[Note: This is reposted from a similar review I wrote elsewhere under another pseudonym. I just didn't want this to be a lame "O hai! I'm new!" post. Enjoy.]

So maybe this game wasn't aimed at folks like myself. But after spending a combined 4-5 hours with a rented copy of Wanted: Weapons of Fate, I must conclude that it is a surprisingly easy shoot-fest. A "My First Shooter," if you will.

Let's start with a little background. This game is a pseudo-sequel to the events of the movie. It provides a little journey into not only the history of the Fraternity, Wesley, and his father Cross as well (who happens to be voiced by the same actor who played him in the movie). You switch between Wesley and Cross' intertwining stories as you play the game, eventually culminating in a battle with one of daddy's rivals: The Immortal. However, the story also borrows a few elements from the comic book as well, like Wesley's ability to knife practically anyone in the gut as well as the appearance of The Killer suit in a few levels. Wesley shows off his "wicked asshole" side from the comic throughout his parts of the story, and he even acknowledges this during one cutscene, saying "I'm just an asshole with a gun and a cool suit" (or something like that).

The game did introduce one cool new element that hasn't really appeared in shooters before: the ability to curve bullets. So if some faceless mook is hiding behind cover and you can't reach him, just hold the right bumper, aim, and curve a round right through his neck. When holding a pair of customized machine pistols, you also gain the "Shrapnel Storm" ability where a cluster of curved bullets explode on impact. Also, the ability to stab enemies from nearby cover is kinda cool, if a bit finicky.

Unfortunately, that's kinda where my praise ends. You know why I call this "My First Shooter?" Because it really feels like a basic, basic third-person shooting game. I ran through the whole story mode once by the end of the same day I rented it. I feel sorry for the shmuck who looked at this and decided "Yes, this is worth $60." The enemies pop up and down like ducks in a shooting gallery. Sure, they can shoot relatively straight, but that's about it. Once you've mastered the basics of curving bullets and flanking, it's usually just a matter of time before you mow down the legions of faceless bad guys who all have masks or hoodies or both, probably to hide the fact that the character designer didn't care about making them look unique.

Occasionally, you'll run into some annoying melee guys who let out a frightening war cry, but if they do manage to touch you, all you have to do is mash the B button until Wesley performs the kill animation on these guys. And it's always the same animation. Considering the amount of times these guys pop up in later levels, you think they could at least program a couple more for variety's sake. The only heightened challenge comes later in the game when they throw in some unexplained gun-monks who have the odd capability of dodging your shots and a sniper here or there, but they're really more annoying than actual challenge.

Another complaint are the bosses you run into. There's The Russian, who can be one-hit killed if you simply sneak around and perform a melee attack on him. There's Brummel, the thug voiced by the singer Common, where the strategy is simply "curve bullets into face, then shoot when he stumbles out of cover." And as for Arana and later the final showdown with The Immortal, just wait until they pop out of cover, then use "bullet/adrenaline/slow/whatever time" to empty clip after clip into them until they fall. Yes, there is a cost for curving bullets and slowing down time briefly, but luckily a couple of easily-dispatched mooks always show up in between the boss attacks. Just kill them to fill your adrenaline meter so you can do your bullet-curving or bullet-timing all over again.

As for the weaponry, they give you a pistol and that's it. Later in the game you can unlock the ability to switch between the pistol and your dad's dual machine pistols, but really, these guys will go down with either one. Sometimes they'll throw in a rail-shooting level (where the mooks somehow get a lot more accurate) a sniping level (one-shit kills, no matter where you hit), or a cool adrenaline-pumping reflex battle (shoot the bullet and the guy who fired it in three seconds or you die). But for the most part you find a piece of cover, shoot the guy who decides to stick his head out (or even those who don't), then repeat until everyone is dead.

Sure, there are unlockables and tidbits (comic covers, dev team photos, character skins, concept art, etc.) hidden around the levels, but I have a feeling that in 2-3 playthroughs, you could unlock all of the 360 achievements for this game. No wonder that the easy mode of this game calls you a "Pussy" if you play it first (for the record, I beat it on both "Assassin" and "The Killer" difficulties). There's no multiplayer, and no extra DLC that I can find.

In sum, this isn't a bad licensed game, just a disappointing one, and definitely not worth the full retail price. Go for a rental or find a secondhand game store, beat it, and then scratch the disc and return it for a full refund on the same or the next day. Maybe if you act surprised they won't try to make you take another copy of the same game.