Wanted: Weapons of Fate
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Wanted: Weapons of Fate
Curving bullets, poor game
The comic book Wanted has gone through quite the transformation in the last few years. Beginning as a mini-series back in 2003, it then got the silver screen treatment in 2008. Now, thanks to GRIN, we get Wanted: Weapons of Fate, the video game tie-in that serves as follow-up to the bullet curving blockbuster film. The game takes place immediately after the end of the film and has you, as slacker turned uber assassin Wesley Gibson, tracking down a piece of treasure as well as discovering the truth about his family The game takes aim to shatter the curse of lame movie tie-in games. Does Wanted succeed? Or, does it miss the mark entirely?
Gameplay
Those who are familiar with third person shooters will have no problems picking up Weapons of Fate. The controls are very solid and doing every command is a snap. The game implements the now famous and standard Gears of War cover system. The system works well – movement from cover to cover is easy and it is very stylized. Wesley will slide on his knees or glide over table tops when transitioning from position to position. However, when going into the cover mode, the camera gets annoyingly close to Wesley, preventing you from seeing anything of value. You have to hit up on the analog stick in order to get a view of the battlefield – it’s nothing major but a bit jarring at first.
What sets Weapons of Fate apart from other shooters is the ability to curve bullets. The mechanic is well implemented and extremely easy to do. A nice touch added in is that sometimes during a curve shot, the camera will track the bullet and you get to see it hit some hapless schmuck in the head or the back. The bullet curving system does a great job in making you feel like a total badass. In fact, the mechanic would be a great addition to future shooters as a skill or as a special type of weapon. You also get a Max Payne “Bullet Time” slow down ability; it’s the same move you’ve seen in countless other games. It’s a nice addition but most of the time you would rather be curving shots then using that skill. There is also a nicely developed but woefully under-utilized blind fire ability. When used, the edges of the screen begin to glow. If you change positions during that the time, the enemy will be unaware that you have moved and will continue to fire on your previous location. This allows you to set up cool flanking kills. However, the ability is only really necessary during the first boss fight – after that, curving bullets is a much more effective and efficient ways to make kills. Still, I have to give the game credit for actually making blind fire useful for once.
However, despite the very unique and perfectly designed bullet curving mechanic, Weapons of Fate is essentially a shallow and repetitive game. You’re simply shuttled off from location to location, flashback to flashback (where you play as Wesley’s father, Cross) where you run into a pile of goons, cover, curve, repeat. There is a section where you snipe at a stream of enemies, while fun, it’s a shame the game doesn’t feature more levels like that. Also, during some of the cut scenes, the game goes into an on-rails-like shooting mode where you have a few seconds to gun down enemies and their bullets with your crosshair. It’s a neat addition to the game and spices up the cutscenes. There are also sections where you man a turrent but you’re essentially just mowing down cannon fodder. An annoying part of the turrent section is that the game does not tell you are not entirely safe from enemy shots when you are not firing. When I first got to the section, I died several times in the span of seconds because I was trying to kill all of the enemies as quickly as I could. A simple text prompt on the screen could have saved me (and I’m sure other players) from at least 10 minutes of frustration. Unfortunately, the boss fights are a huge bore as well. Essentially, they hide while you shoot down their goons in order to build adrenaline, which lets you curve bullets. Once maxed out, you curve shot after shot until you run out adrenaline, lather, rinse, and repeat.
The lack of movement abilities also adds to the repetition and essentially makes you feel like you’re on a shooting range. The inability to roll or dodge on your own makes you feel wooden and can be especially annoying if you get caught in crossfire or if any enemy is behind you. However, the enemies seem to lack movement skills as well. Enemies are relegated to hiding and shooting and they don’t try to flank or dodge shots.
The game also has a serious lack of weapon variety. Sure, it would be silly to curve the buckshot from a shotgun but having access to only two weapons in the game is completely unacceptable. As a cool touch, one of the curve ability of the double pistols is a “shrapnel storm” explosion attack but it’s essentially the same move on your other gun, just on a grander scale. What feels like a slap in the face, at least one enemy type uses a shotgun and drops it when he dies. Sure, Wesley can violate the laws of physics but can’t bend over to pick up a new gun? Instead, the game requires Wesley to be handed a gun before he can use it? This doesn’t make sense.
Graphics and Sound
Despite your character’s spectacular skills with firearms, the graphics are not up to par. There is a lack of detail and expression in the characters and set pieces. The office buildings are especially bland. You do get to travel to a snowy mountain top and catacombs later on in the game but even those settings are generic and uninspiring as you’ll eventually be inside some sort of warehouse hiding behind crates. However, the airplane stage is pretty cool as it is a perfect synthesis of all of the games mechanics. The cut scenes are nothing special either. In fact, the cinematics are downright ugly for a current gen game. They are heavily compressed and look like they could easily belong on a PS2 or Xbox.
As far as enemies, there is little variety to them – you’re either blasting guys in suits or guys in hoodies. You know, for a secret society of assassins, they could hit the mall every now and then to spice up their wardrobe. However, the characters do bear a resemblance to their movie counterparts which is always a nice touch in any licensed game.
The sound effects are pretty standard but the bullet sound effect during the “bullet cam” shot is especially cool. You get a nice punch as it leaves the chamber and the whistling sound as it spirals towards your victim. You also get a nice meaty, wet, and gory thunk when it punches through your victims head. Graphic but satisfying. The voice acting is serviceable (with a great impersonation of Morgan Freeman) but the clunky script doesn’t necessarily allow the voice actors to emote for all they’re worth.
Value
Once you play through Weapons of Fate (which could easily be done in a few hours), there is little incentive to play though again. If you’re a rabid collector, you can try to find all of the unlockable movie art and concept drawings but there is little content that actually changes or alters the fundamental gameplay. You can unlock boss skins for your character but the change is completely superficial – you still have the same abilities, weapons, and the cut scenes don’t even change. There is a headshot mode but it’s pretty boring – you essentially play through the game again but this time the enemies can only be killed with headshots. In a more complete game I would say that this would be a cool mode but given the game’s shortcomings it doesn’t really make you want to play through the title again. Also, there is a complete lack of online play. Not every game needs an online component but given the shallow depth this title already has, something would have been nice.
Conclusion
Another movie tie-in game, another poor title. Weapons of Fate had the potential to be a great game as the bullet curve system is very unique and fun to use. However, the game suffers from repetitive gameplay and barely serviceable graphics. The game is simply going through the motions – cover, shoot, repeat. A lack of bonus features doesn’t help either and the short nature of the game compounds everything further. In essence, the game doesn’t leave you wanting more – it leaves you wanting an entirely new game altogether.
Pros
+ Simple and fun bullet curve ability
+ Innovative use of blind fire
+ Cover to cover movement looks cool
+ Voice acting is not too bad
+ Good sound effects
Cons
- Shallow and repetitive game play
- Lack of evasive maneuvers make the character stiff
- Bland set pieces and enemies
- Dumb A.I. and boring boss fights
- Lack of weapons
- Little replay value
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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