After nearly five years, a massive data leak and mixed early reviews of varying merit, Marvel’s Wolverine is finally out in the wild. Developer Insomniac has wowed gamers with its series of Marvel’s Spider-Man games, and now it expands its superhero universe with a spin-off adventure starring everyone’s favorite mutant (unless you’re more into Beast or Gambit or Storm…).
As someone who enjoyed those games and was watching the PlayStation Showcase livestream in real-time when Marvel’s Wolverine was first unveiled back in 2021, I have been anxiously looking forward to seeing how Insomniac would adapt Logan’s dark history and violent power set, even after seemingly half the internet declared it to be bad. Now that I’ve actually had a chance to play Marvel’s Wolverine for myself, I can say that while it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Marvel’s Spider-Man, it isn’t anywhere near the disaster that many are claiming it to be.
Key Details
- Developer: Insomniac Games
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Platform: PlayStation 5
- Price: $69.99
- Review Code Provided: No
Origins of An X-Man
The main story of Marvel’s Wolverine starts with Logan reuniting with the special task force of mutants named Team X to rescue his mentor, Nathaniel Essex, from Bolivar Trask and his army of mutant-hunting Reavers. From there, Logan finds himself dealing with both his violent past and a present threat to mutantkind while meeting some of his greatest friends and enemies, with a mix of high-octane set pieces and quieter emotional beats befitting a man who struggles with his own humanity and savage instincts being tossed in for good measure.
As you can probably tell from that summary, Insomniac is offering up some interesting twists on classic X-Men characters like Sabretooth and Mystique and the emergence of mutants in general, but if you’re at all familiar with the source material, you can probably tell where some of the major players will end up by the time the credits roll. If anything, Insomniac takes more narrative risks here than any of its previous Marvel games, and judging by the reactions I’ve seen online, this will still be a point of contention for some time to come. I, for one, am curious to see how this all plays out in the future.
The Claws Are Coming Out
Right off the bat, it’s clear that Wolverine is more brutal than Insomniac’s previous Marvel offerings in terms of combat. Logan can pounce on enemies, slash into them with his claws, then charge at another. He can parry incoming attacks with the Left Bumper, then counter with a barrage of strikes by pressing the Square Button. Logan can also dodge enemies with the Circle Button, and if he is a short distance away from his target, he can lunge at them with the Triangle Button. This often leaves them stunned for a fierce combo, one that can even replenish some of Logan’s health if he pulls it off the right way.
Logan also has an array of Special Techniques that can be performed with the Left Trigger and a button, such as spinning like a top of grizzly destruction, charging at his foes like a drill, and even activating his healing factor for a brief respite in the heat of battle. These can be unlocked by earning experience (more on that later), and take time to recharge between uses. Due to them being activated with the face buttons, you can only equip four at a time. You can also pull off environmental kills by kicking enemies off ledges or knocking them into forklift blades, but you probably won’t do this much.
Not even Logan is completely invincible, but luckily his healing factor regenerates lost health after not taking damage for a while. As Logan racks up kills, he builds his Rage Meter, which boosts the power of his combos and gives him access to the Last Stand. Last Stand lets Logan pick himself up after his health meter depletes completely, with the player mashing the Square Button as Wolverine heals from his nightmarish wounds. When his Rage Meter is filled completely, Logan enters Rage Mode, which increases the strength of his attacks and gives him access to visceral Finishing Moves.
Just like in Insomniac’s previous Marvel games, there are quick-time events for things like Logan extending his claws for the first time in the intro or pulling away tree branches to free an injured wolf. Some of them have fail animations, while others simply stop the scene until the button is pressed. I can take or leave these (and some of them feel glitched), but it’s nice to feel the rumble whenever you complete one.
Overall, while Marvel’s Wolverine‘s combat doesn’t feel as polished or versatile as the Spider-Man games, it’s still fun to play though – even if it does get a bit repetitive after a while. You’ll eventually gain access to new moves, but I found myself sticking to the basics for most of the game. Boss battles are challenging at first, but once you get the pattern down it only takes a few attempts to beat them on the standard difficulty.
A Deadly Hunter
Not all of Wolverine’s combat is direct, as there are times when Logan has to use stealth to take out his enemies. Sneaking through grass and other obstructions and pulling off sneak attacks is pretty much par for the course for superhero action games these days, and Wolverine does a decent job with it. Logan tracks his foes by their heartbeats, which are represented by a glow on their chests, before sneaking up behind them and executing a brutal stealth takedown with the Square Button. If there is another enemy nearby, you can pull off another kill with the Triangle Button.
Between rounds of combat, Logan will traverse his environment with parkour, climbing over walls and jumping across rooftops. By holding down the Right Trigger, he can sprint. While he can’t cling to walls like a certain pair of arachnid-themed heroes, Logan can jump from handhold to handhold or swing across a beam with a press of the X Button like he’s Nathan Drake with Adamantium claws and less concern for personal hygiene. By clicking the Right Joystick, you can get a hint on where to go next.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of pointing out where to go next, I want to take this moment to correct the record about a gameplay mechanic that many people are complaining about online: the infamous “fart trail,” as many have put it, is actually part of a mechanic where Wolverine follows scent trails, and contrary to recent claims it isn’t active all the time. There are even moments where Logan loses track of the scent and the trail is broken.
It sometimes appears for puzzles that don’t involve tracking at all, like punching the code to open an elevator by tracking which keys were used, as well as leading Logan to a collectible Whiskey Bottle. You know, things that make use of Logan’s enhanced sense of smell.
Scars of Future Past
As you play through the game, you’ll earn experience, which in turn gives you Technique Points that can be spent on new attacks or upgrades to your health or damage. There are also Adaptations, or modifiers you can unlock and equip to boost your combat abilities. Just like the Special Techniques, you can only have a certain number of Adaptations equipped at a time, though you can increase this by completing the Nightmare Cabin challenges.
These are pretty much the only actual side quests in the game, and they represent Logan’s many repressed memories over his supernaturally long life. This manifests in the form of challenges that you can complete to unlock text/audio stories of Logan recalling past moments, as well as new Adaptation upgrades. You can access the Nightmare Cabin from either the menu screen or certain points in levels, and it can also be used to replay story sections you already cleared.
What Would You Prefer? Yellow Spandex?
While Wolverine’s stages are more linear than the open world of Marvel’s Spider-Man, there are still hidden Easter Eggs to find that reference past events and the larger Marvel universe. There are collectibles like Whiskey Bottles that unlock stories that expand on Logan’s past (some of them also have labels referencing Logan’s most famous comic storylines) and Materials that you can use to craft new suits (and trust me, you’ll know one is nearby thanks to the pulsing locator and blaring ring coming from the DualSense).
Speaking of suits, just like the Marvel’s Spider-Man games before it, Wolverine gives you a wealth of alternate looks to make sure Logan is brawling in style. Some of them are original designs, while others are inspired by Logan’s many different looks in the comics, movies, and even cartoons (though there are a few tragic omissions, like the X-Men Evolution suit and the leather Fox uniform). In addition, you can unlock and select different claws to go with your outfit for a truly custom look.
This Ain’t Gonna Be Pretty, Bub
Graphically, Marvel’s Wolverine looks pretty much the same as the previous Insomniac Marvel games, albeit with much more blood. Characters are lifelike for the most part, while sporting a visual style that combines realism with the classic designs we all know. Unlike the Spider-Men, who pretty much stay in New York, Logan’s journey takes him to a wide variety of locations like Canada, Madripoor, and Japan. This results in a diverse range of well-rendered in-game environments.
One area that sets Wolverine apart is the gruesome battle damage Logan can take on, which brings to mind the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine tie-in game. He ends most fights covered in blood, and you’ll even see his suit get torn up as he goes along – though it’s eventually repaired in time for the next cutscene. There’s an in-universe explanation for that, too.
The voice acting is solid across the board, with Liam McIntyre in particular doing an outstanding job of playing Logan as a gruff but noble man who struggles with his own inner demons just as much as anyone trying to kill him – and will go to almost any lengths for the people he cares about. I’d say his voice sounds like a mix of Hugh Jackman and Cal Dodd from X-Men ’97, and his feral roars are top-notch.
The rest of the cast is great for the most part (at this point I shouldn’t have to tell you that Troy Baker is good at his job). This is punctuated by a beautiful soundtrack that captures Logan’s down-to-earth personality with earthy guitar riffs before shifting to epic orchestral numbers when it’s time to save the world.
Final Score: 8/10
Comparing Marvel’s Wolverine to Insomniac’s other Marvel games feels somewhat unfair, as the latter are open-world games meant to capture the freedom of being Spider-Man, while this is more focused, linear, and centered around how Logan is often pulled down a narrow path toward blood and destruction. Just like its titular character, this game is a little rough around the edges, and there are some story decisions that many will not agree with.
However, I feel that the wave of negativity this game is receiving has been overblown in places. Marvel’s Wolverine is a solid action title that charts the course for the future of mutants in Insomniac’s Marvel universe – a future we might get to see if all of those rumors and leaks are true.
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