It started as a comic, and then progressed to a movie, and now we get Wanted: Weapons of Fate the game. First off, if you have not seen the movie, then stop and do so. Don’t worry I’ll wait!
Also, there are spoilers ahead in terms of the movie, so don’t read on until after you have completed your task. You have been warned.
The game starts five hours after you dish out some sweet revenge. The long range sniper shot to dear Mr. Sloan left a satisfying grin on my face as Danny Elfman’s song The Little Things played. It is only fitting that the developers at GRIN bring us a third person shooter where we play the assassin.
The story here opens with movie (and game) main character Wesley waking from a reoccurring dream of his mother’s death. A mother he only recently saw a picture of thanks to his dad’s apartment. The action starts when he wakes from the dream to find he has some unwelcome guests.
They are searching for, and obtain, a kill order in the frame of his mother’s photo that Wesley did not know was there. You confront Arana, but she has to wait for later in the game to be dealt with. The Barcelona Fraternity is the first branch you will deal with on your quest for answers to the questions that haunt your dreams.
The story is played out as Wesley in the present and your father Cross through flashbacks fill in those gaps. You will get different views of your mother’s demise as different characters tell the tale. The truth comes out in the end.
There are three difficulty settings for the game with easy being named "Pussy," then "Assassin" and "The Killer."
One of the things that impressed me was the cover system. It will remind you of Gears of War with one noticeable difference; it’s smoother flowing and less on the sticky side. Take cover and move quickly to other cover areas by indicating the direction and button press. You can move without the enemy taking notice which opens up flanking maneuvers with the help of blind fire.
The close knife attacks are visually gratifying, whether it’s face to face or behind cover. There is also the ability to capture a human shield for your protection, well, as long as they last. The adrenaline system, indicated by bullets that turn red with points from kills, is the key to curving the bullet. You will see a hit indication as you direct the degree of the curve. There is nothing like curving the bullet and viewing the path your bullet takes right into your enemy.
Along with this you will use bullet time where you move through slowed time. There are times where this is a part of the game play in the storyline and your character is jumping or climbing through a little cut scene while you aim and fire. This is one of the elements that mix up the game play, keeping it from going stale.
Remember those binary codes; well this would not be Wanted without them! They unlock several new characters, outfits, and game modes. The collectables scattered throughout the game unlock videos and comic book covers, among other things.
All this in my opinion gives Wanted a lot of replay value. The lack of multiplayer does not hurt this title at all in my opinion.
The graphics, though not as detailed as I would have liked them, did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The actors from the movie performed the voiceovers and provided their likeness for the game, which made this feel more like the continuation that it was geared for. The character design was superb! There was no guess work on who a person was. This is one title that I really enjoyed playing and keep going back to! And that does not happen very often.