"Wolverine's Revenge...Not what you think it would be"

Wolverine's Revenge is a very odd game. It is unlike any other X-Men or superhero game for that matter and introduces something new to the gaming genre.

The presentation of the game suffers however. As soon as you load it you can tell this game was rushed with its slow moving menus and poor art design. There are few options but the game has a good amount of bonuses. These are not like trailers for other Activison games but things you use in the game. One of the best parts of the game is the costume change. Fans of the game will love this part the most because you don't have to play as the new odd looking Wolverine but you can play in his classic orange and tan color and his famous yellow and blue color. Both of these have masks for him so you won't have to see the poor graphic design of Wolverine's face. These are the two costumes that fans will enjoy the most but there are a few others like the Ultimate X Men costume, the X Men movie costume and Patch costume. Other bonuses include three challenge modes that are unlocked after you beat the game and a gallery. The cerebro files provide some interesting information but the best part of it is that Patrick Stewart says them, it makes it more interesting to hear him talk about it like it is real. One major problem about this game is that there is no level select. This makes it neccessary to save after each Act, save seperate files for Acts then you can play through those parts again. The save feature is a bit odd in the levels because sometimes very hard levels won't have saves until much later and you will find the trial and error process frusturating. Other times you will find a quick 2 minute part and then a save. This annoys me making the game see long with a lot of parts but having some of the parts only a few minutes long.

I have already stated that the graphics for Wolverine's face are not nice to look at, you won't find the other characters any more beautiful. The guards faces sometimes look very flat and they don't look real. I am disappointed to see a more ''cartoony'' looking graphical approach then a more ''realistic'' one. The guards are usually way too muscuallar and seem like they have been put through a mutant process. The levels are basic and the detail is fair but there is no real spectacular moments in graphics. The cutscenes are awful, I really would have liked the game to have been released a few months after the movie if it meant having better graphics, espically in the cutscenes. There are some clipping problems like most games but Wolverine even can be seen with an arm through a wall. The graphics completely change when you enter the sense mode. This makes the game have a new approach in graphics and in gameplay. You can see a Wolverine mimic making strike approaches that tells you to do the same. The guards stand out and this makes finding them much easier. Wolverine himself looks better because of the darkened outline around him. The graphics are not up to par with other games.

The game provides a great deal of satisfaction in the sound department. Wolverine's voice acting is performed by Mark Hamill, many will remember him as Luke Skywalker but during the game he takes a differnet voice approach. Hamill provides a great rugged sound and makes Wolverine sound pretty tough, as if those claws didn't already say that. Patrick Stewart is also in the game, although in the cutscenes he looks like he hasn't eaten a meal in years. His voice acting is great and adds a feel like the X-Men movies. The bonus material of cerebro files I mentioned are perfomred very nicely by Stewart. The game sounds pretty good but there are some serious issues with repetative sayings. One situation has Wolverine sneaking into a guard bunker and sees all the sleeping guards on their beds. The cool stealth strike he performs has the same saying everytime, and since you do this on five guards it can get on your nerves. The sound is still one of the better parts of the game.

Many of you reading this, if anyone, is wondering about the gameplay. That is one of the biggest parts of a game. It is very different from previous X-Men games were you just attack guys and run across the screen. Wolverine's Revenge is based on a combination of staying stealthy and then attacking with all your rage. You move around normally and then by pressing and holding the L1 button you go into stealth mode, moving slowly and allowing yourself to put your back against walls. When you turn your head around the corner you can perform a stealth strike which earns you a dog tag. By collecting these dog tags you can earn higher levels in your normal mode stike attacks. Your sense mode is a better mode unless you can't see with it in your environment then use your normal stealth mode. When you press and hold the L2 button you get into your very useful sense mode. Here you can see, well yourself, making strike moves on guards. This virtua you shows you where to position yourself to make a strike. You can see a green odor of guards and they stand out themselves. When you need to make real attacks and you have been detected the game gets pretty cool. Before you target your enemy you can do a dive with you claws/hands out or a spinning dive. You can also do a sliding kick to knock them over. When you are in target mode you have a punch and kick button. Pressing pressing them multiple times you can perform multiple hits. You have a cool but hard to use attack where you throw your arm to the opposite side of your enemy in hope to hit someone behind you. You can also crouch and use a sweeping kick, uppercut punch and uppercut kick. Your really sweet attacks are your strikes. When the screen says STRIKE you press the O button and perform an amazing looking and very strong move. It simple but your enemy has to be dizzy which means you have to have beaten him up pretty bad. What is very cool is when there are multiple enemies around you because you perform strikes on up to three at once and they don't have to be dizzy. Your strikes look better and become stronger when you collect enough dog tags to advance a level. You then don't simply press the O button but you press O then triangle. And the next level you go O then triangle then O. The levels advance like that with simple combos but you must press them fast before the strike happens. Gameplay also includes you doing different tasks from using your claws to break open doors or shutting down generators. On some parts you can't be seen which makes the stealth part of the game really kick in. The game plays very well and you can perform some cool looking attacks although if the graphics had been made better the attacks would have looked better.

The value of the game is weakened without a level select. You will need to make quite a few saves but the level select option would have made the game much better. You will probably try out the challenge modes and you may play through the game multiple times but all in all the value isn't great. A rental would provide enough satisfaction but for those who really want to own it you may want to find a lower price than $50. I think that games like these should only be around $30. More people would buy this game that didn't have much work done on a very rushed schedule. Great games are worth $50 but some games you may want to buy used or wait a few months for the price to drop.

Final Thoughts: I really think that anyone who likes a combination of stealth and fighting or who is an X-Men fan should play this game one way or another. It offers satisfying moments but given more time, the game could have been made much better.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/03, Updated 05/12/03