X-Men: The Official Game [PS2]

Check out Halle Berry as Storm in X-Men: The Last Stand on Yahoo! Movies.

After two incredibly successful installments of the X-Men Legends franchise, Activision has decided to take a different tack with its latest title. Instead of using the group based RPG dynamic, X-Men: The Official Game is a full-fledged action game that spans the time between the second and third films. Focusing on three fan favorites -- Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Iceman -- X-Men fills in some much needed backstory while still promising plenty of mutant mayhem.

"An X-Men game wouldn't be an X-Men game without Wolverine, so he was a natural. From there we really tried to get characters that had unique mechanics, but also tied really well into our back story concept," said Chris Palmisano, associate producer on the game. "Iceman has an entirely new role on the team for X3. It gave us a great opportunity to foreshadow a lot of movie content. Nightcrawler is probably our most exciting character. Adding teleporting to an already agile warrior takes platforming content to a whole new level."

We recently had the chance to sit down with a six-level version of the game and after poking and prodding our way through every nook and cranny (and sneaking a peek at some secret items) we're quite pleased with what we saw. Sure, there are still a few rough spots, but given Activision's history with the series, chances are good they'll be ironed over before the game ships.

Because the game features three distinctly different X-Men, the developers were left with two options: either create a generic control interface or come up with a unique set of commands for each character. Thankfully, they chose the latter. As a result controlling Wolverine feels completely different from playing as Nightcrawler or Iceman, yet each still works quite naturally.

Wolverine's powers begin somewhat limited, but as you progress through the opening training levels, new moves and abilities are unlocked. It's a gradual way of introducing everything without overwhelming the player. Wolverine faces off against Sabretooth early on and gains the mutant fury ability. With it, Wolverine can unleash a series of super-powerful attacks. His mutant healing factor is also enhanced when mutant fury is active, allowing him to recover from any injuries almost instantaneously.

"Depending on the level that you choose, the game starts out at Alkali Lake, which is where X2 ended," said Palmisano. "There's a lot of Weapon-X that went on at Alkali Lake. People that are really familiar with the comics will obviously recognize it right away. We take that as a jumping off point and really try to pull into X3: The Last Stand."

The Alkali Lake compound sets the scene for a face-off between Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike. Fans should take note that this is the movie version of the villain, as the fight is an inspired retelling of the battle from the second film. Lady Deathstrike presents a challenge as she shares Wolverine's healing ability and boasts an adamantium-laced skeleton. Whenever you're not attacking, her health slowly recovers. To win the fight you have to constantly be on the offensive.

"Wolverine kinda goes off on his own personal vendettas. As people familiar with the comics know, Wolverine's got his own agenda most of the time," said Palmisano. "Sometimes he's a great team player, but it's definitely not his core strength and attribute. It gave us a really good opportunity to create some exciting plot elements."