X-Men Origins: Wolverine

If anyone can be trusted to make a comic-based game that not only doesn’t suck but is actually good, it’s Raven Software. The Wisconsinbased developer already has the fan-friendly X-Men Legends games and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance on its résumé, and its latest project is the polygonal partner to this summer’s standalone movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

During our demo, the first hint of quality came in the intro cinematic, where our hero — fighting in a future timeline (Origins skips around to different points in Logan’s life) — snkt’d his left-hand claws through a wall and straight through the surprised skull of an enemy on the other side. Blood dripping from the adamantium, he proceeded to do this two more times before the player even takes control. Clearly, Raven isn’t tiptoeing around the fact that this is Wolverine, the baddest mofo Marvel has to offer.

Naturally, you can pierce brains with your claws during actual gameplay, too. In fact, the gameplay — gore and all — seems slightly Ninja Gaiden-esque. The X button performs light attacks, the Y heavies, and combinations of the two produce special moves. For example, we saw Wolvie drive his claws into a man’s chest, triggering a slow-motion sequence; with a well-timed button-press, we then pulled off an execution move where we pulled his arms apart, ripping the guy clean in half. How’s that for subtlety?

We also saw a few of Logan’s special abilities, such as Feral Sense (which reveals hidden foes), a whirlwind spin, and of course our hero’s legendary healing ability, which is a passive skill that’s always on display. So, go ahead... let Wolverine get shot up a few times until he begins to resemble a slab of bloody meat, then stop and watch the flesh regenerate over his adamantium-plated bones. We’ve got a good feeling about Origins. The no-holds-barred combat is nicely rendered in Unreal Engine 3, and with Hugh Jackman’s full cooperation, Sentinel and Sabretooth boss battles that may last “20 minutes each,” and Raven’s sterling track record, we might finally get a Wolverine game worthy of the character. Trust us, bub.