I’m constantly dismayed that the more popular Wolverine gets, the farther he moves from his original concept. Don’t get me wrong, now - yellow and brown spandex can never return and I won’t shed tear one - but Logan’s character used to be different. He was feral, primal, animalistic, and raw; the sort of guy that would just as soon tear a man’s head off with his own teeth as his handy claws. The latest X-Men movie certainly made overtones in this regard but we see how well that turned out. X-Men Origins: Wolverine rectifies these years of Wolverine’s absence with a splendid return to form. While the game has pacing and repetition issues, it’s a great beat-em-up thanks to old fashioned jaw-dropping cry-of-disgust-inducing violence.

I’m not kidding about that violence either. Here’s an example - Wolverine jumps on a helicopter, punches out the windshield, hurls the driver out, and instead of merely tossing the guy to the ground, he shoves his head up into the helicopter blades. It’s so unnecessary but so, so enjoyable. Fighting on the ground is just as brutal, as Wolverine will gladly tear off a man’s arm and use it to club his head off at player’s behest. Don’t take that to mean you’ll be tearing off appendages with ease from the get-go however. Wolverine’s controls are complicated. Performing a basic dodge requires holding the left and right triggers and pressing a direction on the control stick, while lunging at an enemy (an important action - more on that later) requires first locking on with the left bumper, then pressing the right. Players will dash when they want to block, and bring up a special skill menu when they want to dodge. This makes the first few hours of Wolverine clumsy and confusing.

Though they take a bit of practice, mastered controls do a great job enabling the player to become Wolverine. The lunge is instrumental, which allows players to lock on to an enemy and then dive at them across great distances. Most fights revolve around lunging at an enemy, doing something really terrible to him, and then lunging to the next poor sucker. This creates a series of terrifically one-sided fights with Wolverine dashing around, reducing enemies to piles of organic stuff. The flip-side is that most of the fights are incredibly easy - creating an experience similar to Dynasty Warriors or Diablo. You’ll feel powerful and badass, but after a while dispatching enemies takes on all the splendor of folding laundry. It’s still fun due to the violence and sensation of power but not fresh or mentally challenging.