Marvel's Wolverine: PS5 Review

Developed by Insomniac Games
Published by Sony Interactive
Platform: PS5

The character of Wolverine has always anchored the X-Men franchise.

Ably bought to life by Hugh Jackman in the movie franchise, the gruff cigar-chomping loner became the focal point of the series as he adapted into the world of mutants and their treatment by others.

So perhaps it was a natural progression that Insomniac Games, the creators of the Ratchet and Clank series and also the acclaimed Marvel's Spider-Man would take on the character for the gaming world - even before a hack in December 2023 exposed the fact they were working on the IP.

But unlike most of the X-Men films, this one strays away from the lineage of Wolverine and his adamantium creation and veers more into the R-rated territory of James Mangold's highly acclaimed Logan.

Voiced by another Aussie, Liam McIntyre, the game throws you into the claws of the amnesiac Wolverine who's returned to help his former teammates Team X (chiefly Raven and Sabretooth) and finds himself slap bang in the middle of a quest to track down some kidnapped mutants who've been taken by Bolivar Trask.

GET DETAILS ON HOW TO MEET LIAM MCINTYRE AKA WOLVERINE IN OCTOBER

In many ways, it's a very generic and typical X-Men story that Insomniac Games has taken for the basis of its Wolverine game - but that's not to dismiss the humanity of what plays out and the continuing tale of segregation and mistreatment of those who are deemed different. It's a theme that Marvel's X-Men has explored for centuries in its comics and as such, Insomniac Games has managed to give it a solid spin with the emotional depth provided by a subtle amd grounded humane performance from Spartacus star Liam McIntyre.

Make no mistake, Marvel's Wolverine is a brutal affair - if you want it to be.

READ ABOUT THE FIRST TWO HOURS OF WOLVERINE HERE

Limbs are hacked off, blood soaks much of the action on the screen and the language certainly doesn't hold back, so long-term fans of Wolverine's gruffer and visceral edges will be happy at what unfurls. (Don't worry, all of that can be turned off in the Accessibility settings, a canny touch by Insomniac to ensure those who loved Spider-Man continue to get their share of family friendly edges.)

Claws combat is violent too, with a varying set of combos unleashing more and more ferocious and feral attacks - this is a Logan who moves like a beast, scampering on the ground in parts and whose more animal edges Insomniac Games has leaned into. From assigning different moves to the L2 and D-pad, Logan's got options to unleash a series of other attacks which can be purchased from upgrades and assigned throughout the game.

Like its lithe combat, this is also a game that lives and breathes, evolving fighting with its story as more unlocks become available. Suits, which can be made from materials found around the various biodomes Logan visits (thanks to his supersonic hearing ability) unlock extra health and can be regularly changed out during missions - there's an ever-evolving feel to the world Logan's in and it's a welcome touch from Insomniac.

READ AN INTERVIEW WITH PROJECT DIRECTOR JESS REINER-REED HERE

Not content to fashion their story around the treatment of mutants and further details (which are spoiler-heavy at this stage), the game also allows you to unlock core memories from Logan's mind after he's enabled into a Nightmare world by Nathaniel Essex, who aims to heal him. These Nightmare Trials as they're known help you shape more of an insight into Logan and range from achieving a certain number of kills in a timeframe to racing to an end-point. It's an interesting way to do things, even if it does occasionally feel like a series of Spider-Man timed-inspired minigames to propel the story along.

And it's nice to be out of the city too, with Marvel's Wolverine taking in heady locations and foreign lands. From the snowy wilds of Canada to the hustle and bustle of Madripoor, every vista sparkles with the atmosphere of its locale - and it gifts Wolverine with the kind of global feel that a Bond movie has as it moves from location to location, giving the story more of a global relevance.

Insomniac Games' ambition has come to the fore here as well, with big cinematic cutscenes full of blockbuster sturm and drang soaking proceedings. These are big set pieces that sit excellently within the brightest and best of the blockbuster ambitions; they're fluid, enthralling and entertaining, full of spectacle. Occasionally they give you a chance to interact with them via some QTEs, but mostly they're there for your eyes and story progression.

And it's here that Marvel's Wolverine presents an interesting paradox.

The game very much relies on its pattern of frenetic, adrenaline-fuelled combat before going for either stealth hunting or more contemplative edges (eg the Nightmare trials, choosing music in a bar) before ramping up the action once again to build to the end of a chapter. As a result, very occasionally, the staccato approach gives way to a feeling of a stop-start that affects the overall flow of the game. It's unfair to compare it to Spider-Man, but the connecting tissue here doesn't always gel as well as it could, no matter how playable and fluid sections are.

Most of the mechanics of the Spider-Man game in terms of combat have been ported over too and while they've been given a Wolverine shine over and polished with unique abilities, there's also a nagging feeling that game mechanics don't exactly feel transformational this time. (And a couple of uncanny crossovers with Spider-Man: Brand New Day lend the movie an unexpected surprise.) 

It's not that they're bad to play with or work poorly, more that there's not as much innovation as the previous Marvel formula. Although there's also an argument to be had that given how well these things work, why would you mess with a winning formula?

Overall, Marvel's Wolverine still offers Insomniac Games at its pinnacle, and given the game graphically pushes the limits, it's a thrilling experience when it all gels and one that's worthy of the Logan name and legacy.

Marvel's Wolverine releases exclusively on PlayStation 5 from September 15.