X-Men Orgins: Wolverine is a fast paced, non-stop action, bloody delightful game. It's not your typical Wolverine, but a darker, more brutal and unforgiving character that will leave you wondering why the movies couldn't be made like this game. Senior Producer of Raven Software, Jeff Poffenbarger, shows us exactly what we can expect on May 1st.
Two years ago, after the completing Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the team decided they wanted to focus on just one character. They decided with Wolverine, A. because he's Wolverine, and B. because nobody has ever really delivered on who Wolverine is as a comic character. Jeff was adamant to let us know that the game can stand on it's own. Although it does draw elements and story from the movie, it doesn't need the movie to flourish in plotline and atmosphere. The game runs for about 15 hours and the team was able to take ideas from Marvel and the Wolverine comics. Raven did get to partner with FOX, so the image of Hugh Jackman will appear, appealing to the current generation of movie fans who aren't so familiar with the comics.
Next, they wanted to make sure they got Wolverine's fighting style right. Jeff stated that in the past, games have portrayed Wolverine's enemies as "hit and fall over" or that he looked like he was "tickling them." Not here. There's plenty of slicing off limbs, blood, screaming and so much more. The game is supposed to be fast and make you feel like a hero, but on minimal button presses. The other important factor was to get his regeneration factor down. In this game, you actually go through four layers of damage. The first being clothing, then on to skin, muscle and lastly, bone. Depending on how much damage is inflicted depends on how fast you see your body heal.
The team couldn't wait to get us to play the game and after playing, I have to say I want more. Wolverine has a sort of God of War feel to it. It has the top-down view of him, enemies coming from different direction and quicktime attacks. For example, you'll see Wolverine's claws grow red, once they do, hit a button and you'll see a powerful slow-mo attack that inflicts lots of damage. There's also leveling up which will open up new rage attacks which all look really great onscreen.
Overall, Raven Software wanted to deliver a Wolverine experience that played on his strongest attributes: combat, regeneration and bad ass attitude. The game is definitely mature rated for the PS3 and XBox 360 and you can look for the demos on both, coming soon.