Marvel’s Wolverine Review

Another superhero entry by Insomniac, this time it’s about Marvel’s most brutal and visceral character, Wolverine. We do not get a lot of superhero games, even though there are many comics and characters which could easily be made into one, so finally, when a superhero game gets announced, everyone’s eyes are on it, especially when it’s someone like Logan. There is much to unpack here, so let’s get to it.

Story

The story revolves around X-Force; the team is led by Nathaniel Essex and has some very well-known characters like Sabertooth, Mystique and of course Logan. Still, it also includes some lesser known characters like Walter Langkowsky who’s originally the founder of Canadian superhero team named Alpha. However, Insomniac’s Wolverine follows an original story which isn’t the main universe 616. It’s pretty evident from the story how some of the characters are introduced and their stories are told.

The game takes us through the journey of Wolverine after he rejoins the X-Force on a critical mission to rescue one of the members of the team; that’s where the game begins. The main goal of the team is to rescue and shelter the mutants who are being hunted by Trask, a scientist who wants to eradicate anyone with the X-Gene with the help of his enhanced humans called Reavers.

This journey takes Wolverine to many prominent parts of the Marvel world that are well established in the comics, such as the city of Madripoor. Much like the comics, this isn’t the beginning of Logan’s story; it’s rather set much later in his life. Insomniac has done a good job of including key elements of Logan’s story in the game, like his forgotten memories and the past he can’t recall. As the story progresses, players will uncover more about his past life and where he was before he joined the X-Force.

Wolverine

This version of Wolverine is distinct from the comic book lore; this might be a double-edged sword depending on how you look at the comics that came before. The only major adaptations of Wolverine and X-Men were the Fox movies, which admittedly are hit or miss, especially with all the Wolverine stand-alone movies with the exception of Logan (2017). While the movies get some of the fundamental lore right, a lot was inaccurate, like how he cannot understand Japanese, as shown in The Wolverine (2013) movie. In comics, he’s fluent in Japanese. The same can be seen in the game where he speaks Japanese and reads the text as well. It’s a small thing, but it adds to the immersion.

While some elements land, others miss the mark – something I dislike as a lifelong Wolverine fan who has read thousands of pages of comics. For example, there is an instance in the story where Logan hesitates to finish the job, which is unlike Wolverine; he gets the job done no matter what. His literal catchphrase is “I’m the best at what I do. But what I do isn’t very nice”. They did however nail the different comic iterations. I was overjoyed to see some of the fan-favourite suits making it into the game, like The Patch.

Gameplay

The game is very satisfying. The combat is smooth, the controls are responsive, and everything feels snappy – Insomniac nailed the core of the game. It’s brutal and visceral, exactly how a Wolverine game should be. Throughout my 15 or so hours with the game, I did not get bored tearing enemies apart and cutting off their limbs, and this uncompromisingly violent combat complements the impressive cinematic experience this game provides very well.

There are two core parts of the gameplay: techniques and mutations. Focusing first on techniques. They is standard skill tree unlocks which can be acquired using skill points we get by levelling up. It’s divided into two parts: Special Techniques, which require a cooldown after use, and normal ones, which can be used at any time.

One thing that could have made the combat more versatile was having more combo strings. While we have dodge and heavy strikes like Hold Heavy Attack (Triangle) to stagger enemies or Hold Light Attack (Square) to break block, the game only offers 5 basic attack variations: Light Attack x4, Light Attacks -> Heavy – which can get repetitive; however, having special attacks and techniques compensate for it most of the time.

Mutations are passive skills that work in hand with the techniques. To unlock mutations, we must gain Ability Points that are gained from either collecting whisky bottles or completing Nightmare doors, which are found in the main story missions. Depending on the playstyle, they can be tweaked to gain an offensive or defensive advantage, like the critical strike mutation that restores health significantly and is quite helpful in greater difficulties. The Nightmare challenges offer some amazing gear on the side.

Performance & Visuals

I played it on base PS5, and throughout the game I faced no issues with the exception of one bug where Wolverine kept sliding down a tree. He did eventually let go after a minute, but other than that I faced no performance issues or glitches. The game runs smoothly at a constant 60fps in Performance mode. It looks visually stunning. I have spent more time in the photomode than I like to admit. After each new suit unlock or area, I went into the photomode to see what I could cook up using its excellent photomode.

Verdict

While some character adaptations are inaccurate and limited combo repertoire hurts the experience a bit. Still, considering it’s an original story, I’m willing to give it a pass, and there’s room for improvement, which they could expand on in the sequel.

I’m eager to see where Logan’s journey takes him next.