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Activision unsheathes Wolverine details

First X-Men: Origins movie tie-in coming to PS3, PS2, PSP, PC, 360, Wii, and DS; will debut alongside film inspiration in May 2009.

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Though it didn't participate directly in this past July's E3 Media & Business Summit, Activision held its own event just blocks away. During the week of the annual game-industry convention, the company also made several announcements, including the development of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The game will be based on the forthcoming film of the same name starring Hugh Jackman, who--judging by the first screenshot--is lending his likeness to the game.

Wolverine the game....
Wolverine the game....

At the time of the Wolverine reveal, the only detail Activision would give was that the game was in development at Madison, Wisconsin-based studio Raven Software (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance). Today, the Guitar Hero-driven half of top third-party publisher Activision Blizzard announced a bevy of details about the game, including its platforms and launch date. It will arrive alongside the forthcoming film in May 2009. Amaze Entertainment (Crash of the Titans, Call of Duty: Roads to Victory) is developing the PSP, DS, Wii, and PS2 editions of the game, with Raven handling the PS3, 360, and PC versions.

The X-Men Origins game will trace Wolverine's backstory beyond the film, which sees the long-lived, fast-healing Canadian mutant subjected to horrific experiments by a shadowy military agency. After surviving the "Weapon X" program--which gave him both indestructible bones and retractable, razor-sharp claws--the hero escapes to the jungles of Africa, one of several real-world locales that Activision says will be re-created. Further plot details were scant, and no mention was made of Wolverine's half-brother and fellow mutant Sabretooth, a major character in the film played by Liev Shcreiber (The Manchurian Candidate).

...Wolverine the movie.
...Wolverine the movie.

Gameplay details were thin, with the announcement saying that Wolverine would be an action game with an emphasis on melee combat, complete with combos and finishing moves. Fans of the X-Men franchise will be hoping for an improvement on Activision's last game based on the character, 2003's poorly received X2: Wolverine's Revenge.

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