X:Men The Official Game

Awesome is the game in which you get to kick ass with your favourite X-Men. Terrible is another obligatory game released to cash in with this summer's blockbuster. Like any other movie tie-in, you play as the main characters from the film: Wolverine, Iceman and Nightcrawler (who isn't actually in the film itself). This adds a nice back story which is exclusive to the game and gives it some depth. The game play itself is nothing spectacular, although there is a large sense of gratification in teleporting round enemies and giving thema a boot whilst in midair. However, this sense of fun is short lived, mainly because playing as Iceman is such a pain in the arse. Stages are very repetetive. Fight waves of little morons for 2 or 3 levels before fighting a bigger, tougher moron at the end. It's been done before and done better with different and more varied characters from all the big films over the last few years ('LOTR' most notably). Whether you're a big fan of the X-men or not, this game is playable, though it's apparent that this was only made because of the film's release. Once again we're left disappointed as Gambit's still nowhere to be seen. [Duncan Bell]