Marvel’s Wolverine review – Another triumph for Insomniac

Move over Spider-Man, Insomniac Games is putting another superhero in the limelight for its latest game. After letting us gracefully swing through New York as Spider-Man, Marvel’s Wolverine lets us take control of the fan-favourite mutant, complete with razor-sharp claws and rage issues. And as you’d expect, it’s a brutal experience more focused on combat.

First things first, if you’ve played any of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games and expect Marvel’s Wolverine to be another open-world affair, think again. With its emotionally-charged story that takes you to multiple locations around the world, this is an adventure that’s linear in nature and more cinematic in its presentation. Though that’s not to say you’re not given any freedom. Lots of the locations you visit here, from the streets of Kabukicho to the fictional Madripoor, are fairly open for exploration.

The result is a game that often gives you multiple options with regards to how you deal with a situation; do you try to take all the enemies down using stealth kills, or do you face your enemies head-on? The latter may be more challenging but it’s certainly more fun, all thanks to a fast-paced and rather vicious combat system that has you leaping at and slicing enemies apart. And things only get bloodier as your rage grows.

Combat is at the core of Marvel’s Wolverine, so it’s a good job that it remains enjoyable and intense from the beginning to the end of the 15-hour-or-so experience. Unlike Spider-Man, whose combat feels inspired by the Arkham games, the combat here largely marches to the beat of its own drum. It feels closer to that of Ninja Gaiden if anything, thanks largely to its speed and brutality, with some action RPG elements thrown in for good measure.

In any encounter, your main goal is to get your enemies into a staggered state, whether that’s by parrying their attacks, kicking them into objects or other methods. Once you’ve done that you can then go to town on them with a barrage attack, doing heavy damage while building up your rage meter. Alternatively, grab yourself an early upgrade and you can press the leap attack button to perform an attack that recovers a portion of your health, keeping you in the fight.

Ultimately, the combat in Marvel’s Wolverine is best described as frenzied, with enemies often attacking in large numbers and being very aggressive. You’ll need to do your best to parry as many incoming attacks as you can, as well as dodge out of the way of any attacks that you can’t parry. And there are some encounters where you’ll only make it through alive if you build your rage bar by making use of your myriad of skills, allowing you to hit harder, perform gory critical hits and even shrug off being defeated should your health bar be depleted.

It can get a little messy sometimes, with enemies occasionally attacking you from off-screen, but it’s never too much of an issue. And while there’s always a risk of the action becoming a little stale, a steady stream of perks, skills and abilities to unlock and equip ensures it doesn’t happen. By levelling up you’ll earn skill points which can be used to unlock new skills, both of the passive and active nature. When it comes to passive skills, for example, you’re able to unlock the ability to perform a counter-attack after dodging a melee attack, and automatically block basic ranged fire while sprinting.

As for active skills, there are things like an upgradeable tornado spin skill that allows you to cause considerable damage to a number of enemies around you, and a brutal assault skill that allows you to tear through enemy defenses. While you can have as many passive skills activated as you like, it’s just shame there are more active skills available than you have active skills slots, forcing you to eventually abandon a couple of them.

Other upgrades are somewhat tied to hunting down collectibles. By finding whisky bottles and completing challenges accessed via Nightmare Doors, you’ll open up more adaptation slots, allowing you to equip a number of useful perks. You can make collectibles easier to detect in the environment, set it so that you restore a bit of health upon parrying, or make the cooldown of your favourite skill reduced every time you perform a barrage. Many adaptations are available, allowing you to make a build that suits you.

Other collectibles for you to hunt down are material crates, and the benefits of these are two-fold. The materials in these crates will allow you to craft a varied selection of outfits inspired by Wolverine’s many appearances throughout the years. And as you unlock outfits, you’ll reach milestones at which your character’s max health will be increased. If you want to be at the height of your abilities in Marvel’s Wolverine, then, you’ll want to explore whenever possible.

But as fun as the combat of Marvel’s Wolverine is, it’s the careful balance between it and other aspects of the game that keep you gripped to your controller. You’re given frequent breaks from the high-octane action, whether it’s to recuperate and exercise your tracking skills or, as previously mentioned, do a little bit of exploring. There are also plenty of exhilarating chase sequences to complete, multiple instances where you’ll ride a bike at high speed, and of course, numerous boss fights where your parrying abilities are truly put to the test.

When it’s firing on all cylinders, Marvel’s Wolverine is up there with the best action games in the genre. Parrying incoming attacks from multiple directions, retaliating with a vicious special skill that builds your rage meter and then tearing enemies limb from limb utilising critical attacks never gets old. And when you factor in other elements such as organic team-up attacks when you’re fighting alongside other superheroes, it all feels wonderfully dynamic.

What’s more, everything is further elevated by the game’s phenomenal presentation. This is undoubtedly one of the most impressive looking game on PS5 Pro, with a flabbergasting level of detail. From its lifelike textures to its superb facial animation, at times it’s genuinely like watching a movie. It helps that the voice acting is fantastic, too, with Spartacus star Liam McIntyre really bringing Wolverine to life, alongside the excellent Krizia Bajos as Jean Grey.

As the credits roll on Marvel’s Wolverine, you’ll have been on one hell of a journey. Though chances are you’ll want more. That’s not because what’s here doesn’t feel sufficient – with multiple difficulty levels available, collectibles to find, challenges to complete, and a new game plus mode to jump into, there’s more than enough to keep you playing for a long time to come. But rather, you’ll want to spend more time in the game’s world, finding out more about the characters you’ve encountered and the trials they’ve been though trying to make the help mutants find their place.

All this means that Marvel’s Wolverine is yet another success for Insomniac Games. It offers a fresh look at characters you may already know and love, with a story full of twists an surprises that will keep you on the edge of your seat and maybe even make you feel a little emotional. And so, between its gory, kinetic and rewarding combat and its engaging cinematic storytelling, Marvel’s Wolverine is a must-have whether you’re a fan of the gruff mutant or simply love action games.