GamersInfo.net

In this new X-Men video game you get to play as one of three different X-Men depending on which part of the game you are currently playing. You can either play as Wolverine, Iceman or Nightcrawler. Each of them has their own unique abilities which make each character different. With Wolverine you of course have your blades and your quick healing ability. Nightcrawler has his wonderful little teleportation ability and Iceman has, well, Ice. Go figure.

One of the cool things about this game is that the developers used it as a chance to add in one of the more dominant features of the old cartoon and of the comics, the Sentinels. Ah yes, the giant robot mutant killing machines. These bad boys are the primary focus of this game. General Stryker was apparently working on these before being killed in X2 and when the X-Men return to Alkali Lake to pick up a few parts from Cerebro that were left behind they discover not only a fighting force but these monster Sentinels.

The Sentinels aren’t the only thing you have to worry about in the game though. Each character has their own storyline so to speak but they all revolve around the main storyline. Wolverine is of course trying to find out more about his past, Nightcrawler is trying to figure out where he belongs and Iceman is just trying to prove he belongs with the X-Men at all.

The more you play this game the faster you realize that the gameplay could be much better. The controls are a bit sluggish and can be a bit confusing sometimes but with a little practice they become easy to handle. Iceman is the hardest to get the handle on as far as controls are concerned since all he does if fly is around on his little ice path. He, more than anyone, frustrated me and I probably spent more time on his levels than I did any of the others.

Wolverine wasn’t quite as bad as Iceman but he certainly wasn’t easy by any means. The more I played with him the easier he was to play with. Nightcrawler was by far the best character to play with. I had a BLAST playing as Nightcrawler and I personally wish the developers had put more levels in the game that involved Nightcrawler. His mutant abilities made him a very fun character to play as and his teleportation ability made taking on enemies all that much more exciting.

Throughout the game you also get the chance to get a little help from other X-Men. For example, in a few missions you can get a hand from Storm. In another mission you get a hand from the big man Colossus. Depending the level of difficulty you choose these friends of yours could be helpful or they could just be there taking up space. I personally only needed help from Storm once or twice in one of the levels she was available to me.

As far as graphics are concerned, the game is average at best. There is nothing outstanding about the graphics in this game at all. The levels do have a certain amount of destructibility to them since you can usually destroy much of the items around you. That really doesn’t say much though as many games now have that. On the plus side you do get to travel to Japan in this one, and to think I’ve always wanted to visit the land of the rising sun!

The cut scenes I think are a very unique touch to this game though. Instead of doing your traditional animated cut scene the developers instead made the cut scenes look and feel more like a comic book. I liked the look and the feel of it and I think it went well with the game so in this case I was all for no animation in the cut scenes.

There are some extras sitting around in this one. As you make your way through the levels you will notice little glowing blocks. These are one of two things. They are either Cerebro files (five in each level) or Weapon X files (one in each level). The more of these you gather the more little extras you unlock. These extras include costumes and mini-games. There aren’t many extras though so once you’ve unlocked them and beaten the game you’ve all but run out of things to do leaving replay ability at a minimal.

The game interface is fairly simple to understand. Up in the top left hand corner of the screen you find your health bar. That’s pretty much it unless you are fighting a boss, in which case the boss’s health bar appears in the top right hand corner of the screen. Otherwise there isn’t much to the interface.

X-Men The Official Game is your basic movie based game. Sure, it fills in a few holes here and there for movie goers wanting to see the new X-Men flick but its nothing outstanding in the gaming world. Don’t go out of your way to get this one but if you are an X-Men fan go ahead and get it. You may enjoy it better than I did.