the actual gameplay. These levels are fast paced and fairly unique. There’s a fair balance between action and stealth here, from battling multiple man to sneaking around the inside of Master Mold.
Whenever you’ve completed a stage you’ll gain mutations, which can be used to power up your characters. Each stage has three difficulty settings, and the harder the setting the more mutations you’ll get out of it. This did add a little bit of depth to the game, and hardcore gamers might find a reason to go back through in order to collect all the mutations. I would have liked to see some abilities added to the game, considering all the game has to offer are the most basic of moves: strong attack, weak attack and an area attack. The end result is a beat ‘em up with little variety or fun. The chance to play as three very distinct characters does liven things up a little, but considering how awful Iceman’s stages are and how repetitive the action in Wolverine’s levels is, you might not care. More depth to the gameplay, such as more special moves and abilities, could have made this a much better gaming experience.
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| Nice enemy variety, huh? | Wee! |
Most of the levels are pretty short, so you’ll fly through them in no time. There will be plenty of times when you’ll be restricted to a single room for an entire level, so it’s not like you’re going to be doing much exploring. There are some larger stages, and even a few stages that I genuinely enjoyed. However, for the most part the game is extremely restrictive and linear. The environments are somewhat destructible, particularly while controlling Wolverine. You can burst through crates, cut down trees and slash barrels in half. It doesn’t really add anything to the gameplay, but it does help bring some life to the game.
The enemies are pretty much morons. I don’t know how else to put it. If you’re surrounded by enemies you can pretty much just run away and hide on the other side of a wall, because they’ll be too stupid to walk around the wall to get you. On more than one occasion I just jumped on top of a table and healed while the enemy stood around waiting for me to come down.
The game’s vocal talent is actually pretty good, including Patrick Stewart, Allan Cummings, and Hugh Jackman. These great talents really do heighten the experience of the game, and fans won’t have to get used to anybody new. Visually, the game is pretty good looking. Despite the restrictions, many of the environments appear large and detailed, with a good amount of variety. The character models are well done, and very closely resemble the film’s cast. And for Xbox 360 owners with an HD-TV, you can look forward to some great next-gen graphics. The cutscenes, done in still frames, are a mixed bag. While they do increase the comic book feel of the game, the silly movement of characters across still frames and the lack of moving mouths make it look really awkward. The music is almost non-existant, as it’s always fading out and is rarely even noticeable.
As far as the length goes, you’ll easily beat the game in a night or two. As I said earlier, the levels are generally brief, and although there are quite a few of them, you won’t have any trouble finishing them off. The game does feature some unlockable costumes, though, and three difficulty settings if you feel like going back through in order to dominate the game.
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| Nightcrawler fights a Sentinel | Beating down Silver Samurai |
Unless you’re a big fan of the X-Men, I would suggest this as a rental only. If you simply must purchase it, don’t bother with the Xbox 360 version. It costs $20 more than the other versions, and aside from the improved graphics, it’s the same game. Just buy the regular Xbox version. Overall it’s not a great game, but the continuation of the X-Men storyline is an opportunity that some fans won’t want to miss out on.
Top Game Moment:
TOP GAME MOMENT
Watching Magneto destroy a whole bunch of Sentinels… Yeah, Magneto rules.
