Wanted: Weapons of Fate  

Played on Xbox 360 

Reviewed by Coxster 

From graphic novel to the silver screen, Wanted provided enough ridiculous, over-the-top, superficial action that a guy like me just can’t get enough of.  Imagine my enthusiasm when I heard that a video game was being made and would feature many of the same elements that made Wanted so full of grease in the first place.  Now you might think it’s weird that I just said that Wanted is full of grease, but that’s the way I look at these types of movies.  They’re like junk food, great to have once in a while, but so full of fat that its probably not a good idea to eat it every day. Wanted is one of those guilty pleasures, it’s the type of movie I enjoy when it’s on, but I’m certainly thankful that not every movie is like it.  Wanted: Weapons of Fate is also filled to the brim with grease, fun to play, but you wouldn’t want to do it every day.  Oddly enough when you take into consideration the short length of this game, it ends up feeling more like a snack than a full priced meal.

"Stabby Stabby!"

Picking up where the movie ended, Wesley Gibson is in full effect and ready to take suckers out left right and centre (or you can replace the word suckers with Frenchies).  Not only that but it follows the footsteps of Wesley’s father and without giving too much away, there are levels where you actually play as his dear old Dad as it fills in the back-story to Wesley’s estranged (and murderous) relationship with his father and the assassin underground.  

If you’ve played Gears of War or, more accurately, Dark Sector, you will already be familiar with the type of game that Wanted: Weapons of Fate is.  It’s a third person run-and-gun spectacular that uses a pretty simple cover mechanic.   I know it might sound like another Gears clone but there are some redeeming factors to take into consideration.  One of Wesley’s special abilities is that he can curve bullets just like in the movie.  Eliminating targets that are hunkered down behind cover or big shields is heaps of fun when you can hit a button and pick a trajectory and let off a few rounds resulting in some unbelievable (yet fun) fatalities.  Using this ability does have a cost though, and you’re going to have to fill up a adrenalin meter before you can use the bullet curve feature.  I know, I know, it sounds like a gimmicky bullet time mechanic but it actually is pretty good fun and I think the developers have done a great job at getting this important feature to play right too.   Unfortunately there aren’t a whole heap of weapons too choose from which is a bit ironic since it has the word weapon in it’s title, but the three weapons I got a hold of were awesome and it didn’t get too boring to keep using the same weapon over and over again.  The results of what those weapons would do got a bit predictable, but it still is a fun ride.  

"Don't worry there is more shooting than stabbing"

The biggest downside to Wanted: Weapons of Fate is that I completed this entire game in four hours…when you take into consideration that this game costs a cool hundred bucks, I can’t really say that I recommend it, the cost is simply too high for the amount of game you get here.  There are some unlockable modes and hidden characters but even then the incentive to replay this game is very, very low.  It’s one hell of a fun ride while it lasts though.  

Overall:  Wanted - Weapons of Fate, shows that movie licensed games aren’t always crap, just in this case the content is skin deep and you’ll only get four to six hours out of the entire package, and with games on the market these days, there are titles that give you ten times that amount of gameplay for the same price.  Those that can’t resist will find that this doesn’t stray too far from the source material and also happens to add a bit more depth to the Wanted universe.  Whether or not that matters to you will largely depend on how big a fan you happen to be.  The little amount of gameplay there is, is still very satisfying – a perfect rental for a lazy afternoon.   If you find it sitting on a shelf for a good price though you might just want to check it out.