Revenge is sweet
X2: Wolverine’s Revenge may bear part of the movie’s title, but the two share very little in common. The game relates more to Wolverine’s history in the X-Men comics. In fact, the story was written by veteran Wolverine scribe Larry Hama. Things get under way when Wolverine discovers that he has only 48 hours to live, as the mysterious Shiva Virus, a virus added to Wolverine’s body as a fail safe in case he went rogue, has been activated. Wolverine’s healing powers had kept the virus at bay for many years, but it is apparent that time is catching up with him. Wolverine heads back to Canada to the Weapon X facility to try and find a cure for the virus, as well as trying to confront his shady past.
Gameplay for the “gifted”
X2: Wolverine’s Revenge may have a strong premise, but the gameplay is fundamentally flawed. GenePool has tried to accomplish what many have failed to do so before them – to produce a videogame which allows you to utilise the full extent of Wolverine’s powers. While they have succeeded on this front, they would appear to have failed in the part that requires making the game functional and enjoyable to play.
To be honest, Wolverine’s Revenge is just mindless action. GenePool would have you believe from their press releases and media hype that Wolverine’s Revenge is supposed to be some thrilling stealth/action game with brilliant AI and level design, but what we have here is a “get from A to B and kill everything in the way”. Now, I don’t mind mindless action here and there, but mindless action needs to be backed up by functional control, but what we have here is a rather clumsy fighting system. Wolverine has basic punch and kick attacks, and a context sensitive Strike button, where he will attack one or more opponents in a series of finishing moves. Unfortunately, watching Wolverine do all the work for you is only interesting for the duration of the first level. Forming combinations out of the punch and kick buttons would work fairly well if the combat system wasn’t dragged down by constant collision detection errors.
Wolverine’s mutant powers are executed via the left trigger, and allow you to do all sorts of fancy things. In one situation, you are forced to negotiate your way through a mine field. Using Wolverine’s mutant powers, you can see the mines beneath the ground, and feel where they are from the rumbling of the controller. You can do other things with the powers, such as detect the scents of enemies, see newly laid footprints on the ground, see in the dark, and even heal yourself. Wolverine also has a berserker attack which you can activate when his anger meter gets high enough.
Thanks to some fairly dull, straightforward action and a short narrative, X2: Wolverine’s Revenge isn’t a very long romp. Some attempt has been made to lengthen the gameplay through the addition of costumes, profiles and other paraphernalia to collect and unlock, but one must question how long you will wish to play the game, given its lackluster design. AI seems decidedly lacking - a hassle in the game’s “stealth” missions; use that term loosely as all stealth portions can be accomplished via the same hacking and slashing you do throughout the rest of the game.
Change the channel, Marge
It would appear that GenePool have utilised the “crud shading” technique in Wolverine’s Revenge – this game looks like something you’d have expected to see from the last generation of PSOne games. The main character models are very blocky with mediocre skinning – Wolvie may not be the prettiest bloke under the sun, but it doesn’t mean you have to make him look like crap. There are plenty of clipping and collision issues between characters in the game – this is most evident while fighting.
Wolverine’s Revenge’s poor graphics continue into its environments, which are very barren and devoid of many of the special effects which a lot of games utilise. The game’s camera continues the atrocities, as it constantly goes out of control or gets stuck behind a wall or something. On the upside, the effect for Wolverine using his senses and going into a berserker look decent, and the game runs at a solid 60 frames per second throughout.
The music provided by the game is fairly limited, but you can use your own tracks via the Xbox custom soundtracks option. Voice work is pleasing on the whole. While they couldn’t land Hugh Jackson to do the voice of Wolverine, he is replaced by all round voice acting guru and popular actor Mark Hamill, though the team did manage to lure Patrick Stewart into providing the voice of Professor Xavier. Sound effects are rather poor – not totally clear, and little details such as the difference between wood and steel have been ignored.
Mr. Wizard, get me out of here
Wolverine’s Revenge isn’t what you’d call an orthodox bad game. Normally bad games provide narratives which are as dull as the action, but Wolverine’s Revenge provides an interesting story, especially to X-Men fans, but is let down by below average action, poor AI, graphics which are about a generation old, bad control and a lack of length. If you absolutely must play Wolverine’s Revenge, give it a rental, but avoid making a purchase.
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