Wanted: Weapons of Fate
| Wanted: Weapons of Fate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Grin |
| Publisher(s) | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| Distributor(s) | Universal Studios |
| Engine | Diesel Engine |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Wanted: Weapons of Fate is a video game developed by Grin and published by Warner Bros. Interactive and distributed by Universal Studios based on the film of the same name.[2] It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Plot
Set about five hours after the events of the film, Wesley Gibson continues his transformation into a full-fledged assassin and heir to a legacy of a secret fraternity of assassins. He continues his quest with a new mission to seek out the French chapter of the Fraternity, hunt down the Immortal, and finally discover the truth about his family.
The story begins with Wesley having a recurring bad dream that ends the same way: with a mysterious killer that murders Wesley's mother. He wakes to find that his apartment has been breached by a squadron of SWAT-like soldiers. They ransack Wesley's apartment and finally come upon a picture of his mother, Allyse. Breaking it, they find a decoded kill order in its frame. After hunting down these intruders, Wesley confronts Araña (Spanish for "Spider"), an assassin sent by the Barcelona Fraternity.
Pekwarsky (the Fraternity's master bullet-maker) arrives, manages to drive Araña off, and notifies Wesley that he's the #1 target on the Fraternity's black list. He also tells him that it will dispatch its minions to the recently ravaged Chicago Fraternity in order to collect the Loom of Fate.
Wesley uses this tip to make a return visit to the wreckage of the Chicago chapter house, the place he destroyed in the movie. Inside, he confronts the Russian, who notices that Fox's body is gone, and kills him. On his arm, he notices a binary code and severs it for further inspection. Pekwarsky tells him that the Russian was one of the Guardians sent to collect the Loom. Three of these are sent from various Fraternities and their codes reveal the place where they intend to move the Loom. He also informs Wesley that he is meeting a buyer by the name of Brummel who ordered a crate of bullets with Wesley's name on it.
Wesley tags along and kills Brummel, taking his piece of the code as well. However, Wesley notices that Pekwarsky is holding something back - Pekwarsky's really after the kill order that was taken at the beginning of the game. Wesley then gains the Killer suit and the Nightshade pistol. Along the way, Wesley kills Araña and takes her code as well. He then descends into the crypt and finds his father's mummified body. He takes the Fire Eater guns placed in his hands and promises him that he'll take care of the Immortal.
Throughout the game, there are several flashbacks to reveal Cross' story from the beginning as told by Pekwarsky. He first has to guard Allyse, who has recently given birth to Wesley. However, he fails as the Immortal shoots her and he barely escapes with the baby intact. Later, on a mission to kill a member of the Fraternity given to him by Sloan, Cross engages the Immortal on an airliner, only to escape in a red Dodge Viper. After he returns to the Fraternity, he confronts Sloan for giving him a false kill order and framing him as a rogue assassin. Before the two can quarrel, the Paris Fraternity invades the Chicago Fraternity looking for Cross. During the fight, he discovers a kill order for Sloan and realizes his treachery. However, Sloan turns Cross' comrades against him and Cross is forced to flee after the Immortal. In a duel with him, Cross manages to fire a bullet straight into the Immortal's gun which explodes, severely damaging the Immortal's face.
Back in the present, Wesley heads to confront the Immortal. However, just before they have a final duel, the Immortal reveals a twist; it was Cross who killed Allyse, with the two lovers mutually agreeing that following the Code was the only way it could end. The Immortal was merely sent to kill Wesley, who was considered an abomination by the Code.
After defeating the Immortal, Wesley has a philosophical dialogue with the Immortal. The latter says that even though Wesley's parents were fanatics, they put their faith in the Loom, and that no great human endeavour was ever achieved without faith. Wesley has had enough, and fires the bullet with Wesley's name on it at the Immortal. Endings vary depending whether the PC or the console version of the game is played. On the console, it ends with Wesley killing the Immortal while on the PC, it ends with the bullet missing the Immortal's head and Wesley urinating in his face.
Gameplay
Gameplay is a standard third person cover shooter with the ability use adrenaline to slow down time and curve bullets. Some levels contain QTE sequences with on-rail shooter elements.
The player controls Wesley, while in flashback sequences, the player controls Cross, Wesley's father. His father's Fire Eater guns can curve Shrapnel bullets, an explosive variation of the regular bullets. The player also can use other characters that can be unlocked by defeating bosses: the SWAT leader, the Russian, Brummel and Arana/Spider.
Development
It was announced that a demo would be released on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network on March 5, 2009. The demo features the level Fear Of Flying, allowing the player to take control of Cross as he attempts to escape from a group of enemies on an airplane flying at 30,000 feet above ground. It also included tutorial levels where players learn how to use basic combat skills, as well as the bullet-curve & enhanced quick time movement (bullet time) gameplay mechanics. The demo included a cut-scene introducing 'The Immortal', the main antagonist of the game. Wanted: Weapons of Fate was released on 24 March 2009 in America and on 3 April in the UK.
Wesley still has actor James McAvoy's likeness despite his voice being provided by Jimmi Simpson. The costume worn by Wesley in the original Wanted comic was given to the game version "to make the comic-book fans happy" and make him "look really badass". Thomas Kretschmann and Terence Stamp reprise their roles as Cross and Pekwarsky, and Paz Vega voices Arana, a character inspired by Angelina Jolie's Fox.[3]
Reception
Wanted: Weapons of Fate received mixed reviews from critics.[4] IGN gave the game a rating of 7.3/10,[5] with GameSpot scoring it a 6/10[6] and GameTrailers also giving the game 7.3/10. More negative reviews came from X-Play on G4 giving it a rating of 2/5. Xbox Magazine gave Wanted a 7.5 calling it an adrenaline rush and loved the curving bullets, although the game was short and easy. The game currently holds a score of 63/100 at the ratings aggregation site, Metacritic.[7] Hyper's Yuri Spaceface commends the game, stating that it does not "simply ape the action of the movie/comic [and] the assassin skills are nicely done". However, he criticises it for being "flashy and loud, but ultimately really quite shallow".[8] Entertainment Weekly gave the game a B grade stating that it met the same thrill expectations as the film.[9]
The game sold 130,000 units through all platforms as of July 2009.[10]
Music
Weapons of Fate uses expanded and looped musical cues from the Wanted: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Danny Elfman. In addition, the track "The Little Things", performed by Elfman, was remixed by British music outfit Unkle to be used as the game's title song. The Wanted: Weapons of Fate - The Little Things (UNKLE Variation) [Soundtrack from the Video Game] - Single was sold as a digital download as of 31 March 2009.[11]
Connections to the comic
During the scene with The Russian and Araña when they are talking, she mentions "The Killer" or "Son of The Killer". In the graphic novel, Wesley's father is the original "Killer" and Wesley is the current "Killer". The outfit Wesley wears (as seen on the cover), is also a connection, as the film makes no use of costumes. And one of the characters mentions Seltzer who is the leader of the North American sect of the Fraternity who is killed by one of Rictus' men named Shithead.
References
- ↑ Geddes, Ryan (October 30, 2008). "Wanted: Weapons of Fate In-depth". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
- ↑ Ellison, Blake (September 12, 2008). "Wanted Game Gets Name, Screenshots". ShackNews. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ↑ Q&A: Universal Interactive speaks Wanted: Weapons of Fate
- ↑ "Wanted: Weapons of Fate for Xbox 360 reviews". GameRankings. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ "Wanted: Weapons of Fate Review". IGN. 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ "Wanted: Weapons of Fate Review". GameSpot. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ Wanted: Weapons of Fate (Xbox 360), Metacritic
- ↑ Spadeface, Yuri (April 2009). "Wanted: Weapons of Fate". Hyper. Next Media (187): 60. ISSN 1320-7458.
- ↑ "Videogame Review: Wanted: Weapons of Fate". Entertainment Weekly. 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ "Universal Pictures backs off game publishing - Report". GameSpot. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wanted-weapons-fate-the-little/id310814358