Genre: Action	Developed By: Ravensoft
	We finally have a game that captures the savage and brutality associated with the character of Wolverine. However it is not without its shortfalls.

To those that are interested in watching the movie, you should know that the game and the movie share the same story line. Although the movie has not had great reception amongst the critics, the narration and story telling in the game is disjointed and even poorer.

The game takes place in two different time periods that are three years apart. The past takes place in Africa at a time when Wolverine was working for Striker. The present for the most part takes place indoors in a more futuristic setting. The enemies in the past mainly have physical attacks with an emphasis on machetes. In the present there is a greater emphasis on modern weaponry that includes guns, grenade launchers and robots. The two distinct time periods add variety in terms of the environments and different enemy types. However a major change in tactics is not needed to tackle any non-boss enemy.

The Right Frame of Mind:

We finally have a game that does justice to Wolverine in regards to gore and violence. Cut-scenes set the mood for Wolverine’s bad-ass-ness as they show the hero ruthlessly and mercilessly destroying his foes. Each actual battle will have pools of blood being spilt and fights will leave their marks with disfigured bodies and chopped off limbs. When finishing off the last enemy in a battle, the game slows down and focuses on the enemies limbs being launched from its former body.

When injured, Wolverine will display flesh wounds. When hurt badly, there may not be any flesh left on that area of the body. As time goes by these automatically heal. Furthermore Wolverine has two health bars. The outer health bar acts like a shield and recharges quickly. When the outer health bar depletes, the heart becomes vulnerable. These are great ideas that the developers have incorporated into the game that correspond to Wolverine’s special power to heal quickly.

Unfortunately the game has a poor camera mechanic. In outdoor environments the camera tends to zoom out far away and it feels like it takes the player out of the action. Furthermore the graphics in the game are average for the current generation of consoles. The graphics overall lack the sharpness and do not seem as if they are of high resolution. Although there are no serious frame-rate issues, the outdoor environments did not feel as smooth when there were ongoing weather effects.

The Claw Swipe

Wolverine has a strong but slow attack and a fast but weak attack. In addition he also has the ability to throw people around. But most importantly, there is the lunge. As the name suggests, this attack lunges Wolverine to his target and can cover a long distance. This attack is by far one of the most fun attacks I have experienced in recent history. Each of these normal attacks can be combined to perform combos. Although there are a lot of attack choices, the combos are limited and are not nearly as much as found in other games like DMC or Ninja Gaiden. The game can take about 8 to 10 hours to finish and the limited combos make the game repetitive.

In addition to the normal attacks, Wolverine has three special attacks that can be used by consuming rage. Rage is built up by attacking enemies and destroying objects. These special attacks will be familiar to those that have played with Wolverine in Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Three of them are attack moves and the fourth one makes Wolverine go into ‘berserker’ mode. This mode increases the overall damage of the attacks. All of these moves are fun to use and compliment the character of Wolverine really well.

Wolverine can also take advantage of the environment. There are plenty of well placed spikes for Wolverine to shove his enemies into. These are especially satisfying as they instantly kill any of the toughest non-boss enemies. That being said, the throws are not as accurate and can lead to some frustration when trying to direct an enemy into a sharp edge.

Unfortunately the game also includes platforming and some puzzle solving. The platforming feels clunky. The puzzle solving is so easy that it leads to the question of why it is there. These two features feel out of place for a game like this.

Each Claw is Unique:

The game features some interesting RPG features in the game. Throughout the game experience will be gained and Wolverine will be levelled up. Each level up gives points to invest into attack, rage, health or any of the special attacks. In addition there are also ‘mutagens’ that can be collected. These mutagens give unique and different benefits to the character. Wolverine can be equipped with up to three mutagens.

Although these features are a welcome addition and may have players build a custom Wolverine, but at the end of the day all players will simply want to maximize the damage output.

Boss Fights:

The mini boss fights in the game are all monsters that are much larger than Wolverine. Although they look slightly different and have different attack animations, the strategy to kill them is all the same. In order to take them down, the player has to dodge an oncoming attack, lunge onto the monsters back and start clawing away. This common strategy for all mini-bosses again leads to the feeling of repetition in the game.

Fortunately the main boss fights that involve fighting prominent mutants like Gambit and Victor Creed are a complete blast. These fights are fast paced and feel ruthless. These fights always had me on the edge of my seat and strategizing on when to use the special attacks and trying to use the environment as leverage. It’s a pity there is no multiplayer support.

Final Word:

The developers have done justice to Wolverine in terms of violence and gore. However the same tactic needed to dispose of most enemies and the limited number of combos make the game repetitive. In addition there are some questionable camera mechanics and gameplay inclusions. The overall game feels unpolished and could have used some extra time in development.