X-Men: The Official Game (Windows)

The storyline of X-MEN: THE OFFICIAL GAME serves as a prequel to the third movie in the franchise. Players alternate playing as three characters -- Iceman, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine -- in a series of short, character-specific missions, winding through a convoluted story that involves both evil mutants and hostile military forces. Along the way they team up with other, non-playable X-Men from the movies and comics.

The game gives each character a distinct style: Iceman flies on a platform of ice and fires freezing rays; Nightcrawler teleports and swings acrobatically into fights; and fan-favorite Wolverine claws his way though enemy masses as a straight-up brawler.

Too bad this uninspired game gets bogged down in repetitive action. Players will tire of marching through sterile levels, facing the same sort of obstacles again and again (such as Wolverine's endless slashing though enemy soldiers).

The game's presentation is also dull. A few of the cut scenes use colorful comic panels, but more often the story is advanced in a kind of movie/comic book hybrid: voice-overs (contributed by the stars of the movie, including Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart) on top of lifeless stills drawn in a realistic style. Even the varied environments -- which include Japanese gardens, secret laboratories, and the Brooklyn Bridge -- are quiet and empty.