Review - Marvel's Wolverine
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: PlayStation Studios
Available on: PlayStation 5
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
He is the best at what he does. Since 1974, the comic book world has known the story of Wolverine, the man with the adamantium claws. First fighting The Hulk in 1974, Wolverine has been a stark symbol of Marvel and the comic book world, appearing in books, movies, and video games. Now, for the first time since 2009, Wolverine is back with his own video game, helmed by Insomniac Games, the studio that brought us Marvel’s Spider-Man. With an untamable attitude and adamantium claws, Wolverine tears onto the PlayStation 5.
Visceral, untamed, and brutal, Wolverine is a strong and solid hack-and-slash action game with a stellar presentation. It’s entertaining and at times enjoyable. However, this beast is tamed by a fairly shallow combat system and a formula that holds your hand on easier difficulties. These claws needed to be sharpened more. Wolverine is far from a bad game, and it’s still a worthy action experience.
SNIKT!
Evolution is inevitable. It is a slow and steady process, taking thousands of years to develop. Though every so often, evolution springs forward. Mutation is the key to evolution. Mutants have begun to emerge in a broken world. In a world filled with fear, mutants struggle to survive just to see the light of day. There is a grim future on the horizon for both mutants and humans.
Feral and amnesiac, Logan is rescued by a man named Nathaniel Essex. Essex recruits Logan into Team X, a special mission team dedicated to saving imperiled mutants in discreet operations. Logan quickly adopts the name Wolverine, with his tenacious attitude and mutant claws. The team consists of Mystique, a shapeshifter known for her espionage, and Sabertooth, a brute known for his size and strength. A dormant mutant, Warren, runs research for the team. This is a time when the X-Men simply don't exist.
Called Back to Action
After some time away, Logan is called back into action to rescue Essex from the hands of Bolivar Trask, a brilliant scientist who is using his knowledge and technology specifically to hunt down and contain mutants. Trask is determined to end what he deems to be the mutant threat. Knowing Essex helped rescue him, Logan feels he owes a debt to him and jumps headfirst into the fire.
With very little knowledge of his memories or past, Logan sets off on an adventure that spans the globe. Determined to find out more about himself, Logan dons the cowl in a quest to save mutants and potentially save the world. Along the way, Wolverine encounters fellow mutants that may give him a new perspective on what the future holds. He is the best at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice. He is Wolverine.
Ready, Steady, Go
Marvel’s Wolverine is a linear action-adventure game with a foundation in hack-and-slash action combat. Players play as Wolverine in a globe-trotting adventure that pits him against sinister enemies. The goal is to fight enemies in straightforward action combat and take down foes in epic boss showdowns. There is no puzzle-solving. Just straight action.
Along the way, players interact with established mutants from X-Men lore, such as Mystique and Jean Grey, who advance the story and add depth. While standup action is the headliner for Marvel’s Wolverine, there are sections that involve some exploration and stealth combat. Some levels also slow down intentionally to let the story take over. On an easier difficulty setting, and without leaving the game paused too much, players can expect 15 to 20 hours of content on a first playthrough.
Nightmares Abound
Marvel’s Wolverine takes cues from Insomniac’s last Marvel games and infuses both collectibles and costumes to acquire. Players can collect whiskey bottles, each with memories attached to them. Every bottle collected earns an ability point that can be used in the combat system. Additionally, multiple crates are scattered throughout each level containing parts for building costumes. Building costumes not only changes Wolverine’s appearance but also builds his health meter.
Finally, throughout the journey there are Nightmare Doors. Introduced shortly after the first mission to save Essex, these doors unlock challenges that can be completed to unlock more core memories for Wolverine. These challenges include combat, traversal, and even gauntlets with roguelite elements. Wolverine has been around for a long time and, therefore, has had quite a storied history. Completing these challenges unlocks memories but also unlocks ability points and costumes. Not every level has a Nightmare Door.
Untameable Rage
Wolverine is an untameable tank of rage and brutality, and therefore, the entire combat system is rage-focused. Using his claws, he stabs and shreds his way through the multitude of enemies players face. The game is a hack-and-slash, using minimal button inputs to achieve action. The square button is the basic attack, and the triangle button is a more powerful strike. Later, a powerful kick can be unlocked and used with the square button. The circle button is a dodge roll. There's a simplified combo system that encourages players to use both attacks. Using these attacks is essential to breaking blocks and taking down enemies en masse.
Using the L1 shoulder button, players can parry most attacks, including some boss attacks. With regular enemies, parrying gives Wolverine an opening to attack and maneuver as enemies surround and overwhelm players. Every attack builds the rage meter. The rage meter can allow Wolverine to recover from a fatal blow when the health meter runs out. When the rage meter hits tier 3, Wolverine enters a berserker state. In these rage-filled attacks, he is stronger and able to perform deadly finishers with the L2 and R2 buttons pushed together.
It’s All About Technique
Adding to Wolverine’s arsenal are techniques. These unlockable attacks and perks include the ability to perform special attacks such as a tornado spin or an enemy tackle. Additionally, techniques include smaller attacks such as the ability to rush and attack an enemy or dodge an indefensible attack. In addition to techniques, ability points unlock more passive attributes to be unlocked. These include being able to have a larger parry window or using parry to heal, among various other attributes.
Wolverine has a healing factor, but he isn't invincible. He can die. This is where the rage meter comes in. Landing attacks builds the meter for up to three tiers. Hitting one tier gives Wolverine a Last Stand moment, where his healing factor kicks in and refills his health bar. However, to build that rage meter again, players need to attack enemies. On higher difficulties, being able to parry and land blows is a juggling act.
Claws Out
Parrying in Marvel’s Wolverine is essential. Attacks highlighted in white or blue are parryable attacks and can easily get Wolverine out of a bad situation. Attacks that flash yellow initiate a critical parry in which the enemy is eliminated. Attacks that glow red cannot be parried, but they can be dodged. The yellow parries are interesting. One creative use of this involves members of The Hand: a yellow parry impales Wolverine but eliminates the assailant. Then, Wolverine can gravely wound another target. It’s an inventive way to use the parry system. This sums up the combat system. How it feels is another story.
Power Fantasy
Fighting in Marvel's Wolverine feels unrelenting and fierce. Wolverine moves around with the right amount of weight and gravity that one would expect a muscled mutant to handle. Controlling and fighting with Wolverine looks and feels absolutely fantastic, with every cut slicing through the air, and the haptic controllers making every bone-crushing takedown felt. It feels great taking on armies of bad guys and taking them down in brutal fashion. One of the big highlights is being in a seemingly impossible situation, only to claw your way out. That feeling is constant when playing Marvel’s Wolverine.
The same solid feeling for combat can be said for the boss fights. Disappointingly, Wolverine doesn’t have as many boss fights as one would expect. The few that are here are fine, and the last one is tremendous in particular. The few boss fights that exist feel remarkably cinematic and are a thrill to play, using a combination of parries, dodges, and aggression. Some bosses were true white-knuckle experiences, with the final boss being inventive in various ways. Some enemies are tough and act almost like minibosses.
Bent Claws
Marvel’s Wolverine starts out strong with its combat, boss fights, and story. Seeing Logan’s journey is unique and a departure from what one would expect. Liam McIntyre does an amazing job as Wolverine, and at times, I could hear him echo the mannerisms and energy of Hugh Jackman. It’s very much his own performance, but he does an amazing job of being both Logan and Wolverine. However, despite how entertaining and cinematic Marvel's Wolverine is, there is the feeling that there was a degree of misdirection for the game.
Marvel’s Wolverine is missing that Insomniac magic sauce. More inventiveness and creativity. More boss fights. A more focused story. Not that anything in Marvel’s Wolverine is bad, but it just doesn’t meet the expectations one would expect from Insomniac or a Sony game. I feel a few creative risks would have bettered the overall experience, such as the ability to play as a member of Team X for several levels. Playing as Mystique for stealth sections would have been an interesting take. Playing as Jean Grey or Sabertooth for combat would have been interesting as well. I do hope there is DLC for this one, but that is not a guarantee.
Remembering the Past
Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be compared to 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the video game developed by Raven Software. While the story for that game was sloppy, as it was based on the movie, the gameplay was immensely satisfying, with different enemy types and a combo-driven combat system. Marvel’s Wolverine is in a more grounded reality, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine leans into a more arcade-like combat.
Marvel’s Wolverine certainly has the stronger presentation, but the combat is shallow. You’ll be making the same moves and staggers over and over again. While there is a fluidity to the combat, the moves are limited, and you’ll see the same animations and attacks, as well as the same enemy variants. It becomes repetitive, with the cinematics and story doing the heavy lifting to carry the player to the end of the game.
Smooth like Butter
Marvel’s Wolverine is simply too easy. For my playthrough, I cranked it to the highest possible difficulty setting, “The Best There Is,” which felt like where the difficulty should be. It’s how I was able to get the white-knuckle boss fights and challenging enemies. However, Marvel’s Wolverine is a breeze to go through on normal difficulties, which may be great for casual players, but for those looking for a more hardcore, fulfilling action experience, there are better options. This brings me to another point.
Marvel’s Wolverine appears to have had the philosophy of appealing to a larger, wider audience. This makes sense, given the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man. There are a host of accessibility options, and that is great. Though the game holds the player throughout most of the journey.
Let Me Hold Your Hand
White paint indicates where to go. Wolverine mutters to himself often to remind the player what to do next. Pushing the R3 button down indicates where Wolverine needs to be to further the story. There's a lot of guidance, but perhaps too much, and it robs the agency out of the player. By no means is Marvel’s Wolverine a play-on-autopilot, but it doesn't require as much input from the player as one would expect.
There has been discussion about the infamous gas seen in the game. Wolverine has heightened senses, from smelling to hearing. The gas is a scent trail often leading to the next destination or to the collectible whiskey bottles. Hearing is often used to locate the material crates that hold parts for suits. Both senses are dead giveaways to collectibles but are helpful in knowing where to go. Both senses should have been used for more important story segments as opposed to regular gameplay.
The Wolverine
I want to be clear that there are praiseworthy things about Marvel’s Wolverine. The story, as disjointed as it may be, is well told and is not only a remarkable perspective of Wolverine but also sets up a larger Marvel Universe. The combat, as shallow as it is, is still satisfying and cinematic, fulfilling the power fantasy of being a living weapon. I just wish it weren’t so quick. I am hoping for DLC. Having said that, it's worth playing but maybe not worth $70.
Marvel’s Wolverine sits on the border between recommended and waiting for a sale. It’s quick and shallow, but cinematic and entertaining, complementing Insomniac’s other Marvel outings. While there are better options for hardcore action players, I cannot deny that Marvel’s Wolverine shreds and tears its way in remarkable fashion. Just don’t expect it to last as long as you think. SNIKT!
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