After the success of the Spider-Man games, developer Insomniac Games could have easily translated that formula to any number of different Marvel heroes, and they likely would have been very successful. But rather than play it safe, Insomniac is taking a big swing by making Marvel’s Wolverine. Wolverine is a challenging character to tackle because there are so many aspects of the character, both narratively and mechanically, that are not easily translated into an interactive experience. And while there are elements of Wolverine (the game) that either feel simplistic or a bit haphazard, Insomniac has nailed so much of what makes the character unique that you can’t help but feel satisfied by the end.
Wolverine is not an open-world game. Its levels, even when they offer the freedom to explore, are fairly self-contained, with invisible barriers ushering you towards the main objective. It’s an element that immediately separates this game from Spider-Man and also allows Insomniac to maintain a certain pace in the gameplay and the story. There are opportunities to venture off the beaten path to hunt collectibles, and even sections where all you are doing is walking around talking to characters, but as a whole experience, Wolverine wants to take you on a thrill ride.
Wolverine Explores the Man and the Hero in a Globe-trotting Adventure
That all starts with the story, which is essentially three distinct arcs that eventually become part of one whole. At first, it isn’t clear how everything interconnects, and honestly, the game felt a little meandering in parts, but by the end, the story comes together to expand on this character we seemingly know so well in new and unexpected ways. Yes, if you’re familiar with the comics, you can see some of the twists coming, but even then, there is a lot of new territory as well.
Most of all, Wolverine does a fantastic job of exploring so many facets of the character, intermixing his rage with his vulnerability. For every moment of absolute brutality, there are sequences that highlight his humanity. It is, for me, the most complete version of Wolverine that we’ve seen in media, and it all starts with Liam McIntyre’s performance.
McIntyre has the tough task of embodying a character who has become synonymous with Hugh Jackman. But due to the length of the game and how expansive the narrative is, McIntyre is given every opportunity to shine, and shine he does. Obviously, you have to get the growl and animalistic aspects of the character down, but more challenging is humanizing him. Thanks to the game’s stunning character animations, Liam McIntyre’s performance comes through completely, from every glassy-eyed moment of weakness to the unbridled rage that Wolverine is known for.
Across the board, the Wolverine cast is exceptional. Krizia Bajos’ Jean Grey is ostensibly the second lead in the game, and her chemistry with McIntyre is the engine that drives a lot of the title’s more emotional beats. Troy Baker toes that line between friend and foe so well in the game, and even the smaller roles like Sabretooth and Mystique are given plenty of opportunities to be dynamic.
I do think that the story starts to unspool at times, feeling less cohesive in sections. Whether that’s due to time limitations or a desire to let audiences fill in some of the narrative blanks is unclear, but there are certainly gaps where it would have been nice to have more clarity on what exactly the stakes are and how one beat connects to the next.
Wolverine’s Gameplay is Visceral and Relentless
Bridging those narrative moments throughout Wolverine is some of the most visceral combat you will ever experience. By no means is this a neutered version of Wolverine – in every aspect. Insomniac Games knew that letting players control an unkillable killing machine would be a challenge, and they didn’t shy away from it. Blood and limbs are plentiful throughout Wolverine, as befitting a character with impossibly sharp claws.
At the same time, while you know what Wolverine combat should look like and Insomniac nails that brutality across the board, maintaining a level of fun and challenge is not so easy. The game opts for a somewhat simplistic combination of button-mashing and skill usage that works well in short bursts but can become repetitive the longer a section goes on. The main goal of any conflict is to stagger an enemy, which is achieved through combos, a charged-up kick, skills, parries, and a few other interactive tools at Wolvie’s disposal.
Once an enemy is staggered, they basically become a pincushion for Wolverine to slice and dice in any number of ways. Do that enough and your Rage meter completely fills, and Wolverine goes berserk, dispatching enemies in quick succession (provided they are lower tier). It’s an invigorating moment every time it happens, but getting to that point has its ups and downs. Specifically, when you are in the thick of wailing on one enemy, the game oftentimes locks you into specific animations, leaving you vulnerable to enemy attack. The good news is that Wolverine can take a beating, but I found the combat became clunky when too many enemies were attacking at once. Still, the best course of action is to be aggressive as hell, like a Wolverine, and parry or dodge an attack if you can.
As the game progresses, it throws more challenging enemies your way that require some strategy, but it never expands far beyond the basics. You only earn new skills by leveling up, and that feels dictated by your position in the story because of how linear unlocks work. Similarly, the parts of the skill tree that include modifiers for your moves and skills add new wrinkles to the formula, like being able to deflect ranged attacks while sprinting or chaining two stealth attacks together, but they don’t significantly change combat as you progress through the game.
Maybe that’s by design – Wolverine is a blunt instrument, and he doesn’t need a complex fighting style – but it also means the gameplay doesn’t evolve too much from beginning to end. To me, the focus on building up rage allows for Wolverine to become that ultimate killing machine you want, and everything else feels like different roads to get to the same point. Leaping between targets with Triangle, using finishers with both triggers, and watching Wolverine slice and dice his foes is endlessly satisfying, even if the animations do get repetitive after a while. And when Wolverine has a buddy on the adventure and those finishers add Sabretooth or Jean Grey into the mix, it is a truly giddy moment.
Stealth and traversal are fairly straightforward as well, and are arguably where the game feels the most rote. Without the freedom of an open world, there are really only one or two paths between point A and B, and while it’s cool to see Wolverine zipline or climb with his claws, it feels perfunctory at best. Meanwhile, stealth is merely a matter of getting close to an enemy and pressing a button; there is nothing more to it beyond that.
Combat is simple, but it genuinely gives you the feeling of being Wolverine. There’s no easy answer for creating fail states, because his healing factor gives you a last stand as long as you have Rage meter, but I think Insomniac found the best way to balance difficulty with the roots of the character. Introducing more challenging enemies tilts that balance in favor of repetition, though, because then the rules of Wolverine’s adamantium claws start to bend. Without the same type of visceral impact that you get from the basic thugs, fights instead become mashing a few buttons until the enemy is vulnerable. Then the flashy finishers hit, and you’re thrown back into a flurry of claws and viscera.
Wolverine Tackles the Challenge of an Unkillable Hero
Wolverine isn’t Spider-Man or Batman; he kills…a lot. But if he could slice and dice effortlessly through every enemy, the experience would be mindless. Make it too challenging, though, and you neuter his iconic adamantium claws. Understanding the seemingly impossible task Insomniac was faced with, I think they did well to find a happy medium. I wish there were more dynamism and variety to the combos and boss fights being reduced to a pattern of parry/dodge attacks, get your hits in, rinse and repeat, deadens their impact, but seeing Wolverine and his foes take a beating, and SHOW that damage, goes a long way to smoothing out those rough edges.
And boy does Wolverine get thrown through the wringer here. Yes, there is an inconsistency when it comes to suit damage and healing, but no other character could be put through this much and continue. Just as Wolverine hands out carnage at every turn, he comes out of every fight looking like he’s been dropped down the garbage disposal. Insomniac clearly relished the opportunity to beat its hero to a pulp, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing every way they chose to punish him. Wolverine earns its M rating in ways few other games could.
The Suits You Wear, The Places You Go
For Wolverine fans, this game ticks all the boxes that you would hope for. It features a strong mix of familiar friends, foes, and a few deep cuts. Don’t go into this expecting everything to feel like one big X-Men Easter Egg, but there are plenty of characters who you’ve either never seen on screen or have a new interpretation.
It sends you on a gorgeous tour through some of the Wolverine/X-Men/Marvel universe’s most iconic locales (Madrapoor and Japan, for example) and is easily one of the best-looking PS5 games on the system. Insomniac are wizards when it comes to getting a solid frame rate with top-tier visual fidelity and they’ve once again put their skills on full display. I mentioned the character work, but every detail in the world is incredible, from the destructible environmental elements to the stunning lighting.
And it has a plethora of suits that chart the character’s history from early comics runs all the way through Tokon Fighting Souls. I’ll admit that there’s something a bit goofy about seeing Wolverine in this stunningly realized world in his more outlandish costumes – even more so during emotional cutscenes – but you wouldn’t have it any other way. If you want to run around as animated Wolverine you can, but you’ll have to first unlock the suit through crafting.
Although the game is linear, you can explore and seek out those crafting materials for the suits, hunt liquor bottles that serve as Easter Eggs and references, or complete Nightmare trials, which are timed traversal and combat challenges set in their own arenas. I wanted to search every nook and cranny for the lore drops and the suit crafting, but the collectibles feel like diversions so some of the environments get a little more attention than they would otherwise.
Wolverine Has Highs and Lows Overall
To me, Wolverine both excels and falls short because Insomniac didn’t want to make a Spider-Man game starring a different Marvel character. Combat is not as complex or, frankly, engaging because this character is not as flashy. Instead, the violent nature comes through and allows for some of the bloodiest combat you will ever see. It’s simple, but effective, which you could argue fits Wolverine himself.
The game isn’t open world, which allows for tighter storytelling and a globe-trotting adventure, but it also puts a bigger magnifier on individual narrative beats and how they interconnect. There are more opportunities to develop the character of Wolverine and his relationships with people like Jean Grey and Nathaniel Essex, and that’s where this game sets itself apart from any other piece of Wolverine media the most. The journey is shaky in parts, but I think by the end, Insomniac sticks the landing.
Wolverine sits alongside a comic book hero like Superman as a character that easily translates to film, but in a video game, is a much tougher nut to crack. How do you make him feel powerful without nerfing what makes him unique? How do you challenge the player when your hero is essentially unkillable? To its credit, Insomniac Games found a way to offer the thrills of a Marvel adventure, some big story moments anchored by crucial character development, and combat that oftentimes throws logic out the window in favor of relentless destruction.
But like Wolverine himself, Marvel’s Wolverine has some rough edges. Its combat is simplistic, boss fights look cool but lack innovation, and there’s too much of a feeling like you are being funneled from one sequence to the next. If you meet the game on its own terms, though, you’ll find an experience that’s akin to a summer blockbuster. You’re along for the big bombastic action sequences, and when they land, any flaws feel like small gripes rather than deal-breakers.
- Released
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September 15, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Bloody and visceral combat
- A compelling story with strong performances
- Incredible visuals
- Combat gets repetitive
- Narrative meanders
