Wanted: Weapons of Fate (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

WANTED: WEAPONS OF FATE is the third-person shooter based on the action film Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. Picking up where the movie left off, Weapons of Fate follows Wesley Gibson, an assassin working for a secret society called "The Loom of Fate." Wesley sets out on a mission to find out more about his family, particularly the death of his mother. Players view the story through the eyes of both Wesley and, in some levels, his father.

The game plays a lot like Microsoft third-person shooter Gears of War, implementing a cover mechanic to allow players to hop between obstacles and fire at foes. Wanted introduces a cover chain feature, where players blindly fire to distract enemies, then quickly sneak to another area of the environment to catch enemies off-guard. Wesley and his father are only armed with pistols and a knife, but have special abilities to give them a significant edge. When players kill someone, their character earns adrenaline they can use to access these powers. Each of them can curve bullets or slow down time to quickly kill multiple enemies at once. Anytime an enemy gets too close, players can slit their throats or jab them in the gut with a knife.

Like most video games based on a movie license, Wanted is full of flash and low on substance. Initially, playing as Wesley is entertaining. The controls feel comfortable, especially for those well-versed in Gears of War. Each of the abilities are fun to use as well. The first few kills notched with a curved bullet should make players feel like skilled marksmen.

Wanted falls short in the single-player experience because it is one-dimensional and shallow. Nothing Wanted accomplishes is original or clever. Players only have access to handguns for the majority of the game, with the exception of a couple of uninteresting moments involving a turret or sniper rifle. Players encounter the same handful of enemies repeatedly, each of which are easily dispatched thanks to the refillable adrenaline meter and constant use of the slow-motion attacks. Add to that a short story and the lack of multiplayer and you've got a shooter that's not above average.