A really fun game that could have been so much more.
This is one of the hardest reviews I’ve done, not helped at all by the endless online discourse by sad incels claiming Marvel’s Wolverine is either one of the worst games ever made or an underrated classic.
In my experience, it’s simply a really fun, good game that could have been something much more had Insomniac spent a bit more time on certain areas.
Let’s start with the positives.
When playing any sort of superhero game, I always come back to the same thing when deciding if the game worked. Does said game really make me feel like said hero. Arkham made me feel like Batman, Insomniac has made me feel like Spidey again & again, and Marvel’s Wolverine definitely gets added to that list, giving me the closest experience of what it’s like to be the raging, whiskey-loving maniac who cuts through fools with ease, but who is also a troubled soul with an interesting past. This game, at the very least, gives us this.
The game looks gorgeous, especially played on a PS5 Pro paired with an OLED TV. Character models and facial animations are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Some folks aren’t keen on Insomniac basing their likenesses on the actual voice actors but with results like this you can see why they do it. Performances from said actors are also brilliant. Troy Baker, as usual, is a joy as Nathaniel Essex. While Liam McIntyre & Krizia Bajos both equal his performance as Logan & Jean. I put these two together as they very much come as a pair but more on that soon.
Elsewhere the gameplay is as brutal & gory as you’d hope for a Wolverine game, and probably where I have the biggest disagreement with crirics of the game. I honestly can’t believe people don’t like this gameplay. Sure it can be quite simple and forgiving in the main game (which is fine, it’s a AAA Marvel game guys), but play any of the combat wave trials and then tell me how simple and easy it is!
Now onto the parts of the game that stops it from being great..
I have nothing against games that can be platinumed in less than 20 hours, in fact as a father of two I actually welcome it, but if you’re going to do that you have to get the pacing right and I feel Wolverine failed at this. Without spoiling anything, there’s a section in the middle of the game that, although really cool, feels like an open world sandbox with invisible walls thrown in. And the missions you do in said location felt like part of a 40 hour open world game where the pacing might slow down a bit, but instead it felt to me like we were wasting time chasing a MacGuffin that could have been spent so much better in other areas of the story.
The tinfoil hat side of me suspects that this might have actually been designed as an open world game at one point before being stripped backed and contained as something way more linear for whatever reason (time, budget, pressure from Sony HQ?) but that’s a discussion for a different time.
Along these lines, I feel the story jumps between some really cool sections and introductions of characters/narratives that annoyingly end up going nowhere in favour of a more personal story between the game’s leading duo. I’m all for more personal stories in gaming I really am, and I respect what the writers have gone for here, but I couldn’t help but wonder if a bigger story involving some of the lesser explored side characters could have projected this to greatness. In all fairness, the game does do this to a point, but we really didn’t get enough of it in my opinion and was left with an experience I enjoyed, but one that should have felt more fulfilling than it eventually was.
Other little complaints revolve around Insomniac’s extras like suits, side quests and collectibles which were all a joy in the Spider-Man games. I can’t say the same for Wolverine. The closest we get to side missions are the aforementioned Nightmare Trials. These feel like something that may have once been cool side missions that got stripped back to simple time & combat trials instead. Then there’s the suits, one of my favourite parts of Spidey. Here though, due to the games strict linear direction, any change to a comic-accurate suit from the past just looks goofy and weird in this setting. Meaning I had very little motivation outside of the platinum trophy to ever chase collectables.
Overall could I hand on heart say Wolverine is worth the £70 price tag? Not really. But did I have a fun time nonetheless? Yes.
I honestly think if Wolverine was marketed and priced the same way as Miles Morales then the discourse around it would be very different. And I also believe as prices come down and/or it’s added to Plus, you’ll start to see user scores shoot up. Until then a lot of people may well feel a little short-changed in a time where there are so many other options out there for cheaper.
Having said all that, if you’re a big Wolverine fan, loved the Spider-Man games and like the look of this game then please please do not let the lower reviews and online trolls put you off. You will still undoubtedly enjoy this experience, don’t let other people’s complaints ruin that for you. Especially when half of them probably haven’t even played the game.
I’d give Marvel’s Wolverine a 7.5/10.