Navy News :: Recreation

X-Men hero Wolverine struts his stuff on the small screen in the PC world

Competition

The Gamesmen has an XBox copy of the PC release of Kund Fu Chaos and Warbirds III (reviewed last week) to give away.
Entries should be e-mailed to ADFgamesmen@telstra.com with the name of the game you would like to win in the subject line.
Only one entry a person please as subsequent entries will be discarded. Include your full name and mailing address in the e-mail or your entry won’t be accepted.
Congratulations to our recent winners – Command & Conquer: Generals, Leut-Cmdr Robert Mayes, Edinburgh, SA, and Time Splitters 2 (PS2), Sgt Jane Harvey, Adelaide, SA.

Get your claws out

X-Men 2 Wolverine’s Revenge
www.wolverinesrevenge.comPublisher: Activision
www.activision.com

Before you ask, this cross-platform game is not an interactive version of the latest Hollywood flick – perhaps unfortunately so.

Available for PC, all major consoles and Game Boy Advance, X-Men 2 Wolverine’s Revenge puts a player in Logan’s oversized shoes to not only save the world from Magneto and his minions but also save Wolverine himself.

It is a voyage of discovery for those who only know of Wolverine through the two movies but even hardened and grizzled fans of the award-winning comic book series will be somewhat placated by the fact Marvel Comics was integral in the development of the game.

Now the the world knows and loves Hugh Jackman as the big guy – who should I hear but none other than Luke Skywalker.

I still don’t think I can fully accept Mark Hamill as the voice for Wolverine, but it is something most will get past.

Luckily the developers did manage to snaffle Patrick Stewart to voice Professor X, reaffirming the great part he played in the movies.

The game offers a mix of stealth and action, ostensibly allowing a player to choose when to fight and when to glide past an enemy.

In reality the game is scripted fairly heavily and Wolverine will always be required to take on the likes of Sabretooth, Juggernaut and eventually Magneto.

If all of the fighting to survive isn’t enough, the player has the added pressure of Wolverine’s deteriorating health from a disease that even his regenerative abilities can’t hold at bay.

All up the game was obviously timed to coincide with the movie release but in reality those familiar with the comics will feel more at home.

It’s not ground breaking, it’s not great but it isn’t lame either although I can’t help thinking that it is wasted on a PC and perhaps would have been better served purely within the console market.

The keyboard interface just doesn’t work like a console controller (if you have one for your PC it can be programmed for the game) as at times button mashing is the name of the game.

A must for fans (even if it just gives them something else to train spot) and perhaps those whose interest in the mutant world has been piqued by the movies.

X-Men 2 Wolverine’s Revenge requires at least a PIII 500, 128MB RAM, 32 MB 3D Video Card and 1.5 GB of HDD space (it also uses Direct X 9.0).

John Mullins, the gaming world’s first middle-aged action hero and Activision are attempting to retake the lead in the race to be the best by jumping from their original home to the new realm of the console, specifically XBox.

Soldier of Fortune II will be a direct port from the PC version and players will fight a group of mad terrorists intent on creating biologically induced hell.

The PC game was famous for its gore and its multi-player mayhem, both of which should be fully harnessed, if not improved on, in XBox form.

Another sequel from the Activision stable soon to hit the shelves is Star Trek Elite Force II.

The first game was the first Star Trek I have played that I actually enjoyed,m although it did have one major flaw – I finished the game in a day.

Let’s hope the sequel will give fans a little more lasting enjoyment with 11 complete levels and several ways to finish each mission.

The game will use an enhanced Quake III arena engine, providing great visuals as well as stable multiplayer code.

Trekkies will be well catered for with the game set in the New Generation timeframe and will have players interacting with Romulans, the Borg and other alien species.

Star Trek Elite Force II will hit the shelves shortly. Look for a full review and competition.