Video Game Vintage Title: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 hack and slash action-adventure game loosely based on the film of the same name. The game release coincided with the release of the film on May 1, 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable. The game was developed primarily by Raven Software, who used Unreal engine technology to develop the game. Amaze Entertainment developed the Wii and PS2 ports and Griptonite Games developed the PSP and DS ports. Origins was published by Activision.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Plot

A prologue shows Wolverine hunting/being hunted by a group of soldiers in a bleak urban environment. He is wearing a shredded uniform reminiscent of the costume seen in the X-Men films, indicating that this may take place in a later time. His thoughts drift to a forgotten past.

The game begins in Africa, which is implied to be Wakanda, due to Stryker's interest in meteorite deposits in the regions. The Africa missions, which are presented as flashbacks, chronicle the events which lead to Logan disbanding from Team X, showing that his own morals conflict with what Team X is ordered to do (i.e. massacres of innocents for strategic purposes).

Wolverine lunges toward an enemy helicopter.

Three years later, when Logan has settled in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox, his brother Victor Creed reappears at a local bar where he and Logan battle. Creed emerges victorious, breaks Logan's bone claws and knocks him unconscious. Upon waking up, Logan finds Kayla dead. Col. William Stryker arrives, offering Logan a chance at revenge. Logan accepts and undergoes a procedure that bonds adamantium, an indestructible metal processed from the meteorite deposits, with his bones. As the procedure ends, Logan overhears that Stryker wants him terminated, and becomes enraged and breaks out of the Alkali Lake facility, killing many of Stryker's men in the process, including Agent Zero.

Logan travels to the Project: Wideawake site searching for John Wraith, where he has a confrontation with Bolivar Trask and his mutant hunting Sentinel. After being freed, Wraith leads Logan to Fred Dukes, who in turn leads Logan to Remy Lebeau, who mistakes Logan as one of Stryker's agents. Logan pursues Lebeau to the roof of the building, where he convinces Lebeau to take him to Stryker's island base. Arriving at the island, Logan learns that Silverfox is alive and her "death" was a ploy to get Logan to volunteer for Weapon X. Devastated by the truth, Logan accepts Stryker's offer to erase his memory, but changes his mind after Creed takes Silverfox hostage. Following Creed and Logan's fight, Stryker's Weapon XI, Deadpool, is sent to kill Wolverine, and after the ensuing battle, Logan's memories are damaged when he is shot by an adamantium bullet from Stryker's handgun.

In the epilogue, Bolivar Trask, who has perfected the recreation of human body parts via robotic replacements, has taken Logan hostage. Logan breaks free of his chains, but Trask flees. An army of Sentinels are seen in the distance in a ruined city, destroying everything in sight and Logan also quoting that "this world may be broken, but I've got the tools (his claws) to fix it".

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Gameplay

The Uncaged Edition was released for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. When Wolverine sustains injuries, chunks of his flesh and clothes are removed. His injuries heal in real-time. Origins takes influences from games such as God of War and Devil May Cry. The Uncaged version also features a large amount of blood and gore. Enemies can be dismembered in several ways in addition to the graphic display of Wolverine's healing factor.

Combat relies on three options - light attacks, heavy attacks, and grabs. Another form of attack is the lunge, which allows Wolverine to quickly close the distance to an enemy. Wolverine can also use the environment to his advantage, such as by impaling foes on spikes. During combat, Wolverine's rage meter builds up, and when full allows him to use more devastating attacks, like the claw spin and a berserker mode, which increases Wolverine's claw strength until his Rage Meter empties.

The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions are less graphic, with less language and slightly different combat. Feral senses are still obtained, which can detect doors, traps, enemies and sentinel observers. Lunges must be performed at closer distances. Experience (XP) is collected from defeating enemies, completing missions, defeating all enemies, destroying all turrets, and defeating bosses within a certain time frame. The XP is used to purchase upgrades.

Reception
The Uncaged Edition version received mostly positive reviews, the other versions attained mostly mixed to negative reviews. IGN's Greg Miller stated the Uncaged Edition version of the game is an "awesome guilty pleasure", despite criticisms of boss repetitiveness and others. Miller loved the cinematics of the game, as well as loved the bloody sights of the game. The visuals received a mixed review from IGN, stating the game looks great sometimes and shoddy other times. Miller further criticized that the only sounds that sound good are Hugh Jackman's voice and claw sounds.

He also criticized the Wii and PS2 version's presentation. IGN also didn't like boxes in the game, Wolverine's burly chest, and the framey part of the PS2 version. They say that voices are repetitive and there is lack of music. They say that "you will get pissed at the PS2's controls" and "you will never really love or hate the experience" of the Wii. The PS2 got a 4.5 and the Wii a 4.8.

He stated in the PSP version that the presentation is not exciting nor confusing. He also criticized the bland environment, but stated, "The title runs smoothly for the most part and the character models look good enough." They also praised the music. They say that the claws don't really "feel sharp". The version got a 5.1.

IGN's Sam Bishop says the DS version is not what he really expected from Griptonite Games. He says that not much enjoyment is presented, like no voice and long levels. The characters, he says, have nice comic book animations, but it is repetitive. He also didn't really expect minimal sound effects. He liked the secret collectives. He stated that the combat had its bright moments, but "they're almost always during segments where you're not taking on three hulking creatures at once." The version got a 5.

In the ScrewAttack top ten 'Top 10 Movie-Based Games' the Uncaged Edition of this game came in sixth. At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, the game was awarded the Best Cast award as well as Hugh Jackman receiving the Best Performance By A Human Male award as Wolverine. In IGN's 'Top 5 Favorite Wolverine Games,' the Uncaged Edition of this game came in first.