X-Men movie tie-in coming

Activision has announced that a movie tie-in for the new X-Men film is currently in development for PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, GBA and Nintendo DS - and released some screenshots into the bargain.

Its working title is X-Men: The Official Movie Game, and the storyline's been co-written by Zak Penn - who did the screenplays for X2 and forthcoming feature film X-Men: The Last Stand. Comic book writer Chris Claremont is helping him out.

The game will set up the back story to The Last Stand, explaining why Nightcrawler doesn't appear in the movie and establishing storylines which will intersect with the film's plot.

You'll have a choice of three characters to play as - Wolverine if you fancy a bit of hack and slashing, Nightcrawler, who can teleport and scale walls, and Iceman, who can create ice slides, create hailstorms and shoot beams of ice to freeze enemies. You'll also be able to launch fury and adrenaline attacks, and improve your superpowers via the Mutant Evolution System.

The game will feature the voice of Patrick "Make it so" Stewart, and you'll be able to face off with villians from both the movie and the comic books. You'll also get X-Men allies to help you out as you complete time-based missions and the like. Expect stealth action and a bit of melee fighting as you explore environments such as Alkali Lake, the Statue of Liberty and Dark Cerebro.

The Xbox 360 version will be presented in glorious high definition, while the GBA game will feature exclusive playable X-Men characters. As will the DS version, and you'll be able to control them using the touch screen.

X-Men: The Official Movie Game is slated for a release in May.