Unleash the razor sharp adamantium claws, feral instincts, and mutant regeneration powers of the world's fiercest super hero - Wolverine - and uncage the story of how the ultimate weapon was created. With unstoppable action and excitement, X-Men Origins: Wolverine will have you on the edge of your seat as you slash, slice, and stab your way through level after level of intense, epic game play...

When you start to play X-Men: Wolverine one of the first things you'll notice is the immense amount of blood and gore as well as the way his wounds heal after he has been shot or burnt. The wounds are pretty graphic, allowing you to see down to the bone.

Most of the enemies in the game can be killed in some extremely gruesome ways, such as being ripped in half or decapitated - and in some places you can impale your enemy on parts of the game's scenery.

There are plenty of opponents to kill throughout the game and it's not uncommon to be under attack from as many as 20 enemies at once, which can get a bit hectic. But once you have killed them all, and are standing there with far too many mortal wounds, you can't help wondering if you can actually be killed. But you soon realise that there are some opponents that are stronger than the rest, meaning you have to work hard if you are to defeat them.

As you start to progress through the game you encounter plenty of bosses which are great fun to kill. But you'll have to think about how to despatch each one - by finding their weakness rather than just hacking them to pieces like the standard opponents in the game. For most of the bosses its just a question of waiting for an opening, such as jumping onto their back or just dodging their moves, and then attacking them normally. But they are always fun to attack and give you a bit of a break from the hack and slash of the main game.

There are also the odd minigame, which include you having to press a certain button combination. These usually end in an extremely bloody mess with a limb or two flying off your opponent.

As your progressing through the game you start to unlock many different abilities such as jumping from a distance and attacking your opponent or entering an angry rage and increasing your attack power. Some of these attacks see you using up a bar that’s filled with rage, much like your health bar. This is recharged by collecting rage orbs which are dropped by killed opponents, and the stronger the opponent the more rage they drop.

The game has an RPG feel to it, thanks to the fact that you can increase your level by getting experience from opponents that you kill. This decreases each time you level making it harder to level up. Your experience can also be increase by collecting hidden dog tags which are scattered throughout the game. These are located on dead bodies which are hidden throughout the levels.

There is a statistics screen which adds up all the things you do including killing opponents, collecting dog tags, what ways you kill your opponents and how many of them you have dismembering.

Wolverine is an extremely good movie tie-in, but takes the violence a step further than the film. The game has an 18+ rating, while the film is only a 12 with hardly anywhere near the violence of the game. While the movie is geared more towards children, this game is definitely aimed at the more mature gamers - Wolverine is one of the most bloody and gory games out there.

If you are a lover of violent games, and don’t care about the fact that it is a bit repetitive to play, then this game is for you. But if repetition is a problem then you might like to rent this before buying. It really is an amazing game once you get into it and should make a fair impression on the gaming world.

8

Carl Simpson