With the release of many hot sci-fi films, especially ones based on comic books, comes the game that's related to the movie in some way or another.  This year alone, we've seen The Hulk, Enter the Matrix, and now X2: Wolverine's Revenge released alongside their movie counterparts.  In the past, most of these titles haven't been so hot.  They tend to be quickly slapped together for a quick buck, and often, they sell pretty well.  Last year's Spider-Man sold very, very well, despite being a pretty mediocre game (Don't get me wrong about the movie though - I loved it).  With a history of movie-to-game conversions in mind, how does Wolverine's Revenge hold up?

As a game, Wolverine's Revenge is pretty average.  It plays half-decent, and you might even have a little fun with it.  But when it comes to innovation or fresh ideas, Wolverine's Revenge is really lacking.  Everything gives you the feeling of "Wait - haven't I done this before somewhere?"  Fans of the X-Men, however, will probably have an okay time with the game.  I did find the story line pretty interesting; it details Wolverine's past, putting you in his shoes as he battles through hoards of enemies in order to find an antibody for a poison that was implanted in him.  Everything progresses at a fairly nice pace, which is good.

The controls are okay.  You have four keys for your basic movement - left, right, up, down.  Two keys will also be used for punching and kicking.  Another will interact with the environment, doing basic things like turning switches on or off.  Yet another key will either draw or retract your adamantium claws (more on that in a moment).  You also have keys for crouching and jumping.  Two others with interesting functions are the Stealth and Senses key.

When holding in the Senses key, the screen changes to an orange hue and certain objects that were previously invisible, are now visible.  This aids you in the detection of things like underground mines, heat-sensitive beams, and electrical lasers.  It's a cool touch, for sure, but it isn't perfect.  You must hold the key in when you want to use it, and it stops working whenever you do something else, like punch or kick.  If you try to have Senses on while doing something else, you'll find the screen flashing orange on and off, and not giving you a very good idea of what to look out for.

The combat is pretty straightforward, with a couple of neat little twists.  You have your basic punches and kicks, and of course, punching deals way more damage when your claws are extended.  Still, though, you have to wonder about the effectiveness of Wolverine's claws... you'll usually have to stab and slash enemies multiple times before they think about staying down.  It just doesn't make sense - especially bosses where you can clearly see you're slashing normal old skin, and yet they withstand dozens of swipes without the slightest injury.  Maybe he needs to get those things sharpened.  Nonetheless, there are some cool touches.  Holding in the Stealth key allows you to slide along walls quietly, allowing for ambushes on enemies.  These kills are cool and actually do make your foes drop in one hit - but your opportunities to do this are few and far between.  There are also Strike Attacks.  When more than one enemy is attacking you, you'll sometimes get the chance to do one of these.  You simply have to hit the right key, and voila - a neat cinematic of Wolverine kicking the crap out of two or more guys is displayed.  These are certainly cool the first few times you get to do them, but after a while, they start to seem shallow and tiresome.

The game is also bothersome in how it insists you do certain things exactly how it wants you to.  Take, for example, the first boss fight.  You must wear the boss down until it's life gauge is almost empty, then perform a Strike Attack, throwing him into a big explosive device, and finishing the battle.  The problem is, he keeps regaining health if you don't kill him, and that's only possible when he's in the perfect spot and you're actually in the right position to be able to perform the Strike Attack.  I spent literally twenty frustrating minutes, knowing exactly what to do, and yet I couldn't do it.  It was very frustrating.

There's an interesting touch to the game involving regaining life.  You won't find much health just lying around, waiting to be picked up.  Instead, the developers have made Wolverine automatically regain health whenever his claws are retracted.  While this is an interesting touch - taking a nod to unorthodox health systems like the one in Halo - it often means that you'll want to stand around for a minute or two after a tough battle, just waiting to regain health.  This can often make things seem tiresome and boring, as there aren't many ways to regain your health quickly.

Graphics in the game aren't too bad, but they won't win any awards.  Character models look fine, and so do most of the environments.  Animation is a bit awkward, though, and texturing is pretty weak in some spots.  Special effects aren't all that special either - some effects, like trails from footsteps in snow, just look downright bad.  Overall, it's pretty easy on the eyes, but not stunning.

Sound is pretty much on par with the graphics, offering highs and lows.  The highs include good background music and some very good voice-acting.  Wolverine's actually voiced by Mark Hamill, and he does a darn nice job - I couldn't tell it was him!  It sounded like you really would expect Wolverine to.  Sound effects aren't so great, though.  Oftentimes, they seem really out of place, and will tend to repeat over and over.  Hearing the same "Augh!!" voice clip from five falling enemies in a row can be annoying, plain and simple.

In the end, Wolverine is a game that tries hard, but ultimately could have used a couple more months in development.  It clearly makes effort to be a good game, and not just a simple money-making scheme, but it carries too many flaws to be considered great.  The story's good, and the graphics and sound aren't bad, but the gameplay never really excels.  If the game hadn't been rushed out to coincide with the movie, I'm sure this would have been a pretty darn fun game.  As it is, X-Men fans might want to check it out, but others need not apply. 

Gameplay: 6.0

There's nothing wrong that really stands out while playing the game (except for the ridiculous boss battles) - it's just that the game feels tired soon after it starts.  It really doesn't offer anything new to a genre that cries for innovation.

Graphics: 7.0

Wolverine's Revenge doesn't look really bad, but that's not to say it looks too great, either.  The environments and characters generally look decent, but there's a lot of sloppiness to be found, with weird animation and characters who have faces that their mothers wouldn't be proud of.

Sound: 7.0

The sound is a mixed bag.  You'll encounter a couple of good musical scores, but sound effects are generally out of place and tend to get extremely annoying.  Mark Hamill does a good job voicing Wolverine, but I can't say the same for some of the corny voices you'll encounter throughout the game.

Difficulty: Medium

If you can mash buttons, you should be able to defeat most of the enemies in the game, and the puzzles you'll come across aren't too perplexing.  Every now and then you'll come across a trickier area, but nothing that can't be passed in a couple of tries.

Concept: 6.0

The game does a fair job telling the story of Wolverine, but the gameplay isn't exactly innovative.  Most of the techniques in the game are typical third-person-action-game fare, save for a few neat things like stealth kills and Strike attacks.

Multiplayer: N/A

There's no multiplayer to be found in the game.

Overall: 6.5

Wolverine's Revenge doesn't bring anything really cool to the table in terms of gameplay, but if you're a fan of the X-Men and looking for a game that really fleshes out Wolverine's life, then this may be worth checking out.