Ever since Activision released their movie-based Spider-Man game in 2002, there has been an upswing in the quality of superhero games on both console and pc. Even the few that have not lived up to expectations – such as the recent Batman: Dark Tomorrow & Superman: Shadow of Apokolips - have at least attempted to go beyond the beat-em up attitude so prevalent in past years and inject both a plot and some puzzles beyond pushing and pulling boxes. While the recently released X2: Wolverine’s Revenge and Hulk are by no means flawless, they are still proof positive – even though they are both far from perfect - that action/adventure games have come a long way in the past few years.

Now understand that when it comes to superhero games, I’m relatively easy to please. I purchased an Atari 2600 just so I could own the Spider-Man cartridge. It was the height of graphic realism as my red blob (Spider-Man) climbed up the side of a skyscraper to fight the green blob (Green Goblin). Then in 1984 Scott Adams’ Questprobe 1: The Incredible Hulk – and later Spider-Man & then the Human Torch - monopolized my Commodore 64. Imagine, a text adventure game with still pictures of your favorite superheroes. Okay, so maybe it’s time to raise my expectations.

So after years of suffering through poorly realized punch-and-kick superhero games on the various console systems, developers have finally realized – much like Stan Lee – that superheroes are about much more than bashing heads.

After reading the lukewarm reviews in the action-orientated console magazines – too slow, too many puzzles, not enough fighting – I suspected X2: Wolverine’s Revenge was most likely a game that would appeal to the more patient adventure gamer who enjoys an even balance of action and adventure elements. Granted, if you don’t enjoy superhero games and if you are put off by end-level boss fights, then this game is not for you. But, if the idea of sneaking past guards and security systems with occasional feral rage thrown in for good measure sounds appealing, then read on true believer.

Inspired by the X2 blockbuster film, Wolverine’s Revenge allows you to assume the role of Wolverine in a race against time to find an antidote to a viral time bomb planted years ago, but only recently discovered, in his system. Now something or someone has activated the virus and Wolverine has only 48 hours to live. He must now return to the Department H facility in the Canadian wilderness and attempt to uncover the secrets behind the Weapon X laboratory experiments that turned him into a killing machine.

This backstory is nicely established at the beginning of the game – during which you must escape from the facility during the year 1968 – and that the plot unfolds slowly and satisfactorily can be attributed to the talents of comic’s writer Larry Hama. There is a good bit of foreshadowing and flashbacks to advance the plot that is uncommon in too many games, not just action/adventures But he is not the only professional to grace the game as the voices of Mark Hamill as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X immediately put this game above others of its ilk. Just for good measure, Beast, Colossus, Sabertooth, Wendigo, Juggernaut and Magneto all make guest appearances to add to the mayhem.

The fighting aspects are adeptly handled and while they don’t impart the same feeling of satisfaction as the fisticuffs in the recent Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, there is still something to be said for possessing the mutant ability to unsheathe your claws and shred a foe. Wolverine’s mutant ability to heal himself when his claws are retracted is a nice alternative to a game world that too often has power pellets and healing kits scattered about the landscape. The downside is that you often find yourself loitering in shadowy areas waiting for your health bar to replenish. Kudos though for end bosses that require more than a pummeling as actual deliberation and planning is necessary to overcome their brute force.

But Wolverine’s Revenge is about much more than claw marks as stealth and exploration often take front stage. As Wolverine infiltrates his way through the high-security facility where he was ‘created’ there are many scenarios that recall, but never quite reach the excellence of, the stealth of the acclaimed Thief series. Possibly though, a steady diet of Marvel comics as a teenager allowed me to enjoy playing as Wolverine much more than had it been some arbitrary character with which I have little emotional involvement.

The puzzles are not such that pure action gamers will be running from the room holding their throbbing temples, but nor are they brain busters - after all, this is a game about having fun and making progress. Cracking security codes, activating – or deactivating – power switches, planning escape routes – it’s mostly garden variety stuff that utilizes the surrounding environment.

The graphics and control are both well-done and non-intrusive. Nothing exceptional, but nor did I ever find myself caught between walls or battling a poor camera angle. If anything, there are way too many scenarios that occur in drab, unimaginative corridors.

Still, this game is an almost perfect mixture of puzzles, stealth and action that make it a nice light, summer play for the superhero action/adventure aficionado. X2: Wolverine’s Revenge is much like playing a Marvel comic rather than reading it and I really can’t think of any higher praise.

Final Grade: B

System Requirements:

PC

• System: PIII 500MHz or equivalent
• RAM: 128 MB RAM
• CD-ROM: 6X CD-ROM
• Video Memory: 32 MB VRAM
• Hard Drive Space: 1500 MB
• DirectX: DirectX v9.0

The Hulk video game is in many ways much better than the sleep-inducing film on which it is seminally based, but that is indeed faint praise. While this game looks and plays wonderfully – it’s truly a comic book come to life – it is at best a lackluster, uninspired effort. The plot is a one-trick pony about some Gamma Orb that contains the Hulk’s fury. The orb is stolen and taken on a journey through Alcatraz, secret labs and so on as the gamma-powered Hulk must beat the beejabbers out of everyone and everything that stands in his way through a linear romp to retrieve the orb. Along the way, Hulk’s super-foes appear and then inexplicably reappear again before a final showdown with the Leader. There is neither depth, nor plot twists and the player never feels any emotional involvement with either the Hulk or Bruce Banner.

The testosterone heavy gaming magazines are, of course, praising the game as it allows the player as the Hulk to literally beat-up and destroy everything in sight. But not only does this become mind-numbing and repetitive, but it also is unrealistic as security guards who should crumple beneath the Hulk’s fist, instead take three and sometimes four blows to defeat. Mutant dogs attack relentlessly and end bosses such as Ravage and Madman need only be pummeled into submission. But the fanboys care not about such oversights as long as they are fed a steady diet of violence and can release their teenage angst by crushing the puny humans. In at least a slight nod to realism, not every foe on every level needs to be defeated in order to advance, but the Hulk though is practically invincible and it is a simple matter to pound your way through seemingly unmovable objects and complete each level.

A few of the moves are fun to perform such as the Super Sonic Clap that can blow enemies away with its force and the Gamma Stomp that sends a shockwave through the room. But what’s the deal with the Rage Attack? These are attacks that can only be executed when the Hulk’s Rage Meter is filled. Isn’t the Hulk’s rage already at a maximum by virtue of Banner transforming into the Hulk?

But to be fair, the gaming magazines are also damning the adventure elements and for once they have scored a bulls-eye. Alter ego Bruce Banner must use – and also keep – his wits so as not to transform into the Hulk as he cracks computer codes and sneaks past security guards. But cracking the computer codes is simply a matter of how quickly you can press buttons and match numbers. As for the stealth aspect, well pitiful is too weak a word. In once scenario guards who, of course, notice you when you walk directly past them, miraculously overlook you simply because you have crouched down next to them. Another level has Bruce disguised – including his face – as one of the security staff in a chemical lab, yet if you pass the other guards at a great distance they are not suspicious, yet if you walk close to them, they somehow recognize you as a phony. What?

Even worse are the predominate box pushing, switch flipping puzzles that are predominate in most action/adventure games that are only pretending to appeal to adventure gamers. Too many other better developed games have proved that this genre can be taken beyond such mundane puzzles. Shame on the developers for succumbing to such an easy out as childish puzzles and mindless mayhem.

Before totally damning this game though, it must be said that the graphics and animation are as colorful and beautiful as any cartoon. They jump off the screen and the cell shading is vibrant and lively. Still, The Hulk is little more than an excuse for a smashfest and maybe this is one time that it would have been better to forego any adventure elements in favor of full-out, pulse-pounding action.

Final Grade: C-

System Requirements:

PC

• System: PIII 700MHz or equivalent
• RAM: 192 MB RAM
• Video Memory: 32 MB VRAM
• Hard Drive Space: 1500 MB