X-Men: The Official Game

As my Xbox 360 was loading Activision’s newest action/adventure game, X-Men 3: The Official Game, I tried to go into it not having the mindset that all licensed games are horrible, even though it’s a harsh reality we all have to come to grips with. Sure there’s a couple of well created licensed games out there such as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butchers Bay and…well that’s just about it. Sadly I can’t add X-Men 3: The Official Game to that short list.

The story line takes place between the second and third films. The X-men must go back to Alkali Lake to retrieve several of Cerebro’s crucial components that were stolen by William Stryker when he created his prototype version named Dark Cerebro. Once they arrive they find that Alkali Lake isn’t deserted as expected, but is being populated by the terrorist organization Hydra. This segment between films also tells us why Nightcrawler isn’t in the third film.

You are able to play as one of three X-men that each offer their own unique playing style with their own custom tailored missions to suit that playing style:

As Wolverine you “take the toe-to-toe” approach of fighting, hacking and slashing through your enemies. Along with jumping Wolverine has three main attacks: quick attack, knock back attack, and heavy attack which can be linked together creating up to six combo possibilities. As you land attacks you fill up his Fury Meter which when executed it sends him into a rage allowing him to leap from anywhere on the map, knocking down a nearby enemy and tearing him to shreds. A quick healing option coupled with a dodge/roll mechanic makes Wolverine a formidable ally.

As Nightcrawler you take the more skillful way of destroying your foes by scaling walls and teleporting through terrain and around your enemies while delivering quick blows right before disappearing again. Nightcrawler’s two basic attacks are kick and punch. That might seem a little boring but when used with his teleporting ability Nightcrawler can be one of the most exciting characters to play with sporting seven aerobatic combos. Shadow Aura also plays a key to victory. When the meter is full you’re able to execute Shadow Aura which heals Nightcrawler as long as he’s still or not being attacked.

Both Wolverine and Nightcrawler can be fun to play with but something is missing when it comes to Iceman. Everything about Iceman from how he controls to his missions scream afterthought. As Iceman you ride around on his signature slide putting out fires and blasting enemies with his hailstorm and icebeam attacks, while keeping him safe with his ice shield. Sadly that’s just about all Iceman does besides being able to brake, boost, and make a one-hundred-eighty degree turn on his slide. He has no combos whatsoever which makes playing with him get old very, very fast.

You make your mission selections from a semi-branch mission menu allowing you to pick what character you want to play with. There are times you’ll have to play with every character but usually it’s your choice. The missions mainly consist of killing various members of Hydra from ranged combatants like the machine gunner and rocket launcher to the melee combatants such as the Hydra with cattle prod type lances, and the up close and personal Hydra with claw like weapons.