Wolverine. For many a Marvel Comics fan, the name is synonymous with tough hombre.
As superheroes go, he’s nearly indestructible, powerful and just plain cool without being ridiculously overpowered like DC’s Superman or Marvel’s Silver Surfer.
So, who would not want to take this certified bad dude out for a spin in Activision’s “X2: Wolverine’s Revenge”?
The game is available for all three major consoles. I tested the PS2 version.
The game’s basic premise is simple. As part of the Weapon X program, Wolverine was infected with a dormant virus that would kill him in an indefinite amount of time. Now, two days before his birthday, Beast, one of Wolverine’s superhero cohorts, informs him that the virus he has is through incubating and will probably kill him in the next couple of days.
Wolverine then goes tramping about Canada in search of a cure. From a game play standpoint, the game seems overly simplistic. Wolverine can punch and kick (which doesn’t seem that different unless his claws are out), extend and retract his claws, make a low jump, crouch, sneak, use infrared and execute strike moves. The punch and kick moves are straightforward and come in combos of two or three.
Unfortunately, enemies tend to block these attacks-even if Wolverine’s claws are out. Wolverine himself, however, cannot block.
If an enemy is stunned or Wolverine is surrounded, he can execute a strike move. Strike moves are never blocked-which I find strange-and are often lethal.
Also, if Wolverine manages to sneak up on an enemy and it’s scripted into the game, he can do a stealth strike with great rewards. However, if he just sneaks up on a random bad guy, he can’t make a stealth kill. This quirk is ridiculous, especially since the game often tries to emphasize stealth but doesn’t fully implement stealth attacks. Graphically, the game is mediocre. The character models show little expression and are not very detailed or pretty. For instance, Sabretooth regularly assaults and taunts Wolverine in the first level, but does so without moving his mouth. Also, Wolverine seems to have acquired Kitty Pride’s phasing ability and can randomly clip through pipes, walls and other structures.
The lack of destructible environments was a big disappointment for me. Apparently, almost everything in Canada is made of adamantium-including the Canadians, who often take multiple claw strikes to go down. The walls, the doors and even the DC-3 are impervious to Wolverine’s claws. Striking walls doesn’t even leave marks. Also, while some items in the levels are destructible, other, identical items are not. Wolverine actually gets stopped by locked doors. It’s frustrating to play as Wolverine, certified public bad dude, and not be able to destroy things and be stopped by locked doors.
The game does have some extras. These include Cerebro sequences, which add to the backstory, Wolverine’s costumes and X-Men cover art. They don’t add much to the game, however.
Finally, I’ll toss in a plot hole. In the game, Wolverine’s healing factor doesn’t work when his claws are out. Well, why doesn’t he bleed to death, or at least drip blood all over the Northwest Territory? If his healing factor isn’t working, then the big holes the claws ripped in his hands aren’t going to heal, either. Unless you’re an X-Men fanatic or just really enjoy killing Canadians, there are much better games out than “X2: Wolverine’s Revenge.”