Though the gameplay starts to get repetitive, Wolverine's no-holds barred action should keep most gamers entertained.
GAMEPLAY (8.5) - I'll state this at the start - this is probably the most graphically violent comic book game yet. There's no holding back when it comes to the brutality Wolverine is capable of. Combos can be strung together to dismember or decapitate enemies. Every single adversary you dispose of falls to the ground with a torrent of blood spewing from his body. The violence may seem over the top but realistically this is probably what you'd see if someone had the ability to literally slice enemies apart. In some respects Origins is your typical action game but with a few extras to make the style of fighting seem unique to the character. Wolverine has several abilities including the popular "lunge" move that allows Logan to jump across hundreds of feet and sink his claws into a foe's chest. In addition to lunge, there's a variety of spin attacks and timed power-ups to give some diversity as you'll be finding new techniques and stunts to pull off throughout your entire play through. As Logan levels up he'll soon be able to perform counter-attacks, gruesome quick-kills and finishers, and projectile deflections among other moves.He can also enter a Feral Sense state where hidden power-ups, interactive scenery, and environmental objects like floor spikes that can be used to impale enemies are highlighted various colors. Unfortunately most of the Boss fights are a bit of a letdown as they tend to follow the same pattern of dodging their attacks then jumping onto their backs for a few seconds to do damage. Repeat this a few times and the battle is over. There are also a few instances of platforming and the dreaded (at least for me) timed jump sequences. I guess there are people that enjoy that type of gameplay but for me it was just something that interrupted the fun hack n' slash fighting and I couldn't wait to get those parts over with. Fortunately these didn't occur too often so the frustration level was low. The best moments of the game involved Wolverine against large groups of enemies, and to the game's credit that's what occurs most often.
GRAPHICS (8.0) - Wolverine's health will begin to regenerate after he hasn't taken damage for a short while. This allows players to constantly be in the midst of the fray but you may just want to sit there and take bullets if only to see Wolverine's body become a ragged mass of flesh with his adamantium skeleton visibly showing itself underneath, then watch as the wounds seal themselves up during regeneration. The graphics are animated very well. The variety of manners that enemies die in is constantly satisfying, and somehow the gory quick kills never get old. Wolverine himself is a faithful recreation of Hugh Jackman, with great animations and details. The other Marvel characters all look great, as do the enemies you'll take on. This helps to make up for the generally dull environments and lack of any impressive use of lighting or textures. The few CGI scenes are quite impressive and show a level of violence you won't see in the Wolverine movie.
AUDIO (8.0) - While it doesn't exactly have an epic soundtrack Wolverine manages to deliver ample action-movie music to keep you focused on cutting off limbs. Fortunately Raven was able to get Hugh Jackman and other actors from the movie to do the voicework for the game. The dialogue is generally clear, well-spoken and believable. The other supporting actors and actresses do a decent job of handling their lines and while some are cheesy, it is a game based on a comic book - it's somewhat expected. Some plot dialogue is delivered via Worklogs found around the levels, and while they are interesting they can be hard to hear or understand either because enemies will sometimes attack you after you've activated one, or because you turned it on right after a fight and the action music hadn't faded yet.
VALUE (7.5) - Wolverine is not a long game as it should take most people around 10 hours to complete. There isn't much incentive for replay unless you're looking to gather various number based achievements, such as "Kill 150 enemies with the spin move" for example. Speaking of achievements Wolverine is certainly more generous than most games I've played in that after my first playthrough I had accumulated over 700 points, a rarity for someone like myself that doesn't really go out of his way to get specific achievements. A nice bonus comes from Wolverine finding collectible action figures. This opens up a challenge game during which Logan can fight an alternate version of himself, such as one that sports the classic yellow and blue outfit. Defeat this other Wolverine and now you have the option to wear that new outfit throughout the game. Not a big deal but a nice addition, and those alternate Wolverines are tough to beat, pretty much tougher than any of the enemies from the story. There is no multiplayer.
SUMMARY - The game's story stands out as being less developed than the other aspects. It isn't always clear why you are where you are or fighting someone, especially at the beginning, which moves you around different time periods in succession. This is probably to avoid spoiling too many details of the film and while a bit confusing doesn't detract from the gameplay. Let's be honest, most people probably don't care about why Wolverine is killing everyone; they're just happy that he's doing it and they're in control. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an exciting action game especially for fans of the character. It's not incredibly varied and a lesser game would have suffered because of this but Wolverine is just incredibly fun.