Wanted: Weapons of Fate

Angelina's naked botty not included...

You should know the score by now when it comes to videogames based upon movies. Generally, when they fall under the scrutiny of a reviewer (or anyone with a modicum of knowledge about what makes a decent game for that matter), they don't often fair too well. More recently however, it appears that developers are gradually beginning to understand how to translate a movie to videogame by attempting to expand the overall story and universe rather than slavishly retelling the original narrative, before shoehorning the related gameplay in afterwards. While the execution of such games might not always be up to scratch (and let's be honest, they seldom are), taking this approach is nonetheless a welcome step in the right direction.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate takes both the hit movie and cult comic book and draws upon both for inspiration. Playing as Wesley Gibson - the demoralized office worker who escapes a life of drear and drudgery to become the ultimate assassin - you'll get to don the threads of The Killer, worn only by the most elite trained killers including your father who you also get to play as during flashback missions. While the game succeeds in serving up a mildly interesting story - albeit lacking the same level of outlandish action and acerbic wit as the movie - the gameplay wrapped around the narrative is pretty standard stuff. And be forewarned: if you haven't seen the movie or read the graphic novel, you may want to avoid the game until you have. Unless you don't mind having the plots of either ruined for you that is.

Essentially a cover shooter that brings to mind Digital Extremes' Dark Sector, Weapons of Fate attempts to invigorate the well-worn genre with a few novelty twists of its own, the most prominent of which being the much-vaunted bullet bending. By the second mission you'll unlock the ability, which is activated by holding the right shoulder button. An arc appears on the screen charting the trajectory of your shot, which can be adjusted with the analogue stick. Your intended target, marked out as a silhouette, will turn white if he's vulnerable or red if he's safely ensconced behind cover. Releasing the button at the optimum time will ping your shot in the projected curve, around walls or riot shields hitting the enemy with a satisfying 'whoosh' and 'zing' sound effect straight out of the film. More pleasing though is the bullet cam, which randomly follows your gunshot from the barrel all the way to the exploding cranium of your hapless victim.

However, on the PlayStation 3 version we tested, the bullet-curving mechanic proved to be sporadically unreliable, targeting thin air rather than one of the bad guys shooting at you from all angles. As you have to accumulate adrenaline dots to pull off special abilities, this can sometimes be frustrating, especially when you have several enemies bearing down on you. Luckily, you'll unlock other useful abilities as you progress through the game, such as slowing time and suppressive blind-fire. Although upon gaining the bullet-bending ability the suppress and flank technique is rendered pointless as you can simply curl a bullet around the corner without having to sidle along cover at a glacial pace in order to outwit your foe.

Slow-motion on the other hand is great for popping several enemies in one go, especially when switching between cover, which is really the crux of Wanted. Chaining cover is quick and easy with a clear interface indicating exactly when and in which direction you can acrobatically roll or slide into safety. The accompanying animations are suitably athletic with Gibson sliding across tabletops on his knees, skidding along the floor like a baseball player or rolling like a proper action hero should. A stark contrast to this is Gibson's molasses-slow movement when he's actually pressed against a wall, removing any sense of urgency or dynamism to your actions. Still, being able to reach over and plunge a kitchen knife into someone's collarbone eases the pain.

Lamentably for a movie that was all about seizing control, the game actually does the very opposite, herding you through linear levels and forcing you into QTEs where you only have control over your aim. Things generally feel treacly and slow too, with only cover chaining achieving a level of fluidity that actually makes some of the gunfights rather rewarding. Some will also be surprised by the dearth of weaponry on offer too, limiting the player to only pistols and twin machine guns with explosive rounds. A shotgun or grenade launcher would have been a nice addition and might have spiced things up a little. Ultimately you can't help but feel that had it taken a page out of Max Payne's book, Weapons of Fate could have been a much better game.

Initially looking as though it was going to offer players a slice of wall-to-wall action completely in keeping with the brash, audacious nature of the movie, instead Wanted is a lightweight, moderately entertaining shooter that's over before it's even begun. Clocking in at roughly the four to five hour mark, Weapons of Fate is an unforgivably brief game. Yes, finishing the initial playthrough unlocks the hardest difficulty setting as well as extra character skins and the usual raft of concept art, videos and other superfluous fluff, but there's nothing that will genuinely inspire a second visit. It might be somewhat fun and enjoyable while it lasts, but the game offers very little beyond the shamefully brief narrative. Worse still, Wanted has some fairly decent ideas that are never built upon in any way. All the game really does is present an unrelenting swathe of enemies to pelt with your bendy bullets and nothing more. We would have liked to have seen moments where you have to use your abilities in clever, exciting or interesting ways, but sadly the game offers nothing beyond popping heads like so many over-ripe watermelons.

Weapons of Fate does a perfectly serviceable job in continuing the film's story, delivering decent enough in-game likenesses and equally accomplished voice acting, but the end product just doesn't boast the level of polish we had hoped for. Some of the cut-scenes are pretty ropey too, looking far too smooth and silky to coherently tie-in seamlessly with the game engine itself. As movie tie-ins go, it's not entirely bad, but it does make you wonder exactly how a game that casts the player as a kick-ass assassin in uber-cool black garb can be so sorely lacking.

60%

By Richard Walker