(Image courtesy of PlayFront. “Marvel’s ‘Wolverine’ offers fun in its combat gameplay.”)
Rick Dalton
Connector Staff
Insomniac Games is known for pumping out great products far quicker than most AAA video game studios. Since the launch of the PlayStation 5, new Insomniac titles include 2020’s “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales,” 2021’s “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart,” and 2023’s “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.” The latter two received nominations for “Game of the Year” at The Game Awards. “Marvel’s Wolverine” was announced all the way back in 2021, so it has been one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. The game finally launched on September 15, 2026, but response has been surprisingly mixed. Critics harped on the game’s short length and lack of new ideas, but many gamers report having a blast all the same. After spending several hours with the game, it is quite easy to see why critics would be low on “Wolverine,” but fans don’t mind a few rough edges.
“Wolverine” is gaming fast food. It is quick, easy, dumb, and more satisfying than it has any right to be. “Wolverine” is not very good, to be honest. But somehow, it hits the spot. Sometimes, people just want to unwind with pair of adamantium claws and tear things apart. In that respect, “Wolverine” absolutely nails it.
The game begins with Logan, a superhero character, in the middle of things. Apparently, he went AWOL from Team X a few years before the events of the game. In this timeline, the X-men have yet to be formed. Wolverine’s pals include Mystique, Sabretooth, and Nathaniel Essex. It certainly helps to know who these characters are, because in typical Marvel fashion, there is a whole lot of lore that would bog things down far too much to bother explaining everything. The story is largely an excuse for Wolverine to go on adventures and slash Reavers with his claws, but the writing and acting are solid. There is, however, a bit more watching the story unfold than pressing buttons, and that is not ideal. The story is fine for an action game but is not strong enough to do the narrative lifting it is being asked to do much of the time.
Most importantly, slicing up fools as Wolverine is a blast. Wolverine controls much like Spider-Man in previous Insomniac games, but he jumps around instead of web-swings around the battlefield. He can climb up walls with his claws, sprint like a maniac and swing around like a trapeze artist. Wolverine can also open many encounters in stealth mode, which allows him to silently slay most enemies before they can respond. Wolverine is fast, efficient, heals incredibly fast, has a second life from the get-go, and has a ridiculous arsenal of moves to throw at his helpless opponents.
Wolverine gameplay is very fun, but Wolverine gameplay is not very deep. But it shouldn’t be. Spider-Man has a disadvantage that Wolverine does not, which makes Spider-Man fights more cinematic and compelling. Spider-Man doesn’t kill like Wolverine. Peter Parker can get knocked around and come back later. Wolverine needs his head taken off to be stopped. That makes game design more of a challenge.
Wolverine just obliterates everything in his path, like he should. There are some boss fights, but those are not very difficult either. But they shouldn’t be. Wolverine is meant to be incredibly hard to kill, so the player would not feel like Wolverine if the game was a challenge. But unfortunately, respecting the vision for a character like Wolverine means it is less fun to play in practice than it is in theory. Games are more fun when they are challenging, and short of amping up the difficulty to unfun levels, experienced gamers will not feel challenged by Wolverine’s intended difficulty.
One other slightly disappointing element is the excessive set pieces with quick-time events, or QTEs. Far too often, combat gets slowed down mid fight for something cinematic with the occasional random button press to keep the player on their toes. Sure, the effect is cinematic, but Wolverine is much more fun when he’s wrecking fools with his claws, not tapping square on repeat to get off the floor.
Overall, “Marvel’s Wolverine” is a very fun time. For better or worse, the game nails what it must feel like to be Wolverine. It is brutal, violent, mindless destruction. Whether that is worth $70 for 15 to 20 hours of entertainment is up to gamers. It is not a must play, but anyone that wants to dress up as Wolverine and wreck a bunch of bigots could do worse than play this game.
Grade: C+
