Wanted: Weapons of Fate

Those books are never going to be the same...

Like most games based off of movies, I didn’t have a lot of hope for Wanted: Weapons of Fate. But there was something different about WOF: it came out a full year after the release of the movie it was based on (which is of course, Wanted.) So naturally, I thought:

“What’s the deal with that? Don’t they usually time a licensed game release with the theatrical release of the movie, or at least the DVD release? Ah ha! They must me making a Wanted 2!” (Internet searching) “No. No Wanted 2. Plus, that’d be stupid. Could it be that they’re just making a Wanted game because it would be cool? Wait! Blueray! Is Wanted out on Blueray?” (more searching) “Yes. It is. Hmm…”

So clearly, I’m a little skeptical when it comes to licensed games. Does Wanted: Weapons of Fate change my mind? No, but it does add to the slowly growing collection of movie-games that are proving they can stand on their own.

What’s Cool?

The coolest thing about Weapons of Fate is that it makes you feel cool, which is really the point of any video game, isn’t it? There’s nothing better than charging into a room and sliding into cover while blasting three jamokes that didn’t even know you were coming, and then curving bullets into the skulls of anyone who was quick enough to duck behind cover. WOF starts off with a bang, and does a good job of capturing the excitement of the movie.

Thanks to a really intuitive cover system, it’s really easy to pull off some seriously cool moves. I never found myself jumping into cover somewhere I didn’t want to be (i.e. Gears of War), like between some bullets and a wall. To keep moving you can use a burst of adrenaline to dive or slide from one piece of cover to another, all the while shooting not only a group of people, but their bullets as well. Curving bullets is as simple as holding R1, (or the right bumper) finding a clear path to your unsuspecting victim’s face-or-neck-area, then letting go. If you get it aimed right, and manage to get a kill in one hit, you are treated to a very satisfying camera shot that follows the bullet straight to the target.

The graphics, while nothing new, are at least up to current standards, which let’s face it, are pretty good. The lighting system is really nice, but is unfortunately used to light some pretty boring landscapes. WOF is a fairly epic (read: not in length however) game with a lot of varied environments, only a couple of which stand out from the crowd. So while you get to go to a lot of different places, many of the crates you hide behind end up causing a little deja vu. The pre-rendered cutscenes are fun, and look really nice. The in-game cutscenes on the other hand leave a little to desire with Wesley’s creepy eyes resembling Stains the Cupcake Dog.

The story, while a little contrived, is entertaining and easy to follow if you’re at least a little familiar with the material. Not that you’d have to be a fan of the comic or the movie to enjoy it, but Weapons of Fate does do a little assuming when it comes to your knowledge of the canon. The game takes place six hours after the movie ended, and you are playing as Wesley Gibson, office nerd recently turned assassin. Wesley is not voiced by James Mcavoy (like he was in the movie), but instead an impersonator who for the most part does a really convincing job. Though when he’s not sounding like Mcavoy, he’s coming across like a sex offender. Just about every other level you switch to Wesley’s father Cross in flashbacks. Cross basically handles in the same way, except with two guns, so it doesn’t add an incredible amount of variety, but it is a nice way to advance the story.

What’s Not So Cool?

As I mentioned earlier, Weapons of Fate starts off with a bang, but opposite of what you might expect starts to wind down about halfway through. I don’t think it’s because the game is repetitive, (which it is, but it’s a fun repetitive involving the aforementioned shooting of guys in the face) but because the level design seems to get less tight as it goes. Once I got to the last few levels I found myself running in circles and trying to figure out why the guy who just vaulted off the side of a pillar, and shot a bullet out of the air while doing a one-handed cartwheel, can’t jump over this two foot high pile of garbage. The enemy AI is not very impressive either, which leaves the game feeling a bit like an old school rail shooter. That could of course be what they were going for. It’s not bad enough that the enemies are in the same place every time, but it mostly involves waiting for a guy to stick his face out of the same hiding place repeatedly. Later levels also start to employ one of my pet peeves to make the game harder which is just making enemies capable at taking more damage. So instead of diving out of cover and shooting three guys dead, you dive out of cover and shoot some douche in a business suit about 37 times.

Bottom Line

Wanted: Weapons of Fate while short (just around 5 hours) is a heck of a lot of fun, and does pack some pretty good replay value. I know I’ll be going back to play at least the first couple levels a few more times. The controls are very solid, making for an easy to jump into, non-frustrating shooter. Curving bullets and utilizing Max Payne style bullet time is just as fun as it looks in the movie. OK, maybe not as fun as it would be to actually do those things, but it looks cool nonetheless. Perhaps not a buy, unless you plan to replay some of the coolest action sequences a couple times, but most definitely worth checking out. Someday maybe all games based on movies will actually be fun like this one.