X-Men: The Official Game, a major, nearly summer, blockbuster release. I guess that means there will be a nearly simultaneous release of the official game, based on the movie. X-Men: The Official Game is that game, taking all of the action, flavor, and characters from the movie and setting them in a story situated just before the events of the film.

The graphics of X-Men are good, not great, but good. The characters take on the facial characteristics of their movie counterparts. So Wolverine looks like Hugh Jackman, Nightcrawler like Alan Cumming, and so forth. The visuals do a good job of portraying the world of the X-Men, but don’t dazzle or amaze with their realism. Many of the models are somewhat unattractive and many textures muddy. This is likely a side effect of a game developed from the ground up to release on a wide range of platforms. Little work was apparently done to optimize the visuals, at least on the PlayStation 2. Many of the effects and animations, however, are fairly impressive, most notably Nightcrawler’s bamfing around and Iceman’s sliding.

Speaking of bamfing, it has to sound right as well as look right, and thankfully it does. Wolverine’s claws sheathing and unsheathing, Iceman’s body sliding across the ice, the game tends to sound better than it looks. Most of the actors lend their voices to the game’s characters, Patrick Stewert, Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore, and so forth. Sadly, not all are present, with stand-ins voicing for characters like Magneto, Cyclops, and Beast. The utter lack of a Kelsey Grammer presence in the game is truly a crime.

The game’s story is primarily a setup for the movie. Starting with a return to Alkali Lake, the game eventually begins foreshadowing events of the movie, such as the creation of the mutant cure, Magneto’s war, and the birth of Dark Phoenix.

The basic game flow is a nearly linear series of stages where the player can often choose which order to tackle missions, but tackle them all he must. Gameplay focuses on three playable characters, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Iceman. Each plays fairly differently.

Wolverine and Nightcrawler are primarily brawlers. Wolverine tends to take on his opponents head on, with skills like berserker rage and constant healing. Playing as Nightcrawler can be a little more disorienting, often requiring you to teleport around frequently, often as an integral part of combat.

Iceman is the most unique. Rarely does an Iceman stage take place on solid ground. More often you’ll be cruising around at high altitudes on an ice slide, blasting opponents from afar while trying not to crash headlong into them.

While the game does get gradually more difficult, as one would expect, the difficulty can also vary quite a bit depending on whom you are playing as. Wolverine’s stages tend to be the most difficult. Despite his healing powers, or perhaps because of them, you will find yourself frequently being overwhelmed by ridiculously large groups of enemies. I can tell you it’s very frustrating, especially during a longer stage, to suddenly see your health shoot down with barely a second to react.

After each level you will be able to advance a character’s stats, whether it be health, various fighting powers, or character-specific attributes like the rate at which Wolverine’s berserker energy decays.

In addition to the three playable characters, secondary allies, such as Storm and Colossus, will often assist you during battle. Unique villains like Multiple Man also make appearances. Additionally, thanks to the wonders of the holographic Danger Room, old foes like Sabretooth show up.

Touted as the official game of the movie, X-Men does a good, if not great, job of presenting a playable version of the X-Men universe.