After seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine in theaters and knowing the toxic reputation of movie-based video games, I had grim hopes that the most recent X-Men film’s console adaptation would impress. Firing up my PS3 and taking a deep breath, I prayed for at least a mediocre game. Well, I was wrong. It’s better.

Story

Wolverine falls in line with the plot of its harshly criticized movie counterpart. Logan joins the forces of a mutant-powered team with his half-brother, Victor Creed/Sabretooth, under the direction of William Stryker. When the group travels to Africa for their latest mission, however, things start getting out of clawed hand. Guy meets ugly world, guy leaves said world, guy meets girl and lives with her in the Canadian woods until she’s allegedly murdered—and before you know it, Wolverine has a shiny new set of adamantium claws, just bursting with “Snikt!” goodness. Enter revenge … and more revenge.

Prepare to hack 'n' slash your way through African jungle ruins.

However, the video game’s story only loosely follows the movie. In between events, the story flashes back to the Africa mission, which consequently takes the whole game to complete. Meanwhile, Wolverine travels to the Weapon X facility at Alkali Lake, a Systemized Cybernetics Lab, the Corbeau Casino, Three Mile Island, and various minor places in between. As the Ol’ Canucklehead, you’ll face hordes of robots, beefed-up monsters, assassins and teleporting shapeshifters, and the best of all—Sentinel prototypes and the famous Mark I model. Strangely enough, where Wolverine departs from the movie, it succeeds; the parts of the movie it sticks close enough to so it can wear the name of adaptation are where the game essentially crashes and burns. When it feeds off the movie’s plot, the events in the video game turn out messy and weird. Not to mention the uber-dramatic moments straight from the film are just plain awkward.

There’s plenty of blood to go around, though. Something the video game has that the popcorn flick didn’t? A sense of character. Even the Cajun throws around some of his well-known phrases, much to my delight. They even throw in some familiar names and faces—like Mystique and Bolivar Trask—that weren’t in the movie version. And if you think the game ends after Wolverine’s biting of the adamantium bullet, think again—what comes after is much juicier.

Gameplay

For the most part, going “Wolverine” on some baddie’s ass feels just like you think it would: damn fun, in a “bite my shiny metal claws” kind of way. The game harbors some RPG elements, making the action-adventure rampage rather interesting. Gain enough experience by doing what you do best, and you can level up to earn new skills and combat reflexes. The more you bulk up Wolvie, the fiercer he’ll be. There are dozens of combos to unlock and master in the heat of battle, including carefully timed blocks and counters. As a result, slicing through enemies opens the door to countless possibilities, especially when you factor in one-hit kill opportunities in the environment. All of that pays off big time, because the gameplay does tend to repeat itself in its purest form. Fending off swarms of bad guys—and dealing with the occasional puzzle—would simply be tiring instead of rewarding if it weren’t for the game’s variation in both fight possibilities and opponents.

These brawls aren't for the weak-stomached. Decapitation, dismemberment, and impalement are all common possibilities in combat.

In between the slaughter, there are extra goodies to find. Locating mini action figures will unlock challenges for alternate costumes, spotting stat boosts and collecting dog tags will grant you valuable experience, and acquiring new mutagens will do wonders in the long run.

Unfortunately, while the environment allows for interaction when it comes to eliminating opponents and destroying surrounding objects, the game still falls into the ye old pitfall of invisible barriers. In today’s next-gen gaming world, no video game should have to be that tacky and limited. Another pain in the manly and well-toned behind (… what?) deals with the occasional quick time event. Your feral senses can give you the edge in many areas of gameplay, but it took me a ridiculously long time (just ask Twitter) to rip the chest plate off the Sentinel in order to kick its metal carcass into the ground. Who knew you had to turn on the feral senses to win the QTE, when you don’t have to for any of the others? Not even the QTE-loving Deadpool was that high-maintenance. I think my thumb might be broken now.

Visuals

You think that Sentinel looks scary? Just wait, little man.

The game’s introductory cinematic sequence threw me off guard. For a movie-based game, the graphics are actually quite impressive—making the gore fest that much more satisfying. The in-game graphics do well for themselves, too, although sometimes they appear a bit clunky up close. Still, dueling the object-charging, bo staff-wielding Gambit or taking on the colossal Sentinel Mark I boast some terrific visuals.

They didn’t skimp on the details, either. Heights are literally dizzying thanks to some inventive camera tricks, and watching Wolverine regenerate after a good thrashing is a treat in itself.

Audio

The music in Wolverine does well to heighten gameplay, and I love the main menu theme. My only complaint was the boring lack of music for the majority of the end credits. Silly move. They weren’t even trying to get me to pay attention to all the people who slaved over the game, pouring their sweat and blood and blah, blah, blah.

Lifespan

Take out the trash regularly, and don't forget to recycle that android garbage.

With trophies to win, new spandex to show off those muscles, dog tags and mutagens to hunt down, and skills to master, there are plenty of reasons to replay Wolverine apart from the obvious bloody fun. You also have the freedom to replay chapters from any checkpoint you have finished.

Recommendation

X-Men Origins: Wolverine ultimately pulls off what the movie didn’t. Wolverine puts his adamantium triple-blades to good use, and he has the blood stains to show for it. The game might get repetitious at times—especially with all those W.E.N.D.I.G.O. mutts and lava colossi roaming about—but thankfully the game provides lots of room for variation. Just remember that Wolverine doesn’t come packaged without some flaws and annoyances. It still has to adhere to that lame film storyline, but overall the game surpasses the movie in terms of quality. Thumbs up for buyers and renters alike.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition
System: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Find: Amazon - Gamefly - Goozex
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.

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