I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been a huge fan of Deadpool (like many... many people) from the moment I discovered him. He looks badass, his powers and skills are awesome, and he's completely and totally nutty. Going for charm and humor rather than a straighter, more serious demeanor like so many other comic characters, he breaks ground for a lot of people who can't really get into the 'serious' comics, or for anyone who just wants something different.

...So when I found out they were making a full game, and saw the trailer, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of playing it... so much so my girlfriend and I actually pre-ordered it and paid it off long before it was released.

So, how is it? Well I'm going to be straight with you. If you want anything outside of a fun to play, albeit standard action game with a great sense of humor and a lot of personality? You might want to avoid Deadpool. But those things are never what this game tried to be, nor what it advertised itself as. Deadpool, as a game, offers -exactly- what it promises. Deadpool constantly on screen being Deadpool, while he lets you slice enemies apart and shoot things.

Deadpool features fairly standard mechanics for an action game. Forming combos between strong and weak attacks, building up to super moves known as "Momentum Attacks", and throwing in a good amount of gunplay. Fortunately, guns are very practical and quite fierce in this game, where a certain other action series seems to use them for little more than a prop. You also get a short range teleport that offers a good deal of evasive function as well as ups the fun-factor considerably (especially once it's upgraded), and Deadpool trades the idea of healing items for a regenerative healing factor that kicks in after he remains unharmed for a while (about ten seconds.)

There are three different melee weapons (balanced, fast/weak, and slow/strong), and four different guns. In addition to these, you'll also get four different 'thrown' sub-weapons (grenades, beartraps, etc) to help you out when things get more crowded or hectic.

Upgrading your weapons and abilities are also paramount in the game, as without the right upgrades you're going to be finding yourself cursing at the screen on anything higher than Easy more often than Deadpool does, and not in a fun way.

Enemies come in a good variety, and use the unique design of all being imperfect clones of actual mutants from the X-Men universe. There are also standard clones that use machine guns or basic melee weapons (if they're clones of specific mutants I haven't figured out who), but you also get flying ones that cast lightning and hail (Storm Clones), as well as the infuriating Gambit clones who will probably hinder the game more than enhance it for most players... which is actually my biggest complaint about the game; difficulty.

Don't get me wrong, Deadpool really isn't that hard of a game or anything... I only died about five times in the entire thing, but the game uses some fair challenges scarcely, and instead usually opts for something closer to "Not hard enough? Throw in a swarm of Gambit clones." To help you understand why these are both irritating beyond reason and a cheap way of making things 'harder', their only attack is self-destruction (in a massive radius for massive damage.) On top of that, they're incredibly fast, come in huge swarms, and can appear from practically anywhere. I appreciated the idea that an imperfect Gambit clone would be limited to blowing themselves up with the kinetic manipulation... but I hated how they exploited this one particular enemy, as it could have been a really nice intimidation tactic if they had been powered up and a LOT less common.

Everything else about Deadpool you're probably going to already know going into it. It has Deadpool's humor, in massive abundance, for the relatively limited six hours the game lasts. For Deadpool fans, this is more than you could have probably ever hoped for... but for those new to the character or just not particularly swayed by him? I can completely understand how he could get on your nerves at times, especially during the unscripted banter of actual gameplay. I'm a huge Deadpool fan, and even I found myself wishing he'd talk just a -little- bit less after a while.

The game offers some really clever and unexpected twists and turns, and changes up the gameplay just enough to keep you interested. It's fun, and highly entertaining while it lasts, but I can't say it'd be for everybody.

Also, I feel I should mention the unfortunate lack of use for the X-Men characters. Despite the game promising 'tons' of cameos, there are really only a handful, and the biggest ones (outside of the appreciated focus of Mr. Sinister) seem to be there so infrequently and so insignificantly that it's hard to be sure if designing their character models were worth the effort... ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of Psylocke, who I can't even really remember a single spoken line from.

Sadly, the game only runs around five or six hours, and outside of the challenge mode (which is really more of the same) and a few pre-order exclusive costumes you can't use in the main campaign... there really isn't a whole lot to do once you finish it. Unless you're a massive Deadpool fan, it's really only a rental, and even if you are... it's hard to recommend buying it at full price. Hopefully we'll get some DLC for other playable characters or extra costumes.