There is no Spider-Man without web-swinging. It’s a fact that no doubt stood as a guiding principle and non-negotiable when Insomniac Games begun work on its Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise, and the payoff is some of the most exhilarating and entertaining superhero video games of all time. I don’t envy the studio, then, in moving on to adapting Wolverine to a blockbuster PlayStation exclusive, because what is Wolverine’s web-swinging? The one hook that makes embodying the character an irresistible prospect?
Seemingly settling on “He has big claws and metal bones,” the studio has managed to mine the titular anti-hero for a lot more than I had anticipated in Marvel’s Wolverine. Brutal, close-quarters claw combat might not be as obvious a selling point as swinging, and it’s not the only comparison to Insomniac’s prior work that lands unfavourably here. But the trade-off is a brilliantly paced, viscerally exciting action game tied to a genuinely compelling, original Wolverine story.
Set across three distinct acts, this version of events hands us a James “Logan” Howlett that’s very recently rejoined Team X – a black ops mutant group under the care of one Nathaniel Essex. Having returned with his tail between his legs, the catalyst of which is a raft of mutant abductions at the hands of Boliver Trask and his Reavers, Logan’s relationships are strained from the game’s very opening. And as events unfold, and things get messier, those relationships are put to test after test.
Wolverine’s key plot beats are almost all entirely best left under wraps, but crucially this is an excellent take on Logan and a number of other characters from across X-Men media, pulling influences from many different iterations of the universe but feeling entirely unique in Insomniac’s interpretation. Centuries old at the time we meet him, Logan is haunted by demons he simply can’t remember, for reasons that don’t become clear right away, and the whole thing really goes places by the time those credits roll.
And you’d be forgiven for thinking, given the game’s title, that this is strictly a Wolverine game. But much to my surprise and delight, it’s also very much a Jean Grey game. She’s far from the only mutant with an imperative role to play in this story, but hers and Logan’s journeys are inextricable, and both characters are made better for it. There’s a persistent danger that things might fall into the narrative trope of a woman shouldering all of the emotional burden on behalf of a leading man, but Insomniac’s writing redeems itself over and over before that’s ever felt.
It’s a story that takes us from Canada to Madripoor, Japan and more, in a strictly linear and chapter-based fashion. This very immediate point-of-difference to the Marvel’s Spider-Man games is sure to ruffle feathers, and already has if you pay any attention to online video game discourse, but it’s absolutely the right choice. By coming at it with a sense of editorial direction, Insomniac has managed to craft a tight, 15-odd hours that continues to take Wolverine and friends to new places and new extremes. There’s not a lot of room for player expression here, that’s been sacrificed in service of story and spectacle, and after seeing the game through it’s a decision I’m mostly convinced by.
Whether barreling down predetermined corridors in high-tech facilities or underground labyrinths, or having just the slightest amount of freedom to wander the streets of Kabukicho (Like a Dragon called), there’s definitely a want for a little more player agency or interaction with the world, but Logan is a forward-moving guy and I can believe enough that he’s not interesting in stopping and looking at the things that I’m interested in. There is at least also a good amount of downtime in that classical PlayStation first-party sense of wandering around and looking at trinkets while you’re fed more character work, which might not be groundbreaking at this stage but is employed at all the right times to break up the action.
But action exists in spades here, so a lot is riding on that big hook we spoke about up top, and in the case of Marvel’s Wolverine it’s less hook than it is, well, claw. Combat in Wolverine is up-close, fast, visceral, and aggressive. Having spoken to Project Director, Jess Reiner-Reed about it in the past, aggression is a key read on the character that Insomniac took through to his combat feel. Logan isn’t the type to fall back, even in the face of immense danger, and so players are discouraged from the same. Of the two main buttons you’ll be pushing to deal damage, one is dedicated almost entirely to leaping at the next unfortunate soul to meet your sharp ends, and your ability to recover health is completely tied to how much you press the attack.
There’s an admitted simplicity to combat, even after factoring a growing list of abilities and skill upgrades, which means that the core rhythm of fights remains pretty much the same in hour ten as it does hour two of the game. A lot of this does also come down to a slender roster of enemy types, swapping out the core antagonist group for each of the game’s three major acts but rarely providing a lot of variety among them.
It helps that the sheer act of ripping folks apart is gloriously satisfying, especially once you enter the highest tier of Rage and a PS3-era visual filter emphasises the detached heads and spurting blood of it all. There are also some cool, contextual wrinkles that sell the brutality, like Wolverine being able to perform critical finishers on The Hand ninjas by pulling out the katana they’ve just impaled him with, or adding a bit of intense heat to his claws by parrying Sentinel lasers.
There are also some memorable sequences throughout that take a bit of the emphasis off of the single-minded fisticuffs. One of my favourite sections sees Wolverine and Jean stalking The Hand through a misty forest, encouraging the player to jump between tall trees and perform slick chain assassinations while occasionally calling on Jean to telepathically mess with your next victims’ heads long enough to get the drop on them.
In fact, every minute of Marvel’s Wolverine that sees these two work together represents the game at its best. Jean’s presence is a crucial one for the story being told, her strength and compassion for Logan constantly forcing him to rethink his role models and allowing him the space to reconcile with his past. And just as thrilling is teaming up with her organically in combat, where she holds her own, and will occasionally levitate an enemy for you to insta-kill or join in on a critical strike for a quick kill with cinematic flair.
Insomniac’s penchant and talent for visual splendour backed by solid technology is, unsurprisingly, a big part of Wolverine’s success. Every story moment, every new environment, every enemy limb separated from its owner is rendered and animated in exquisite detail. If the prevailing argument against this title is the tired “PlayStation movie game,” and I suspect it will be, it at least looks every bit as bombastic and expensive as its cinematic counterparts. The game’s barely-interactive environments may draw unfortunate comparisons to the MCU’s liberal use of soundstages, but the upshot is some of the most jaw-dropping locales and finely-honed curation of lighting and framing that permeates every frame.
The cast is equally excellent throughout. Liam McIntyre also does a bang-up job of squeezing his 6′ 1″ frame into Logan’s 5′ 3″ stature, providing an effective balance between animalistic surliness and empathising sincerity, proving for a third time that Aussies make superb Wolverines. Krizia Bajos is already an underappreciated video game talent that I hope more players come to appreciate after her excellent turn as Jean Grey. Even Troy Baker, whose presence feels almost like an obligation at this point, feels irreplaceable as this universe’s take on the cool and measured but slowly-unravelling Nathaniel Essex.
All told, there are absolutely parts of Marvel’s Wolverine that I wish were a little deeper, allowed for a little more player freedom. But Insomniac has nailed the biggest strokes in capturing these characters and stories, especially as everything begins to click together towards an excellent finale – and a little beyond. The studio has proved its superhero video game chops once again, and I’d be very interested to see what’s coming next in either this or any other corner of Earth-1048.
Reviewed on PS5 | Review copy supplied by Sony Interactive Entertainment
Great
- Great story with excellent takes on iconic characters
- Beautiful presentation throughout
- Aggressive combat is a perfect match for Wolverine
- Campaign is well-paced and at a perfect runtime
- Jean Grey
Not great
- Slim enemy variety hurts combat long-term
- Most environments amount to set dressing
Born into the world of video games through SEGA, and in particular Sonic the Hedgehog, Kieron’s gaming tastes now consist of the latest, shiny AAA thing, an indie darling or two, and an embarrassing number of hours of Balatro.