X-Men: The Official Game

Rating ESRB: Teen Genre action Publisher Activision External Links Official X-Men: The Official Game Website Official Activision Website

Video game adaptations of superhero films have traditionally been junk. Of course, this is usually the case for any movie-based game. Among the typical complaints is that many movie games are limited by their source material. Unfortunately, many movie games are merely cash-in attempts that do little or nothing new. Hopes were high for X-Men: The Official Game, based off of this month's film "X-Men: The Last Stand," but the game does little to set it apart from previous games in the genre.

In X-Men: The Official Game for Xbox 360, players take control of three famous characters: Wolverine, Iceman, and Nightcrawler. Across twenty-eight missions, you control one of the three pre-determined heroes in strikingly different gametypes. In fact, I would not be surprised if each set of missions was created by a different development team. Wolverine has emerged as the most popular X-Man in recent years, so his inclusion in the game was a lock. Unfortunately, his levels are simply terrible examples of the hack-and-slash subgenre.

Each of his missions looked something like this: take out a bunch of enemies, heal, move around a bit, and repeat. I was ready to chuck my controller from tedium after playing just half of the game. The developers apparently missed out on last year's God of War, which helped redefine the action/adventure genre. What we have here is an outdated gameplay model: a standard beat-'em-up that is not concerned with combos, aiming, or variety. It kills any buzz you might have from playing the other characters' levels. I am still shocked that game developers have yet to find a way to make an awesome game featuring Wolverine.

While Nightcrawler's levels also feature a fair bit of fighting, most of the action is centered on his teleportation ability. A small blue flame can be seen on something that can be teleported to (depending on where you are looking), and clicking the right trigger button transfers you there quickly. I was honestly surprised that it worked so well. I liken it to the first time that I swung around the city in Spider-Man for the PlayStation - it seems so natural, yet it could have been a total disaster. Also, the ability to teleport around your enemies on a whim makes for much more interesting fights.

Iceman's missions feature him on a controllable ice slide, as you fly around the levels, chasing down enemies. The most thrilling of his missions take place inside enclosed tubes, where you must avoid obstacles while taking down nearby enemies. This racing/shooting hybrid works well with the character, and offers a welcome respite from the generic missions that Wolverine has been saddled with. A basic leveling system has been implemented into the game, which allows you to affect your basic attributes (health, attack, recovery, etc.) after each mission.

Visually, the game is very sharp, especially on an HDTV. It may not strive for the ultra-realism of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, but the environments are crisp and fairly detailed, and the game moves at a fast clip without slowdown. Wolverine's missions feature semi-destructible levels that also impress. However, there is one major, glaring weakness: the cut-scenes between missions are painfully lame. An Xbox 360 game should not feature still images (with little bits of animation) and narration in the place of in-game cut-scenes (or even CG). Also, the sight of Patrick Stewart's floating blue head will haunt children in their dreams.

The voice talents of Stewart and Hugh Jackman (among others) add a bit of authenticity to the game, and the storyline serves as a decent bridge between the second and third "X-Men" films. Unfortunately, the gameplay itself is decidedly average, with the solid missions of Nightcrawler and Iceman balancing out those of Wolverine. At roughly seven hours in length, the game is a "one and done" adventure. While there are a handful of great ideas at play, X-Men: The Official Game does little to curb the continuing trend of unimpressive games based on superhero movies. Only rent if you are a huge fan of the films.