Wanted: Weapons of Fate (PS3) Review
Posted by Mark Salmela on 04.14.2009
Will Wanted change the fate of third person shooters, or is this movie based game best left in the bargain bin?
Title: Wanted: Weapons of Fate
Publisher: Universal Studios
Developer: GRIN
Genre: 3rd Person Shooter
Players: 1
Rated: M for Mature
Also available on: Xbox 360
Wanted: Weapons of Fate is a continuation of the movie Wanted. Players take control of Wesley, as well as his dad Cross, as Wesley attempts to find out more about his mother. Wanted is a third person shooter that incorporates cover-based gameplay. There are quick time events, bullet curving, and the occasional turret scene. Wanted features a short campaign with 3 difficulty settings, although the last difficulty setting is only unlocked after beating the game. There is no multiplayer what-so-ever and most of the extras only work to add tweaks to the singe player campaign such as a mode where only head shots can finish off enemies. Here’s my full review.
Graphics
Hey terrorist, get back to coach! First class is reserved!
Wanted has some really nice lighting effects. GRIN definitely wasn’t afraid to show them off either. Wanted isn’t exactly a graphical powerhouse, but it does use some really nice textures, which in addition to the lighting, provides for a solid experience. If you’re playing Wanted on an HDTV you won’t have any major complaints, and the game tends to hold up in most situations. There were no major framerate drops or stuttering issues to report.
The presentation of Wanted is also very impressive. The game is narrated by Wesley and he does a very good job telling the story and immersing gamers into the story. As someone who knew very little about Wanted before playing the game I felt the game did a great job catching me up with the story. Cut scenes are frequent in Wanted, but most are skippable. Some people complained about the cut scenes being in low definition, but I wouldn’t have noticed a difference if someone hadn’t pointed it out to me. In all honesty it’s fine and not really noticeable.
Gameplay
Hey! Get your throat out of my knife!
Wanted is your average third person shooter. There are two big features to Wanted. The first feature is the cover system, which if you’ve played Gears of War or Uncharted, than you’re already familiar. Push X to get behind cover, press left, right, or up to see if there’s available cover, and push X again to jump to the next available cover. One thing that is relatively unique to Wanted is that you no longer have to jump out of cover to melee someone. What I mean by that is that if you’re leaning up against a box and there is an enemy hiding on the other side of the box, you can just push circle to reach over and stab him in the neck. It looks awesome and is a welcome addition to the cover mechanic. I have no idea why most other games force you to get out of cover to melee someone.
The other big feature in Wanted is the ability to curve bullets just like in the movie. Curving bullets is an ability you gain after doing the first couple of tutorials and is used periodically throughout the rest of the game. The amount of time you can spend in this bullet-mode is controlled by an adrenalin meter. Once your meter is gone you exit bullet-time and must wait for the meter to fill back up. Again, this is nothing new for gamers. Curving bullets is pretty cool and provides for some gruesome deaths, but unfortunately there is untapped potential. I would have liked to experiment around with a puzzle or two that would have forced me to curve the bullet, or at least done something to expand on the idea of curving bullets other than a cool and convenient way to kill enemies.
The problem with Wanted comes in its redundancy. You’ll go through a lot of the same situations in Wanted, and there isn’t enough stuff to change up the gameplay. There is the occasional turret mission or the occasional quick time event but they do not come frequently enough. You’ll often start at a position, hide behind cover, shoot 3 to 4 enemies, advance to the next room, and repeat until you hit a cut scene. Another big problem I have with Wanted is the boss battles. There are too many times where if you don’t do exactly what the game wants you to do you’ll die and get frustrated. The first boss is the perfect example. The first boss is a cop with a bullet-proof riot shield. If you do not do exactly what the game wants you to do he is invincible. I’m not joking, you can run up to him, run around him, shoot him in the back, and his health won’t go down. I understand that his riot shield is bulletproof, but I can see the skin on his neck, that isn’t bulletproof. Also why can I melee every other guy who looks exactly like this one but I can’t melee this guy? He’s just squatting down in the corner, he’s not doing anything that should prevent me from shooting him or punching him. It’s very frustrating and can ruin the game for some folks.
Sound
Wanted incorporates a lot of sound effects from the movie. The sound of the bullets, the sound of piercing a skull, the sound of curving the bullet, it’s all lifted from the movie. The voice acting is also well done, and helps to engage me into the story. There are a lot of cut scenes with a lot of dialogue and I have no complaints. Emotions are properly expressed and Wesley comes off as an actual human being looking to find out more about his mother. Everything comes together in a convincing package and helps to capture the feel of Wanted.
Lasting Appeal
You’ll all do exactly as I say if you want terrorist 3465 to live!
Wanted is a very short third person shooter. There is no multiplayer to speak of and the extra modes are pretty lame which means you’ll be stuck playing the single player campaign over and over again if you want to get longevity out of the game. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if there was actual reason to replay the single player or if the single player was very fun. While Wanted does have its moments and is fun at times it isn’t to the point where I wanted or felt the need to replay the single player. There is an unlockable difficulty and there are Trophies that can only be obtained on the hardest difficulty but that isn’t enough to warrant another play through either. Most people will finish the story in less than 4 hours and will be finished after that.
Fun Factor
As I said above there are plenty of times where I enjoyed Wanted. The story is rather enticing, the shooting can be very fun when it doesn’t force you to handle situations in a particular way, and there is a lot of gore. The deaths are gruesome, especially when you melee the enemy and that is cool. The one drawback in this category is that there are very few melee animations, so be prepared to kick a lot of people’s knees out before stabbing them in the throat.
Wanted handles the cover system well and the shooting is very fluid. Pulling off head shots is very satisfying, pulling off melee attacks are satisfying, and curving bullets for instant deaths is very satisfying. If you are a fan of third person shooters and love cover mechanics you’ll really love Wanted. Just don’t expect to get more than a day or two’s enjoyment out of it.
The 411
This isn’t where I parked my car at all.
Wanted does a lot of things right. It told a good story for a video game that made me care about what was going on. It has a cover system that works and there are no major complaints about the shooting mechanic. Curving bullets is cool and the feel of the Wanted movie is there. If you loved the movie and love third person shooters you will love Wanted: Weapons of Fate. But with little replayability and a short single player campaign don’t expect to get any longevity out of the game. For most people Wanted will be a good rental before returning to other shooters. If it wasn’t for a few frustrating moments in particular such as the first boss battle against the agent with the riot shield than I would be more willing to give Wanted a better recommendation.
Graphics
7.5
The lighting in Wanted looks really good. The textures are not bad either.
Gameplay
7.0
The mechanics all work just fine. It is just too bad it gets so redundant.
Sound
7.5
There are frequent cut scenes, but thankfully the voice acting is great. The sound effects are lifted right out of the movie.
Lasting Appeal
5.0
The single player can be beaten in about 4 hours, and even shorter on multiple playthroughs. Unfortunately there is little reason to actual replay the game.
Fun Factor
6.5
There are times when the game forces you to handle certain situations in a certain way which can become very frustrating. At times the game is redundant, but at times the game is fun.
