X2 Wolverine's Revenge 2003 Published by: Activision   Developed by: General Entertainment   Buy It Now

Platform: GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC

Genre: Third Person Action / Adventure

Number of Players: 1

The X-Men.  Whether or not you have ever read a comic book in your life, chances are good you are familiar with the characters; especially considering the release of two feature films based on the long running comic book.  There have been so many great characters coming to life on the pages of the X-Men books over the years, from Nightcrawler to Colossus, Kitty Pride to The Beast.  But ask any young kid who his favorite is and chances are very high that the answer will come back loud and clear...Wolverine.  Then watch as he mimes the action of Wolverine unsheathing his claws, shnict, shnict, and you will realize that for some, Wolverine is more of a cultural icon...a mythos, than simply a favorite character from a comic book.  Take a look at Kevin Smith's (Clerks / Mallrats) films and see how many times Jay "tears it up Wolverine style", and you will again see that Wolverine and his mannerisms are well known and well received on a massive popular scale.

So why is it that there has never been a chance (outside the playground or maybe a few shady hotels) where you can assume the role of everyone's favorite mutant with impunity?  I can remember being extremely upset at my NES X-Men cartridge because all I wanted to do was play as Wolverine, but the game was so horrible that only the projectile-based characters (i.e. Cyclops) had any chance of survival.  But for those brief moments when I could keep him alive, it was all about Wolverine.  For a little while, fans could be satiated by X-men vs. Street Fighter, but this did nothing for me because I really, really don't like arcade fighting games.  But finally, someone has heard the call of, "Bring us a decent Wolverine game!", and they have responded.  That someone is Activision and the response is Wolverine's Revenge.

The man named Logan (and sometimes Patch) is quite a mystery.  Logan's (an assumed name after an incident when he was young) body has the mutant abilities of heightened senses and accelerated healing; wounds close at an alarming rate and near fatal injuries pass in a short time.  These gifts made him prime material for an experiment.  This experiment, conducted by the government's Weapon X program, resulted in Logan's own bone skeleton being replaced, in its entirety, with a nearly indestructible adamantium metal one.  Of course, no full-body modification is quite complete without the addition of some weaponry, so some retractable razor sharp claws were thrown in for good measure.  Logan has never regained full memory of the times after this event, and still has a few fleeting memories of being a samurai, working as an assassin, and meeting another super hero, Captain America, in World War II.  It is surmised that some of these memories may be true, and some implanted through the brainwashing he has received, but one thing is for certain...Wolverine has been around a very long time (his healing ability preserving his body through its aging process), and would really, really like some answers.

In Wolverine's Revenge, you play Wolverine...and you have a new problem to deal with.  Unbeknownst to you, a virus has been secretly lying dormant inside your body, and it has now been activated.  Like a biological time bomb, you now have only 48 hours until the virus is released into your system and you die a death that is long overdue.  It is time to fight, for your life, and of course, just for fun.

Things start off in the past, where you get familiar with your new identity as a ferocious mutant, inside the Weapon X facilities where you received your internal upgrades.  You will have a chance during this time to discover many things about Wolverine's past as well as get your first primer on how to control the character.  It is at this time that you first find out about the Shiva Virus that is waiting inside your body, but it isn't until things move again into the future that you find out the severity of your situation.  During a routine physical, you discover that the virus has been activated, and your real hunt is on.  A hunt for answers and for those responsible.

All of this could have very easily ended up being a button masher as you repeatedly machine-gun the "Claw" button to dispatch myriads of baddies.  But thankfully, and to their credit, Activision has decided to give this game more than just the basic one dimension.  Through the game you will need to rely on your mutant abilities and special skills to effectively various goals.  Lets have a peek at a few of those abilities.

First up is your heightened mutant senses.  By switching your focus over to these senses you gain some extraordinary sensory input.  You can detect heat sources, as small as footprints from a recently passing soldier.  You can track the scent of living beings and easily find the locations of hidden or unseen enemies.  Moving while in tune with your inert mutant senses allows you to move more quietly and avoid otherwise unseen traps, beams or mines.  You can also use these heightened abilities to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies and perform a more effective surprise attack.  Dispatching bad guys in this quick, quiet and effective manner will give you time to collect dog tags.  

These dog tags are not found on the bodies of slain enemies, but instead are offered up as rewards for your impressive execution of attacks and special moves.  The more dog tags you find the more special moves will be awarded to you.  Once you have earned these special moves, or Strikes as they are called, performing them will give you spectacular displays of Wolverine's awesome fighting power.  Pull off these strikes by utilizing certain button combos and you can pin evil-doers to a wall with your claws and lots of other maneuvers that are reminiscent of a Mortal Kombat fatality.  Unfortunately, also like the fatalities, you will only have control over the basic clawing and throwing and the really cool moves are just for your viewing pleasure.  Some way to perform these awesome feats on the fly would have been a great addition, but simply clawing through the guts of NPCs is enough for me.

This basic clawing is done with your retractable adamantium spurs and can get quite addicting.  But you do have to watch out as you are racking away on the attack button.  When your claws are out, you do not get to take advantage of your mutant healing factor.  You have to reign those babies in now and then if you start running low on the life meter.  Also of note is the fact that Wolverine is like a wild animal when he starts attacking stuff; spinning, slashing and stabbing with impunity.  All this action can get him a little worked up, and like a wild animal, when he gets himself worked into a frenzy, he starts to lose control.  There is a feral rage meter, and it is a good idea to keep a watchful eye on it; if it fills all the way up, you are going to go a little nutty.  Your speed increases, as does your resistance to damage; you will do more damage yourself, but lose the ability to heal while enraged.  If you are like me, you may get a little enjoyment out of these periodic feral rages, but things get harder to see due to your vision being blurred and the tunnel vision that we all know accompanies blind rage (and apparently police high speed chases).

You can beat a fair amount of ass with your claws tucked away, as well.  Enemies can be stunned, instead of chopped up, when using your fists, and once they have been dazed, you can enact a numerous amount of finishing touches on them, including throwing them around.  Most, most enjoyable.  I found myself running around a lot with the claws retracted just punching the bejesus out of enemies with impunity, because the healing factor usually keeps up with your damage when the claws are tucked safely away.

So is Wolverine's Revenge JUST about slashing, sniffing and slaying your way through a horde of bad guys?  Well...yeah, I suppose that is pretty much it.  But is that a BAD thing?  There are a few other perks to be found hidden within the game.  Comic book covers can be found and collected (no, you won't be needing to buy more Mylar bags you nerd!) and for each one you uncover, you will unlock one of the variant costumes from different periods and books.  Beyond this visual treat, you can also seek out Cerebro files which will unlock character biographies and visual studies, narrated by Patrick Stuart.

So once you've waded through the various levels and mounds of bodies and complete this game, what do you to look forward to besides some repeated carnage?  Well, as if clawing your way through bodies again isn't enough, by completing the regular game play, you will have opened up dog tag challenges.  As you complete each challenge, you will unlock concept art and production stills.  These will be placed in a gallery for your repeated viewing.

The action of Wolverine's Revenge is spread out over 18 levels, and told in six separated acts.  As usual, cut scenes will fill in the required back story to get you started and then it is up to you to claw your way around.  As you journey through, you will of course be pit against a legion of faceless threats, but keep your eyes peeled for a few guest stars as well.  From Juggernaut to Magneto to Sabretooth and lots more, you will see a vast array of familiar faces.  You will also hear a few famous voices, namely Mark " Luke Skywalker" Hamill as Wolverine (trust me it actually works!) and Patrick Stewart.

The action here is admittedly routine and quite repetitive.  Normally a game like this is one that I could sit and play straight through.  But as I was playing, I would find myself getting a little antsy at the fact that I had been pressing the same buttons in the same combos for awhile.  I found that when I stopped for a while and then picked things back up at a later date, I would enjoy the slaying of gun-toting soldiers a lot more.  The environment is mostly government laboratories and facilities, but there is just enough mapping to keep things interesting.  You will find yourself standing around in these corridors a good deal of time letting yourself heal because you can't utilize your healing powers with your claws out, and killing stuff is harder with them put away.  Health vials are available, but are separated by distance.  They usually supply enough to refill you several times over, but I never found myself wanting to backtrack to the last stockpile I had found, and preferred instead to just let the mutant powers do the healing.

A few flaws to be sure, but a refreshingly well done bit of licensing.  As the simultaneous release of this game and X2: The Movie suggests, these games only get made to cash in on a current fan base for Hollywood celluloid. But in this case, you really can't tell; the game is done very well and is as good as it gets for Wolverine fans.  Wolverine's Revenge is like a huge, juicy hamburger.  For as long as I can remember I have always wanted one, and now that it is here, I am definitely going to gobble it up.  Sure with a few extras thrown in like cheese or bacon, it could have been better, but I am too full right now to think about what could have been!

-aaron-