"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" game from Raven Software outshines the movie

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Uncaged Edition (I'll just call it Wolverine for short) was conceived as a stand-alone game early on, and subsequently incorporated elements from the movie. This is important to note, as many games based on feature films have an abysmal track record. It generally takes a little over a year to make a movie, and another two to three years to make a high-quality video game. Rush-job adaptations only sell well due to name recognition.

There's little evidence, if any, of a rush job in Wolverine. Graphics are top notch, delivering digital versions of stars Jackman and Liev Schreiber in highly detailed environments with original art direction in addition to sets based on movie locations. The sound is crisp and visceral: Wolverine's retractable claws produce a satisfying squish as they slice through human flesh and bone.

Did I mention this game is violent? Yeah, it's violent. It's the kind of game you'd show someone to shock them about how video games are evil. Fox put a leash on Wolverine to keep the film rated PG-13, but Raven's M-rated game means that any enemy encounter is a bloodbath, with severed limbs and heads littering the room when you're done. When Frank Miller wrote for the Wolverine character, he coined the phrase "I'm the best at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice"; the developer seems to have taken that to heart when designing the adamantium-girded mutant's gameplay abilities.

The story begins with Wolverine's last mission with the team of mutants he worked with in the army; it flashes back to that day throughout the game as he becomes the indestructible killing machine we all know and love. The game covers major events from the movie like the bar fight with his brother Victor Creed, the escape from the Weapon X facility, and the surprise fight with his former teammate at the end. One chapter in the middle of the game is completely new, following Wolverine and Mystique (a character in previous X-Men movies, but omitted from the prequel) as they search a research facility for a captured comrade and face a few familiar foes from the comics, including one too big and too cool for me to spoil the surprise here.

Most of the moves Wolverine will use are available early in the game, but new attacks and maneuvers are gradually introduced through the higher levels. By far the most useful and fun trick is the "lunge," which allows you to hop across the room and tackle an enemy, setting up a brutal follow-up attack. In a room full of bad guys, you can chain this move together and zigzag back and forth, with each successive kill adding bonus experience points, which in turn increase your powers.

Wolverine's mutant power is his ability to rapidly heal, which makes difficult enemy encounters a balancing act, requiring you to take cover to let wounds heal on their own. This means no tedious searches for nonsense health items, and also lets your bloody and disfigured character return to normal in a way true to his powers. Wolverine's, shirt on the other hand, won't regenerate, treating players to a half-naked Hugh Jackman on most levels.

There is some repetition; you'll fight some large enemies more than once, and after you figure out the trick it can become tedious. There's also some puzzle solving, but this is served up as a breather between killing one room-full of guys before moving on to kill another room-full. The game really shines when you're outnumbered by a dozen or more and you execute the perfect action sequence to clear the area.

Raven has done such an excellent job bringing the character to screaming life that I was disappointed when