"A Step In The Right Direction"

INTRO: Wolverine is one of my all time favorite superheros. And this wasn't the first time he has had his own game. The Sega Genisis version is still my favorite. This installment does many things right but also has a few flaws that bring it down. One other thing is that even though the game has a heading of X2, it has nothing to do with the movie, but is more like the popular 90's cartoon.

GRAPHICS: Personally I think this game looks to cartoony. Which detracts form the game. Even though Wolverine is a comicbook character, he has a loyal following of older fans. Plus Wolverine is in genral a more adult character. So I think this should have had a more adult theme. I am not saying it should be a Mautre rated game, but he needs to grow a little in the game world. The game is also very bland overall. The character models are very good at all, which is dissapointing.
Score 6

SOUND: The sound effects sound like they are pulled directly from the 90's cartoon, but they still sound pretty good. The voice acting on the other hand is not. Plot does not play huge role in the game, but it still detracts a little.
Score 5

CONTROLS: The controls overall are layed out very nicely. They are fairly responsive and challenging. But once you get used to the combat system it handles very well.
Score 7

STORY: This game probably has the best story of any superhero game. It starts out wolverine finding out he has a virus implanted in him from his days in Weapon X. So he sets out to find the scientist. Overall the game makes it very believable for all the characters to be popping up. The only thing I wish different is better voice acting.
Score 9

REPLAY: It's here this game is lacking the most. There are 3 different difficulty settings, and couple of different unlockables. But unlike Spiderman, Wolverine does not make any real effort to make thses extras fun. They are just there to take up space.
Score 5

GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is a mix of stealth action, and beat'em up. The beatem up prtions are good, but the stealth portions are drawn out and reuire the guess and try method. The game still employs good ideas on how to use Wolverine stealthly, but it is not executed well and does nothing but slow down the pace of the game. The best part of the game is the way Wolverine's abilities are used. There are no gauges for his health regeneration and it is limitless. This may sound a little cheap but the difficulty level balnces it out. The combat system with his claws is actually pretty deep too. And the ''sense'' mode which allows you to track enemies and solve puzzles is nicely done.
Score 8

AVERAGE: 6.7

RENT OR BUY: I say rent because as much as this game does right it still can be improved. If you like the somewhat kiddish theme then it's probably worth a buy, despite the low replay value.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/04