#Three things this game does right despite the larger plot structure being cliche:

[thekimspoblog]

Been watching a lot of "Old Horror Game Story Explained" videos on YouTube lately. Mostly just because I'm looking for long videos to fall asleep to/pass the time, and horror tends to be good escapism from politics.

But only yesterday, I came across 2006's "Scratches" and I will say that game was actually spooky enough that it succeeded at giving me a nightmare. Specifically one about a mummy; there are no mummies in this game, but if you know the story I think you can see how my brain would make that leap. It was a good nightmare, if that makes sense; just thrilling enough to chill the blood and then wake with a jolt to realize it's already morning.

[miloscat]

[Review] X-Men Origins: Wolverine (PS3)

Getting back to X-Men movie tie-in games: It may be cliche in this case, but I enjoyed this one more than the movie!

The story goes that after making the X-Men Legends games and Marvel Ultimate Alliance (and before being shackled to the Call of Duty mill by Activision), Raven Software started on a Wolverine game, and only later tied it into the flop prequel. As a result the connections to the movie feel sparse and tacked on, the pace and structure are disjointed, and the game is much more bloody and brutal than the film. And yet it’s a whole lot of fun, with combat that feels the best to play out of the X-Men games I’ve tried so far, broken up by some passable platforming and puzzles.

Apparently this is one of those “like God of War but” titles, although I really couldn’t say. I do know that it gives you a lot of options between knocking foes into the air, hilarious throws (I dealt with many a tricky enemy by tossing them off the closest balcony), and environmental hazards on top of Wolverine’s extensive claw-based repertoire. Collectibles help you expand your moveset a bit or customise yourself slightly, but it’s a bit of a breeze on the default difficulty regardless.

The boss fights are pretty OK, and usually have multiple phases that shake things up, but the frequent miniboss battles against rock monsters (not really fitting the tone of the films) and Wendigos (here a sort of scientific experiment mutate) are dull and dragged out. Otherwise enemy variety is nice, with different kinds of soldiers, robots, and inexplicably numerous copies of generic weirdo mutants (fire guy, multiplying guy, teleporting lady, four-arms lady... but not the actual characters with those abilities from the source material).

The scattered plot takes you back and forth between “present” events (roughly in the time-frame of the bulk of the movie) and frequent flashbacks to a greatly expanded version of the mission to Africa in the Team X days. Mystique is added to the plot in another one of those “this supposed prequel really does break the continuity of the established film trilogy, huh” moments that the film was already full of. From the breakout of the Alkali Lake facility (again expanded) you enter a substantial chapter of new inserted events where you infiltrate a high-tech lab to disable Bolivar Trask’s Sentinel program (different from the one in later films). Then it’s suddenly Blob time in a supermarket, before a Gambit confrontation on almost comically larger scale than the movie’s version, in and around a vast New Orleans casino. Then the movie’s third act happens in about five minutes and it’s over.

Bookending the whole thing are prerendered cutscenes set in a dystopic Sentinel-riddled future, likely a remnant of the original non-movie-tie-in game. But the setting is not entirely unlike what we later see in the Days of Future Past framing story, which is a happy accident. And by the way, these cutscenes (and a couple others throughout, done by the same studio) look fantastic, quite unlike the in-engine potato-face ones the game otherwise offers.

Not to be too harsh; Raven generally did a great job with this. Maybe I’ve been playing too many SD games lately but I really liked the look of this game (particularly the Africa vistas), despite the at times flagging frame rate and recycled assets. But speaking of those starchy visages, only three characters retain the actor likenesses (Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Wraith); the same ones who reprise their voice roles, which I guess isn’t a coincidence. It’s jarring to see and hear that authenticity right alongside uncanny impostors!

Otherwise I was pleased to have these new and expanded events, it’s always something I appreciate from these licensed games. The way they’re implemented feels messy, but I suppose that’s natural given the game’s development. Having a longer development time than usual was a real boon to the gameplay though; again, the combat is smooth, enjoyable, and dare I use the buzzword “visceral”. Yes, I think they earned it!