Canada is just bristling with wolverines. Or is it just that everyone up there is hairy? One particular Canuck wolf/man is pretty much the toughest superhero in the X-Men pantheon. In fact, intemperate, butt-kicker Logan (Wolverine) will usually emerge as the overwhelmingly obvious choice for videogame hero status. But star power doesn't necessarily translate into gaming goodness. In this week's "X-Play," we unsheathe our critical claws for a swipe at "X2: Wolverine's Revenge."

Logan has a problem. Well, lots of 'em actually, but that's another article. This time he's got the deadly Shiva virus, which puts a serious tick-tock on his life span. He has to literally claw his way to a cure by stealthily and not-so-stealthily taking out a slew of bosses and their evil (but luckily, quite dumb) henchmen. Professor X is on standby to offer guidance. (Too bad he wasn't on the design team.)

Furry up and wait

As you might expect, Logan can dish out the expected forms of physical punishment including punches, claw-swipes, and kicks. He's also obliged to pull off stealth kills, which -- while somewhat contrary to the nature of the beast -- are the best way to get Tags to unlock finishing moves. You'll need to wait until the word "STRIKE!" appears onscreen, which has all the spontaneity of taking Beano before eating a big meal.

Wolvie's claws can be unsheathed at any time to increase the damage dealt in attacks, but the only way to heal the suspiciously frail Wolverine is to retract the claws. Then you stand around and wait for his auto-healing properties to do their thing. It's a good theoretical and mechanical notion, but it does break up the gameplay flow in a major way.

You'll be yearning to let those claws loose, but you'll refrain because you know you'll heal faster if you keep from doing so. Oh, fate! If the game were called "Wolverine's Bipolar Dilemma," it might fly, but it isn't, and it doesn't.

He did the monster mash

You'll also need to wait until Logan's rage meter builds, which is achieved by kicking ass or getting your ass kicked, at which point you have a few seconds of notched-up psycho-retribution. As the saying goes, you've gotta pay to play. The problem is, playing pretty much means button mashing.

Another gameplay drawback is that the game's enemy artificial intelligence is, technically speaking, rock stupid. Rare is the foe who doesn't stand blithely around and all but offer you his bare neck. Some of the other brain-jobs will charge directly into flames in their efforts to chase you.

Save me, Wolverine!

Somebody had better save your ass, because your game-save options are frustratingly limited. Nobody wants to be able to save every few seconds, but as the game continues there will be large swaths of action where you toe the action-hero line for 15 to 30 minutes. Then, thanks to the awkwardly spaced save spots, you may end up rerunning the same gauntlet over and over and over. No wonder Wolverine has such a notoriously bad temper.

Is there any candlelight amid the curse-inducing darkness? Yes.

Wolverine's ultra-cool enhanced senses do fill the screen with chromatic freakiness, and enemies can be tracked by thermal and olfactory means. Glowing footprints and scent trails fill the screen, letting you know not merely where the enemy is, but from where you might best attack him. We'd like more of this kind of thing, please.

In addition to the way-cool heightened sense mode, the voice work is pretty good. Patrick Stewart has once again done his best to single-handedly save an otherwise-sinking artistic ship. Both the quality and smoothness of the animation are quite good.

Constant camera-fixing is still a big problem, however. Add to that the uninspired gameplay, and it's just not enough that the game looks good. In the end, games tend to fall into the "buy" or "don't buy" categories and only the most rabid Wolverine wannabe can be advised to participate in Logan's latest run.