X-MEN bounds to Xbox 360 Andy Reviews The Latest Film-To-Game
Adaptation!
Since many of you know the
Aisle Seat nearly exclusively
deals with home entertainment these days, it shouldn’t be a huge
surprise that
I’m excited to add yet another film-related critique to these
pages (after all
I’ve covered film and TV in addition to music over the years):
video games!
Now, I’m not about to just cover any game out there
(there’s
not enough time in the world to do so, as much as I’d like!), but
rather games
that share a connection with the cinema: be it the involvement of
creative talent
from movies, or a film-to-game adaptation.
Video games have become more and more cinematic as the years
have gone on…directors, screenwriters, and of course actors of
all persuasions
have participated to various degrees in the creation of gaming product,
and it
seems each year their involvement only increases. Even composers like
Michael
Giacchino have used the gaming industry as a launching pad to success
in TV
and, more recently, film itself.
That all bring us to the first Aisle Seat game review:
X-MEN:
THE OFFICIAL GAME (Activision for Xbox 360 and Gamecube).
Now, if you happen to have played even just a bit of video
games over the years, you’re aware that games based on movies
usually are…well,
let’s just say disappointing. Often times those titles are
assigned to software
companies with the mandate that the game be released at an exact,
specified
date to cash in on the release of the film.
It’s not just a tie-in but a byproduct of marketing itself,
and it’s nothing new: just go back to the days of the Atari 2600
with
“Superman” and the Intellivison with
“Tron”…gaming and movies have gone hand in
hand.
Activision’s “X-Men” isn’t a disaster in any
capacity, but
it does show the limitations most movie-based games often have: using a
story
line intended to bridge the gap between “X-Men 2” and the
recent “Last Stand,”
the developers have you play various levels as Wolverine, Iceman, and
Nightcrawler (who sadly doesn’t make more than a fleeting
appearance in the new
sequel), utilizing a mix of play styles for each character.
Wolverine’s stages are simple button-mashing, mindless
brawlers, with you taking out wave after wave of routine bad guys.Iceman’s utilize the character’s
flying
ability for basic, but breezy, levels that come as a nice change of
pace when
compared to the fighting aspects of the other characters. Finally
there’s
Nightcrawler, and the blue guy’s teleportation and gymnastic
moves are the most
satisfying of the three -- there’s a bit of the recent
“Prince of Persia” games
(highly rated by players and critics alike) in Nightcrawler’s
movement, and
while the game doesn’t have nearly the depth as those Ubisoft
titles, these
levels are by far the most enjoyable to play through.
Since we’re only entering the “next generation”
(the Xbox 360
has been available since November and the Playstation 3 is due out at
year’s
end), it goes without saying that not all “next generation”
games have embraced
the potential of the medium. The Xbox 360 graphics of “X-Men: The
Official
Game” are crisp but only occasionally does the title display any
true “wow
factor” as I call it; textures and character models look crisper
than the
Gamecube version which I also sampled, yet it’s not the
night-and-day
difference that you might expect. Sound wise there’s plenty of
surround effects
on-hand and appropriately rousing orchestral music that captures the
franchise.
“X-Men” isn’t the worst movie-based game I’ve
played and I’d
have to say it ought to provide a few hours of fun for Marvel fans. The
downside is the price: the Xbox 360 version retails at $60 and
it’s certainly
far too exorbitant a price for a game that one could finish over the
course of
a weekend. The Gamecube and PS2 versions are more reasonably tagged at
$40, but
even then I’d hesitate to recommend the title as a purchase. More
over, this is
the kind of fun but quickly forgotten title one would find satisfaction
from as
a rental…or in the bargain bin some 6-12 months from now. Don't
forget
to drop in
on the official Aisle Seat Message
Boards, direct
any emails to the
link
above and
we'll catch you
then. Cheers everyone!
Copyright 1997-2006 All Reviews, Site and Design by Andy
Dursin
