Between our love for angry Logan himself and how solid Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man series has been, Marvel’s Wolverine has been high on our new games wishlist for a while even before we saw any gameplay. I know, I know, that’s a bit naughty of us – but sometimes our comic book loving brains are just waiting to be scratched just right. Thankfully, Wolverine’s claws are reaching all the right places now we’ve visited the development studio and played the game for ourselves.
In our Marvel’s Wolverine hands-on, we’ve been overjoyed that Logan’s adventure doesn’t just feel like a Spider-Man reskin, but something that really celebrates the character. Spending two hours with the game through its first act, across two sections, we’ve had plenty of time to sink our claws into Wolverine’s rage-fuelled combat, play with stealth, get a little too invested in its story, and even hang out with Team X.
But what are the best bits? Why get excited? Luckily for you I’ll lead you right to the ‘X’ marking my superhero fandom spot across eight highlights I’ve pulled together below! Excited? Let us know which features you’re looking forward to trying for yourself in the comments.
8. “This is uniquely Logan”
This month’s Marvel’s Wolverine Big Preview is the best there is at what it does, as we sink our claws deep into Insomniac’s latest superhero adventure with hands-on impressions and dev access.
Make no mistake, we love Marvel’s Spider-Man, but with three web-slinging games under its belt, we had some reservations about how distinct Insomniac Games’ take on Wolverine would be. Thankfully, the studio seems to have been conscious about that themselves. Director Jess Reiner-Reed tells us that “any decision we’re making, we’re trying to go: ‘Is this right for Wolverine? Is this telling a Logan-centric story?” Having played the game ourselves, we agree – this really does feel like a game that could only exist for Wolverine.
7. Feeling the Rage
Claws out, Marvel’s Wolverine was always going to need combat that feels excellent – and Insomniac Games have hit on something special with Logan’s Rage. A meter that builds up while fighting, it can be unleashed to enable instant kills, and lasts longer the more violence you dish out. It gives scraps an excellent sense of momentum that really highlights the berserker fighter that Wolverine is. It even loops back into his health system, where his Rage will allow him to get back up again, supercharging his regenerative capabilities so he won’t stay down. Again – this is a fighting system that would only make sense for Wolverine.
6. PS5 Power
Few PlayStation first-party studios have had the output of Insomanic Games in recent years – Marvel’s Wolverine is the team’s fifth release on PS5. Both Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are exclusive to the console, while the cross-gen Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was one of the console’s best PS5 games in its launch window. Quantity hasn’t hampered quality either – they’ve all been excellent. “One thing we’re really proud about at the studio is shipping games,” says head of technology Mike Fitzgerald. Likewise, Marvel’s Wolverine feels like a real technical achievement so far. Stunning to play, this studio really knows how to get the most out of the system this many years deep into the generation.
5. Violence for a reason
Wolverine is an angry man, but he’s no caricature in this PS5 game. Respecting the character we know and love from the comics, he has plenty of legitimate reasons fuelling his rage. Marvel’s Wolverine tells a dark story from its early hours (we’ll avoid spoilers!), and there’s some nasty moments of injustice that have Logan rightfully fired up, ready to rail at powerful authority that relishes doing the wrong thing. He might be the best there is at what he does, but, in a way, what he does is nice – just, not if you’re on the receiving end of his bloody wrath.
4. Team X gon’ give it to us
There’s no X-Men in the world of Marvel’s Wolverine (at least, not yet), but there is a Team X, Insomniac’s own twist on the unit formed as part of the Weapon X programme in the comics. Here, it appears to be assembled by the sinister Nathaniel Essex, and the game’s opening revolves around freeing mutants from Trask Industries’ clutches while fighting alongside Sabretooth, Mystique, and Jean Grey. Later moments feature downtime where Logan can learn more about his allies-for-the-moment, including a ‘never have I ever’ drinking game with Mystique at a bar.
3. Moments of wander
Continuing on from those moments of downtime, while Marvel’s Wolverine definitely isn’t an open world game like Peter Parker’s New York adventures, it’s not completely linear, either. Getting some time to explore Madripoor before a mission kicks off, we get to have Wolverine sniff around a fairly wide space for optional but engaging conversations, nab collectibles, and take on challenges. All-out, non-stop action could get exhausting across a long journey, so we’re glad for some moments to get some time with Logan off the clock. Here’s hoping the final balance feels right.
2. Rising to the challenge
Speaking of optional content, we’ve had time to play some of Wolverine’s side challenges and we’re impressed so far. Similar in some ways to Spider-Man’s challenges in his games, they put Logan through the paces across combat and traversal challenges, dialing up the pressure to ensure we really get familiar with his controls which – while easy to get to grips with – do have a lot of nuance in the right hands. Even the latter has more to it than we expected, and by the time we master them Logan is dashing about with perfect grace, which almost reminds us of Mirror’s Edge (really!).
1. Silent, but deadly
Almost like The Last of Us Part 2, Wolverine is full of rage and violence but doesn’t need to unleash it all at once in big, straightforward fights. Instead, he can dip in and out of stealth to strike decisively from the shadows. It makes wide sections particularly delicious to play, as we control Logan’s angle of approach and can tear groups of guards apart in a sudden ambush in seconds, before moving on to the next. It really helps us feel like Wolverine, who is a scrappy, brutal fighter, not a hack and slash warrior.
Check out our best Marvel games ranking for more comic adventures!