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Insomniac’s long-awaited Wolverine is out, and, well, it’s not great. I mean that in the very literal sense: It’s fine—good, even, at least in some ways—but it’s not great, and that’s a problem for a game that was positioned as one of Sony’s biggest PlayStation 5 exclusives of the past few years. The bar was high, and the ol’ Canucklehead didn’t quite clear it.
This is especially unwelcome news for PlayStation right now, given that its plate is already pretty full with other bad news. The platform’s live service travails have gotten so far out of hand that it’s managed to kill Destiny 2, and there’s a reasonable expectation that Bungie itself might not be too far behind.
More recently, it pulled a massive botch with Hideo Kojima’s Physint that led to the auteur partnering with Xbox on the project instead. Sony may have had its reasons for pulling the plug, but strictly from a PR perspective, that’s the kind of self-own that leaves a deep scar. Similarly, the company is taking heat for its decision to end physical disc production in 2028, a move that may be rationally defensible but is nonetheless really pissing a lot of people off.
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And now, this: A major PS5 exclusive that’s landed with all the grace of an egg chucked at a school bus. Because of its platform exclusivity, we can’t tell you what we think of the game, except that we’re feeling a little better about not getting it. We can, however, tell you what other sites think of it, so let’s do that.
“Missing that crucial X-factor”
GamesRadar: 3/5
GR’s Leon Hurley says Wolverine’s mid-game feels like the game Insomniac wanted to make: “It’s lively, layered, and just a fun place to be.” Alas, “the rest of the game feels thin, and largely consists of boxy corridors that top and tail Tokyo with shallow combat luges broken up by cutscene checkpoints and little else.”
“Good character work props up flashy combat that wears thin over time”
IGN: 6/10
IGN reviewer Simon Cardy found much to like in Logan’s character: “Liam McIntyre’s performance grants Logan a personality to match his trademark blades – a sharp, surprising hidden depth, housed in a bulky, blunt instrument of a body. He delicately balances the shadows of his past with the future of mutantkind, all while managing his Jekyll and Hyde nature, as animal instincts sometimes break through the compassion he strives to show.” Actual gameplay, though, “wears thin well before the conclusion.”
“Insomniac’s most violent game yet is a globe-trotting Wolverine adventure”
Shacknews: 8/10
Donovan Erskine at Shacknews said Wolverine “does an excellent job adapting the iconic mutant,” with “some excellent character moments in what is otherwise a fairly standard comic book story.” As others noted, he said combat became “repetitive” as the game progressed, but found it “deeply satisfying” despite that.
“A gripping, emotional bloodbath”
DualShockers: 8.5/10
Christian Bognar provided one of the more upbeat takes on Wolverine for DualShockers, writing that Insomniac’s portrayal of the character is “a success,” thanks to its “deeply personal story that explores what it means to live with trauma, loss, and regret.” Christian also felt the combat in Wolverine was a step up from that of Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man game, despite lacking Spidey’s “freedom and versatility.”
“Relentless momentum”
GameInformer: 8.5/10
GI’s Matt Miller is clearly a fan, writing that “the high speed, brutal slashing, and unstoppable force of Wolverine are captured better than any film or game to come before.” And where many other reviews found the game wore thin before its conclusion, calling it “an intense and unrelenting ride” that “doesn’t wear out its welcome.”
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“Marvel’s Wolverine’s claw-fueled combat doesn’t feel as deep as its systems suggest, but that didn’t stop me from grinning ear to ear carving through its lengthy campaign”
TechRadar: 4/5
Writing for TechRadar, review Matt Cabral said Wolverine’s fighting mechanics “suffer from a lack of meaningful depth,” but praised the game’s production values: “Supported by visceral, varied, and extremely violent melee combat, this set-piece-packed, cinema-rivaling spectacle puts you behind the claws – and mutton chops – of the fan-favorite superhero like never before.”
“Only aims as high as its stout hero”
GameSpot: 6/10
Tamoor Hussain declared in his take for GameSpot that Wolverine is “a fun but forgettable experience that’ll entertain you for a few hours.” But it also demonstrates the limitations of the character himself, especially when compared to the open world and energetic dynamism of the studio’s previous Spider-Man games: “Wolverine might be the best at what he does, but what he does hasn’t let Insomniac’s developers be the best at what they do.”
“Uninspired gameplay leaves Logan feeling declawed despite a strong narrative:
VGC: 3/5
Like many other reviewers, VGC’s Jordan Middler enjoyed Wolverine’s characters and story, but found everything the game’s “tightly crafted and emotive story moments” to be lacking. “The third-person hacking and slashing is fine, but it barely evolves from hour one until hour twelve,” Jordan wrote. And while Wolverine has a handful of other abilities at his disposal, they didn’t really add much to the power fantasy and felt “ineffective” compared to Logan’s standard moveset.
“Uninspired action carried by Logan’s puppy-dog charm”
Eurogamer: 3/5
In yet another review that praises the characters and narrative of Wolverine while being cooler on the gameplay, Chris Tapsell wrote that the combat isn’t bad, it’s just overly repetitive. “After the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh wave of jump-and-parryable-attack guys comes at you with the exact same cadence of parry timing and bullet-dodging you just start to glaze over a little … When you’re putting your fist through someone’s eyes, face, heart and feeling absolutely nothing, it’s a sign something’s a little off. In the blandest terms: too many of the same enemies, dealt with in the same way, for too long.”
“A gloriously conflicted lead is let down by crude, boring battling”
The Guardian: 3/5
Keith Stuart at The Guardian is yet another reviewer who enjoyed Wolverine the character more than Wolverine the game. “Despite the full-bloodied use of Wolverine’s claws and a generous array of moves and combos, combat lacks both the bone-crunching impact of the Batman Arkham games and the balletic joy of Spider-Man. As the game goes on and the enemies line up, it feels increasingly like a chore. Logan becomes what he always dreaded: hired muscle.”
“A patchwork quilt of ideas from other PlayStation games that frequently bump against each other”
Giant Bomb: 2.5/5
Giant Bomb’s Shawn McDowell came in on the lower end of the Wolverine review spectrum—he liked the voice acting and “mostly-good combat,” but not much else. “[Spider-man] is all about exploring every nook and cranny of New York through fast, fun web swinging, quietly taking out baddies from the shadows, and frequently getting into street brawls with thugs. If they were going to use that as a template for Wolverine, a character with far fewer tools who isn’t associated with the big city, how would that make sense? Turns out, it often doesn’t.”
And a few unscored reviews, just for fun: The Verge says “Wolverine’s bloodthirsty focus on action is something that makes it stand out,” Kotaku called it “refreshing in its straightforward focus” but also “stagnant,” and Polygon pulled no punches, calling Wolverine “the biggest disappointment of the PS5 era.”
