Back when you were a little kid on the playground, you probably spent (or spend, depending on your age) some time pretending to be the X-Men with your friends. And, unless you had glasses like me and were pretty much forced to be Cyclops, you’d inevitably argue with your pals over who got to be the coolest X-Man of them all…

Yeah, you know who I’m talking about.

Xbox owners finally get the chance to play as everybody’s favorite claw-bearing, bad-guy-slicing, Canadian super hero, Wolverine.

From the get go, you’re greeted with a slick user interface. Although abit clunky, going between the Options and Bonus menus looks and feels a lot like a DVD scene selection menu. There are a lot of really nice features that playing the game can unlock, like the classic costumes Wolverine wore in the comics. Cerebro files, when found, will give you small tidbits of information on locations or characters, and there’s even concept art and an upgradable attack combo system. Top this off with the ability to play your own custom soundtracks in game and during the user interface, and you’ve got a really nice package. The voice acting for Professor X is even done by Patrick Stewart himself. Sounds like good stuff, huh?

"It is, and then you get to the actual game."

It’s a well-known fact that superhero games suck, and X-2: Wolverine’s Revenge won’t be breaking the record for a non-sucky superhero game. The gameplay isn’t terrible, it just isn’t good. Logan can finally retract and extend his claws at will which means you can stun your opponents with some good ol’ fashioned soup bones, or just screw that and slice the living crap out of them. Stealth can be used in some situations to get stealth kills, which in turn will give you dog tags, a pseudo currency in the game used to upgrade your attack combos. At the same time, lackluster AI gives the guards some extremely odd behavior. Sometimes you’ll be able to sneak by a guard staring at you from twelve feet away, while others will spot you if you so much as enter the room. Although Wolverine’s mutant healing factor is in effect, it’s only in effect when your claws are sheathed.

But wait, there’s more! Getting your ass kicked is so easy that the game quickly becomes a lesson in anger management and repetition. To make matters worse, there’s no way to save your game once you’re in the middle of a level. This may not have mattered if it weren’t for the fact that levels can be long and overwhelming if you face more than two guards at once. There’s not even a way to continue from a mid-level checkpoint, which means when you inevitably get your mutant butt handed to you, you’ll be forced to play the entire level over again…and again…and again.

Note to the developer: THAT IS NOT FUN.

If you ignore the fact that some punk Canadian soldier can lay the thorough smack down on you in hand to hand combat, despite the fact that you’ve got six, two-foot-long blades sticking out of your hands, then this game can have its moments. Like I said earlier, X-2: Wolverine’s Revenge isn’t a bad game, it just has so many bad elements that the good tends to be overshadowed. If you’re a fan of the X-Men or Wolverine, this will be a good purchase, but if you’re the casual gamer, skip it or rent it.

Pros:

• It’s Wolverine outside of a fighting game.
  
• Lots and lots of really cool features to unlock and play around with.
  

  Cons:
  

  • No mid-level checkpoint.
    
  • No way to save in level.
    
  • Professor X looks like an alien from Mars Attacks.
    
  • Repetitive…because you’ll die so much.