Not really a review as such, more a mark of surprise. After finishing Killzone 2, I installed Fallout 3, resolved to get around to it (just can’t bring myself to play it for some reason, probably because I already know how much time I’ll need to plough into it) and also decided to polish up my Akuma combos in Street Fighter IV. I like to always have a backup game installed on the HTPC, just for something different. It will usually be games I’d consider mediocre or not receiving a lot of media attention so that I can see if they are diamonds in the rough. These games will usually be movie-to-game conversions.

Currently I have installed “Prince Caspian”, “The Incredible Hulk”, “Bolt”, “Wall-E”, “The Spiderwick Chronicles”, “Monsters vs Aliens”, “Eragon”… etc. I have a number of other games installed, usually racing games, but my HTPC is mainly a dumping ground to try out the stuff that gets churned out shortly before a movie gets released.

The problem with movie games is the development time. They need to churn out a game, relatively quickly and they aren’t really ever meant to stand on their own. They are really made to just augment the hype surrounding a movie so as to pull in a little bit more bread for the bottom line. Due to this they are usually bottom scrapers in terms of quality. I never really pay them much attention, they are really just games for comic relief between games I’m actually serious about playing.

That was until a few days ago when I watched the review for the new “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” game on GameTrailers (embedded below) released to coincide with the movie release. The review is mildly glowing of the game, and apart from some minor gripes they liked it. A friend in work who also has the game has already completed it once and is on his second play through. I had already booked my tickets to watch the movie, so decided to get the game also to play after it.

Unfortunately the movie was well below what I was expecting. It had it’s highlights, but overall it was a let down. I came home disappointed and decided to jump into this Wolverine game right away. Immediately the opening cinematic is better than anything in the movie itself. The game loosely follows the movie and fills in the gaps, but what separates it is the gameplay. Unlike some other brawlers, they have nicely split up your time between puzzle solving and fighting. This is balanced in such a way that neither aspect of the gameplay becomes repetitive. It is equal, if not better than DMC4 or even Ninja Gaiden: Sigma. For a movie game this is amazing. I mean the developers could of taken the cheap route, followed by most when churning out these types of games and given the trailers plenty of gloss but left the overall experience and gameplay lacking. They would of still sold the game off the hype and made their money. But care seems to of been taken to raise this game above not only movie games, but also the movie itself and even games in the same genre as it (it is definitely better than Conan or Heavenly Sword).

This game is more about putting the player in the Marvel universe and not about putting them in the movie. It succeeds because the developers and designers have made a game that stays true to the personality of Wolverine and also made a game that isn’t wholly about form over function. Little “easter eggs” in the game highlight this, with nods to the TV show LOST, and the games WoW and Portal. Overall this game feels like a game made by gamer/comic geeks for gamer/comic geeks and is a breath of fresh air. It is really a rarity to find a game that has come out of a movie, a decidedly average movie, that is this good. Here’s hoping they turn this game into a series.