As the player, you will have to choose which side you are on. Whichever side you choose will change how Act 2 is played out. While the game officially has 51 levels, you will only play 39 after making your choose of sides. An additional playthrough on the opposite side will be required to play the other levels.

Just like the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance, you earn experience points to level up your heroes by defeating enemies. All player-controlled powers are maxed out by level 60, but the support abilities will take a bit longer since they require collection of orbs to update. Instead of being able to choose which powers you like to use as you did in the first game you are given four powers that can only be upgraded and not switched out.

Although the four-man fighting style is primarily the same as it was in the first Ultimate Alliance, Vicarious Visions incorporated powerful combination attacks for each character to perform with one another which they have dubbed fusions. There are three types of fusion: clearing takes out an ever growing area from a central location, guided gives you control of the heroes as they run around the room doing damage, and targeted which focuses on only one enemy, but is by far the most powerful. There are almost 300 fusion attacks that can be used with any combination of characters. Using fusions will make the many boss battles easier.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 has 21 playable characters that can be unlocked throughout the game, but you should also be on the lookout for collectable audio files, power-ups, and character unlocks. With the collection of 5 of each character unlocks (Asgardian Runes, M’kraan Crystal, and Gamma Regulator) you will gain three additional and very powerful characters. HINT HINT

Multiplayer can played over Xbox Live or on the same system through the same three acts as the single player mode. However, remember that teamwork is the key. Fusions can not be performed with a desired character if that character is being controlled by another player unless both players press the button to trigger it.

The trivia game and simulation rooms from the first game make an appearance. But instead of each character having their own simulation there are only 12 types like protect, destroy, survival, etc.

One playthrough on legendary takes about 15 hours since you will have to play the game at least twice to get all the collectables and levels. Expect a gamerscore of approximately 670 for both playthroughs. Overall, I have you give high marks to Vicarious Visions for creating an enjoyable game.

Tim Fischer
Managing Editor
Gamertag: porkroll1711

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine is loosely based on the movie that came out this summer. There are some scenes from the game that are almost straight from the movie. Most movie tie-in games try for a scene for scene playback of the movie. This is where many movie tie-in games get it wrong. Scene for scene does not translate into the video game properly.

The entire game can be divided into two parts: the present and the past.  Raven Software took the flashback approach to telling their story of Wolverine’s origin. As Wolverine, you will go back and forth between an African mission three years prior and the present, which shows when Wolverine acquires his Adamantium skeleton and the resulting, predictable effects (mess with Wolverine and you get the claws). The story is compelling enough to entice gamers to continue playing even though sometimes the button mashing fighting can cause boredom.

As you kill enemies, Wolverine will build up his experience points to gain levels. While leveling up you will increase Wolverine’s max health each level by 5 points, but the most important part of leveling up is to gain points to spend on increasing abilities such as claw spin, rage, berserker, etc. Finding the 95 hidden bodies and taking their dog tags will also net you XP.

Be on the lookout for mutagens as well. You are going to need these to bolster your abilities. You eventually will be able to equip three different mutagens. Each mutagen has three levels. The mutagens range from increased health and healing to extra XP from killing enemies.

The cannon fodder enemies range from machete wielding villager to machine gun toting soldier to human size robots. All are fairly easy to take out with a few moves. As a matter of fact, you can actually progress throughout the entire game only pressing the X button. But using the combos and the special attacks will not only increase the fun factor, but they are cool to watch.

The boss battles are the hardest part of the game. They take a mix of special powers and timing to defeat them. Some of the bosses are recycled such as the Sentinels and the W.E.N.D.I.G.O.s and you might get bored. But you will love fighting the mutant bosses. They take time and some skill.

There are also bonus “Danger Room” sessions that you can unlock by finding Wolverine statues. The fours rooms have you facing another Wolverine. If you defeat him you earn the right to wear the costume through the regular game. But there is no added benefit to switch costumes. It would have been nice if they had some kind of power up, but it’s purely for show.

I was a little taken back that a mature rated game would obscure certain animations such as using purple blood when using helicopter blades to decapitate a soldier instead of the red that is prevalent throughout the game. You see Wolverine practically dismembered while playing with blood and hole in the body. But I guess there is a limit to all good things. One playthrough will take about 12 hours and should net you about 635 in gamerscore. Overall you are going to have a good time playing X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Tim Fischer

Managing Editor

Porkroll1711

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