In all bluntness, video games have not been kind to Wolverine. While the character is arguably among the most popular and famous characters in the comic book world, no one has quite been able to properly nail the gruff anti-hero and his great abilities (in fact, I’m reminded of an original NES game where you’d actually take damage for extending your claws). Therefore, when I first heard that Activision was setting out to give Logan a starring role in their upcoming game (loosely based on the now-released film), I was a bit skeptical as to whether or not they’d be able to pull it off.

Fortunately, I can say that Activision and the development team at Raven knew what they wanted out of the character Wolverine, and knew how to get it. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is as close as any game is likely to come to capturing the true essence of the famous superhero, nailing the grittiness, blood and overall mature nature of him while making him absolutely a blast to play as. Players will be pouncing on enemies, removing limbs and performing a variety of awesome looking moves from beginning to end. However, for all that X-Men Origins: Wolverine does right, there are a few places where it stumbles in terms of gameplay. There is an overall repetitive nature to the combat, and the storyline could use some polish in order to play out a bit more understandably. However, the game is still brutal, exciting, and a bloody good time overall.

X-Men Origins follows the plot of the film somewhat, presenting itself as a prequel to the events of the original X-Men trilogy of films, and revealing the origins of the mutant known as Wolverine, including his time in special ops and involvement with the Weapon X project. The game deviates from the film as well, featuring some different story elements, including appearances by mutants and characters that do not appear in the film but were written exclusively for the video game.

The game’s strongest suit is its presentation of Wolverine. Wolverine has a variety of awesome moves that he can perform by way of easy-to-learn combos. You can slice up your enemies with your claws, pick them up and throw them across the room, or even stick them onto objects in the environment. You’ll also be able to perform other awesome moves, like lunges, where you pounce onto your foes from a distance (also a nice way to get from place to place), and a variety of special moves like claw spins and claw drills.

The game also does a fine job of showcasing Wolverine’s mutant abilities, namely his heightened senses and healing factor. You’ll use his healing factor automatically as you play, as he’ll slowly regenerate his health after he’s been attacked. His senses come into play through “feral mode," where you’ll be able to enter a special vision mode that lets you see special objects in the environment highlighted for interest as well as see which direction you need to go. As you play the game, you’ll gain levels and bonus points that can be doled out by the player how they see fit. You’ll be able to upgrade your health, fighting power, and the strength of your special moves.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine makes use of Quick-Time Events, where you’ll have to press a certain button at the proper time to get Wolverine to perform the right move or hammer on it during a struggle with an enemy. There are some definite “wow” moments early on in the game where Wolverine will perform some absolutely brutal moves (like jumping onto a helicopter, ripping the pilot from the seat, and sticking him headfirst into the path of the blades), so fans will immediately be able to see the level of carnage right away.

However, the combat does begin to show its seams as you play through the game. The combat gets pretty repetitive, and aside from some awesome boss battles here and there (including a pretty epic fight with a Sentinel, which brings the battles in Shadow of the Colossus to mind, it’s that huge), you’ll mostly be fighting the same generic soldiers, some of which can negate some of Wolverine’s moves, like his lunge, and can be tedious to defeat.

Additionally, the story is somewhat problematic. While the flashback narrative is an interesting choice, moving the player between a covert jungle mission and Alkali Lake, there are some set pieces thrown in that don’t really make a lot of sense, and the story suffers as a result.

Graphically, Wolverine looks pretty good, but has some problems. The character models, particularly the principal characters like Wolverine and Sabretooth, look excellent and fare well against their movie counterparts. Additionally, watching Wolverine get damaged (revealing muscle and even bone) and slowly repair himself over time is a great touch. The only real issue with the graphical presentation are the framerates, which can get pretty choppy as you play and occasionally detrimental to the gameplay.

The sound is also well done. The score does a great job of accentuating the action and the voice work, done by the film’s actors, sounds quite good as well.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not without some faults, but many gamers will agree that this is the best representation of the hero ever to hit video games, offering up all of the carnage and brutality that the character is capable of (and then some). If you’re a Wolverine fan, you should definitely consider giving this game a look.

Gameplay: 8.0
The game features some pretty nice “wow” moments, from large-scale boss battles to some great carnage throughout. However, there are a few issues, including framerate problems that affect gameplay and generally repetitive enemies.

Graphics: 8.0
The game's character models look excellent, bearing the likenesses of their on-screen counterparts, and the body damage system is another great touch. The game's framerates are a big problem, however.

Sound: 8.5
The voice acting is nicely done, featuring cast members like Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber. The music and the sound effects are also pretty solid.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.5
While it adds some cool characters and new story elements, the game’s narrative is pretty hard to follow and lacks cohesion. The game's great characterization of Wolverine makes up for it, however.

Overall: 8.2
While the game isn’t without its flaws, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a solid iteration of the character and worth a look for fans of the movie or the comics.