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X-Men: The Official Game

EMAIL PRINT xbox360

5.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 57 critic reviews
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Based on 12 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Z-Axis

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Beat-'Em-Up

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: May 16, 2006

Summary

Master the power of the X-Men—Obliterate enemies and objects as Wolverine, using your lethal adamantium claws and crushing brute force. As Nightcrawler, scale walls, swing from rafters and teleport through environments to surprise enemies. Shoot ice bursts and create hailstorms as lightning-fast Iceman. For even more power, utilize fury and adrenaline modes. Become a part of the X-Men movie universe—Embark on a globe-spanning conflict featuring every element of the X-Men universe—from favorite villains to famous locations such as Alkali Lake, plus the voices and likenesses of key actors from the films. Battle fierce enemies, join forces with comrades—Face off against movie villains such as Pyro, Magneto and Sabretooth, plus added foes like legions of Sentinels. Storm, Colossus and Cyclops join forces with you in gameplay that includes melee fighting, stealth-style action and time-based missions. [Activision]

Also On Metacritic

FILM: X-Men: The Last Stand

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameSpot Hints & Cheats

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

PGNx Media

The three main characters are very detailed and authentic to their film counterparts. Wolverine is bigger than the others; Ice Man retains that young look, while Nightcrawler looks as weird as usual. The animation is solid, as well.

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GameZone

The game explains a lot about what fans may not see in the upcoming movie, and while this is a departure from the previous squad-based titles, it is still a wonderful and enjoyable bit of fun.

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Gaming Illustrated

Overall, X-Men: The Official Game offers up some great backstory and art direction as a title, along with a great roster of voice actors which are the same big names as in the franchise of movies.

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Game Chronicles

Some of his levels are filled with ridiculous amounts of enemies, and even though the levels appear to have multiple stages or sections, there isn’t a checkpoint in sight. I love a challenge, but I hate mindless repetition.

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DailyGame

It's not nearly as bad as others would have you believe, but it's also not quite out of the "average" realm.

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GameBiz

This game is a solid title for anyone who wants no holds barred brawling wit superheroes!

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Detroit Free Press

I'd be happier if Cyclops were at my fingertips, too. But all in all, the variety these three X-Men provide is adequate for one little video game.

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Game Over Online

X-Men: The Official Game isn't a terrible game, but it's not any good, either. It managed to dip down below mediocre and into the realm of "Why bother?" It's short, uninteresting, and probably won't keep your attention based solely on the fighting, either. It's an odd mishmash that just doesn't work out the way it was supposed to.

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3DAvenue

X-Men: The Official Game was built for fans of the X-Men and the movie but also offers some excellent third person action for the more casual fans of the series. It does have a lot of fan service and fans will be able to look past many of the games flaws, but for those who aren't fans per se, the flaws will become glaringly obvious quickly, especially on the 360 edition.

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XboxAddict

It’s a game with a set purpose – give you lots of battles and lots of baddies to take down. But it doesn’t strike out into any brave new territory or define it’s own genre – sadly, not living up to the legacy of its source material.

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Official Xbox Magazine

Still, you've got to be a real fanboy to want to mash your way through all two dozen or so of its missions. [July 2006, p.84]

Planet Xbox 360

Though it has a good story the horrible cuts-scenes, a dodgy camera, and rudimentary controls give me clarity of mind to say that this game isn’t worth the price tag it carries and joins the already full licensed game garbage bin.

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Gaming Nexus

The gameplay is definitely not worth the $59.99 price tag of a next generation title.

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MS Xbox World

Despite being able to control three very different characters, it lacks any sort of punch to make the game’s features stand out.

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ZTGameDomain

The disappointment comes from the fact that it simply feels average, especially for a next-gen title. I left the game feeling like I wanted more, whether it was better visuals, more diverse game play, or simply a fresh helping of innovation.

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Cheat Code Central

Everything considered, the gameplay, the graphics, the dialog, the music, make X-Men: The Official Game an officially average game.

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Total Video Games

Wonderful in its mediocrity, it's not a bad game but you could easily lose it in a crowd, even if it had blue skin.

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GamerFeed

It's nice to play as different characters, and the presentation is true to the comic book essence, but the whole thing feels like a condensed action affair that we've seen before, countless times.

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G4 TV

More characters and multiplayer modes would have improved it a great deal, but as it is, there’s plenty of levels and engaging mutant action.

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Times Online

Nice graphics and smooth gameplay are no substitute for imagination.

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Xboxic

The problem is the fact that it all feels average, like a game that’s only intention is to compliment the movie with a fun few hours of gaming. It pains me to see that done to such a license.

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IGN

The combat and stage design are substandard in every way, enemy AI is ordinary coin-op fare, and the presentation elements are nowhere near the level we've come to expect from Marvel or Activision.

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GamingExcellence

The killing part is fun when you find the special X-Men powers amusing, but that river runs dry approximately an hour into the game, which is actually a decent ratio when compared to the total playtime of about six hours.

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Xbox Solution

While I can appreciate trying to take the series in a new direction, it just does not work well at all. Comic book games work best when fans feel like they are in the world and in complete control. This one takes that away right from the start. What is left is a long “Brawler” instead of the first next-gen comic-themed game that allows fans to be part of the action. At best this one is a week rental even for die hard fans.

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Play.tm

Offers nothing more than an average game inspired by a great movie.

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eToychest

One of the chief problems with X-Men lies in its mission structure. Branching paths are often a good thing, but when they are as disconnected to point where any semblance of an underlying plot is compromised at these are here, any benefit of such a feature is wasted.

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Next Level Gaming

Only controlling three characters, no multiplayer of any kind, and reverting to basically a 3rd-person "beat 'em up" is not the way to take this franchise.

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Kombo

X-Men: The Official Game is officially a disaster.

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Console Gameworld

There’s nothing here that warrants a buy. Fans that want to know why Nightcrawler wasn’t in the movie will want to check out the game from your local video rental store.

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GameSpot

It's not that it's entirely broken, mind you, but X-Men's missions are entirely generic and devoid of captivating content, and there are enough annoying little glitches and other obnoxious things prevalent throughout to give the game that thrown-together feel.

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Xbox Evolved

X-Men: The Official Game turns out to be three big mini-games rather than one fleshed out single-player game. No multiplayer is open to friends to join in, the replay value is only found in beating it on harder difficulty levels to gain more achievement points, and just about everything about this game feels wrong in every way. I can’t recommend buying this even if you are a fan of the franchise.

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RewiredMind

X-Men: The Official Game isn’t all bad, and I’ve probably made it sound a lot worse than it actually is, it’s just that if you’re looking for a yardstick for middle-of-the-road gameplay and average execution, you’ve found it.

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Official Xbox Magazine UK

It's fun for a little while, but is precious more than a weekend's worth of entertainment. [July 2006, p.86]

Games Radar (in-house)

It's decent at first, but after a few hours of disarming endless bombs, slaying ninjas and flinging ice everywhere, you'll just want to power down the console and go see the movie instead.

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TeamXbox

Nightcrawler and his teleportation attacks are a definite highlight, but the majority of the game is a mundane romp from Point A to Point B, with a number of unintelligent enemies blocking the way.

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1UP

While the gameplay does have its high points (again, mostly surrounding Nightcrawler), it's also quite often littered with monotony thanks to seemingly nonexistent enemy A.I., confusion (poor level design), and frustration (glitches, a sometimes lack of checkpoints, and uneven challenges).

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GameShark

As it stands, it's simply a mindless beat 'em up with a few unlockables and some formulaic gameplay.

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Gaming Target

It feels rushed in so many aspects, and has virtually no replay value. What few positives the game does have are easily overshadowed by all that went wrong.

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Xbox World Australia

It's a generic, cheap cash-in that is poorly executed, uninspired, and rarely even enjoyable.

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WHAM! Gaming

X-Men: The Official Game is too short, too bland and too rushed to be considered anything more than a three-day rental (and barely that).

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GamePro

Thanks to some horribly generic gameplay and uninspired combat, it ends up continuing the disappointing trend of movie license video games.

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PALGN

A below average title that has been rushed to the Xbox 360. The game features poor AI, no challenge, glitches, boring levels and a minimalistic moveset.

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Yahoo! Games

Like many games of this style, there is some vague, half-guilty pleasure in the mechanical repetitiveness of the game's combat. But ultimately, X-Men is in the time-honored tradition of licensed games -- rushed, derivative, and well worth avoiding.

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GameSpy

Perhaps the worst offense of all would have to be Wolverine. Not only has Z-Axis managed to take everyone's favorite adamantium-infused Canadian wildman and turn him into possibly the most boring hero ever, they've pinned a sizable majority of the action upon playing as him. Boring, you say? Yes.

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360 Gamer Magazine UK

The whole thing feels like a massive missed opportunity. [Issue #10]

Game Informer

Unless you despise the X-Men movies and simply want more ammo that can be used to insult your friends, I strongly advise that you avoid this game like you would a French kissing toad. [July 2006, p.104]

Jolt Online Gaming UK

As it is, X-Men: The Official Game is “officially” a horse’s turd of an experience that’s approximately as painful as Wolverine’s claws inadvertently sliding out while he’s wiping his arse.

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Electronic Gaming Monthly

The play-style variety may be decent--and you get to upgrade abilities--but each character's level sets grow horribly repetitive and pointless, with stingy checkpoint placement compounding the frustration [July 2006, p.91]

Play Magazine

X-Men: The Official Game is pretty awful. [July 2006, p.71]

Gaming Age

While the voice work is fine, the whole thing just comes off as so low rent, it’s hard to take it seriously. It’s a shame too because the filler story isn’t that bad.

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Game Revolution

It's inexcusable that Activision didn't see fit to shave down the 360 price a little; 60 bucks is an outlandish request considering there is absolutely nothing extra in the next-gen version.

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VideoGamer

The idea of giving the player three fairly unique characters to play as is good one, but the game design verges on plain stupid at times.

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Edge Magazine

Had The Official Game provided a consistent overall challenge, it would have been bearable, if unexciting. But it hasn’t, and it isn’t. [July 2006, p.88]

Eurogamer

There's nothing wrong with using a brand name to sell you game, unless that game happens to be among the most uninspired beat 'em ups released in several years. If you remember Activision's "Minority Report" game, then this is about as good as that.

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games(TM)

When accurately describing videogames, we tend to use the word ‘dross’ rarely, but this particular X-Men title has forced the word from us in a spectacular fashion. [July 2006, p.130]

X360 Magazine UK

This would be embarrassing on a Dreamcast, let alone the hulking next-gen monster console we call Xbox 360. This is not a next-gen game and it's not fun either. [Issue 8, p.98]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Almost everything about this movie cash-in is cheap and incompetent, from the short, forgettable levels to the poor control system to the hand-crampingly repetitive action.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Darren D. gave it a4:
Rent it for a laugh and plow through Wolverines hordes of repetetive enemies.....Boring.

Justin S. gave it a3:
Do not buy this game. Period. If you want to play this game, $8 at blockbuster is the most you should spend. I would estimate that the total gameplay time was about 6 hours. The difference between easy and medium difficulties is far too large. On medium ("hero'') some of the levels are impossible but on easy ("novice") it is barely a challenge. The three characters are Wolverine, Iceman, and Nightcrawler. Wolverine's missions are nothing but brawls against hoards of annoying, repetitive enemies. I don't understand how with this gameplay style there could only be two weak combo moves. Most of it is incredibly lame. All Iceman does is fly around on an everlasting sheet of ice, and that quickly gets boring. The only bright spot here is Nightcrawler, his missions are actually somewhat fun to play. Being able to teleport anywhere and zooming in and out to kick enemies is pretty entertaining. This was the first game I played on my Xbox 360 and I was severely dissapointed as there was nothing different or exciting about anything in this game. I was expecting realistic dramatic cut-scenes, but instead the game delivers comic-book style art that is nothing but confusing. If this game had come out 5 years ago, it would have been bad, but to put this quality out now is just unacceptable.

Christo A. gave it a9:
A real great game if you are a fan of the series. Makes you feel like you're one of them.

Neil V. gave it a7:
Decent, particularly for X-Men fanatics. All of the criticisms are well deserved, but I definitely found the game to be a fairly enjoyable (though mindless) way to kill time.

Foney J. gave it a2:
is this day an age a standard generic movie tie in game doesnt cut it come to think of it ,99.95% of all movie tie in games have never cut it ......... just awful rent it only to see how bad it is or if achivement points are your thing.

Jesse R. gave it a2:
One of the worst games I have ever played. I am just grateful that I rented it instead of buying.

Mike G. gave it a5:
all i can say is rent.

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X-Men: The Official Game

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