It's nice to feel wanted.This review feels like one big cliché before I’ve even written a single word.
Wanted: Weapons of Fate is set five hours after the recently released action movie that stars Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy – who the Brits among you will recognise from his role as a car stealing chav in Shameless - and sees you taking on the role of Wesley, an unwitting assassin who has the ability to bend bullets like, errr Beckham. Videogames based on movies invariably suck donkey balls, apart from that one delicious exception to the rule, Goldeneye, which was a classic but now looks and plays like a big bag of arse. But does Wanted break the mould or continue the tradition?
Etc. Etc. Etc.
OK. Now that we’ve got that formality out of the way let’s get down to business. Wanted: Weapons of Fate is developed by GRIN, of Bionic Commando and the forthcoming Terminator Salvation fame, and more than any game I can ever remember, honestly feels like it was developed, produced and designed by committee. It’s almost like they took all of the fun elements from every single action game over the last five years, and wrote them down on a whiteboard before ‘sculpting’ their design document around that list.
Stop and pop cover mechanics. CHECK.
Slow-motion head shots. CHECK.
Turret and sniper levels. CHECK.
Exploding canisters. BOOM CHECK.
Bullet-time. CCCCCHHHHEEEEEEECCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK.
Copied and pasted enemies. CHECK. CHECK. CHECK.
Increasingly random environments with no apparent link between them. CZECH.
Close-up quick-time-event driven melee executions. C+H+E+C+K.
‘Mature’ story-line with frequent swearing and adult content. FUCKING CHECK.
But yet, for all its attempts at aping Gears of War, Dark Sector, Stranglehold, Quantum of Solace and any other third person action game in recent memory, Wanted: Weapons of Fate somehow manages to just about work.
Sure, the screen tearing is worse than any game I have ever seen. And Codemasters most definitely called to say they want their Colin McRae DiRT menus back. But yet, curving bullets around corners and obstacles into endless victims’ skulls just never gets old. And even though the game lasts little over 4 hours, any longer and it would be out-staying its welcome.
And perhaps that's the thing that makes it work. The staccato nature of the levels, the short sharp spurts through sections. You can fair rattle through each chapter and its sub levels in no time whatsoever. And for those of you with very little free time, while 4/5 hours doesn’t necessarily represent value for money, it’s hugely refreshing for a game to not prove itself to be such a commitment. And for each repetitive level to not feel like a laborious slog actually makes it a pleasure to play. Knowing that a new level or play mechanic is only 5-10 more enemies around the corner keeps things moving along nicely and at a fair old pace, and as it also happens to be hugely generous with its achievements, there’s always that tangible and satisfying sense of reward.
In addition to being able to curve bullets it’s also possible to enter ‘Assassin-time’ which allows you, by pressing the Y button, to slow down time as you move from cover point to cover and lets you pinpoint individual enemies for gratuitous headshots. At various points throughout the game, and usually during the game’s set-pieces like the memorable battle through a fast falling out of the sky airplane, you’re able to use Assassin-time to actually shoot enemy bullets out of the sky as they slowly propel themselves towards you. It’s clichéd, predictable and nothing you won’t have seen before, but it is a far better mechanic than the traditional quick-time events that spoil other such similar games.
But then Wanted also represents a massive missed opportunity because the one thing it really has going for it, it criminally under-uses. The game’s cover system allows you to wantonly blind-fire around or over objects, and suppressing enough fire causes the edges of your screen to blur which signals that it’s your cue to move from cover to cover. If done correctly, your enemies still think you’re hidden behind the previous piece of cover - a mechanic that allows for frequent sneaky flanking tactics. It feels great to pull the move off and watch your enemy shoot where you were a few seconds ago, as you sneak up beside him and catch him unawares with a close-range head-shot. But unfortunately, in my experience with the game, actually being able to utilise this mechanic effectively is really difficult as it seems so inconsistent and clumsily handled. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And in fact, the only time the game actually requires you to use it is to defeat the boss at the end of the first level. I then proceeded to breeze through the rest of the game without using it again.
So it’s not perfect and there’s plenty to criticise but if you see it going cheaply, have a friend with a copy you can borrow or like to rent your games, then there’s an awful lot to like about Wanted: Weapons of Fate. You will breeze through it in no time at all, but then at no point will you ever find yourself frustrated or bored.
Bungie vows never to follow the Activision route and charge extra for online multiplayer
(1) (30/07) 
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#1 - repairmanjack - on 13/05/2009 at 20:57 wrote:
Have been putting together a review of this, myself. Finished it in four hours, agree with much that you've said, Rich, but then went straight back into it on a harder difficulty (which really makes the cover schtick more necessary).
I'd probably also give it a seven, in hindsight, even though it doesn't always feel like it while you're going through it. I loved the film, missed the comic book... really enjoyed nailing Janice (so to speak).
Well worth a punt at fifteen notes... but I still reckon Terminator: Salvation will be balls.
#2 - HairyArse - on 13/05/2009 at 22:00 wrote:
If you've written something already though I am happy to stick it on the end as a 2nd opinion.
#3 - NewYork - on 13/05/2009 at 22:02 wrote:
I mean, I didn't play it, but it looked like it sucked.
#4 - peej - on 14/05/2009 at 07:54 wrote:
Still Grin have a decent pedigree (they did the Bionic Commando reboot and are currently beavering away on the 3D versh) so it sounds like this might've ended up as a test bed for ideas.
Seriously recommend the comic though.
#5 - evilashchris - on 14/05/2009 at 09:02 wrote:
4 hours though? tsk!
#6 - Espad - on 20/05/2009 at 10:10 wrote:
/right being around £10 :)