Two hours were enough to split the people expecting a revolution
Marvel's Wolverine has finally been played by media outlets and creators. Their sessions lasted roughly two hours and covered the opening in Telambang, several fights, a major encounter and a visit to Madripoor. These are not full reviews, but they are the first chance to judge Logan's claws outside the confines of a trailer.
The overall response is far warmer than some online arguments suggest. GamesRadar came away convinced that this feels like Logan rather than Spider-Man with extra blood. Combat has weight, environments react to the damage and finishers sell the fantasy of controlling someone who has no reason to hold back. The story also made a strong impression: these characters share a messy past, and the game does not waste an afternoon explaining how Logan got his adamantium.
IGN was cooler on it: fun, certainly; a revelation on the scale of the first Marvel's Spider-Man, not quite. That is where almost all the controversy begins. Nobody seems to have discovered a bad game. Some people discovered exactly the game they thought they had already seen.
Insomniac has swapped webs for claws
Wolverine cannot cross New York on a web. That one mechanic made Spider-Man extraordinary before the first punch was thrown. Logan offers a different fantasy: closing the gap, absorbing the punishment and tearing an opponent apart at arm's length. It works, but it is harder to present as something players have never felt before.
The previews describe a linear, highly cinematic adventure built around combat arenas, stealth, progression and large action sequences. Kinda Funny landed on a useful word for its early reaction: whelmed. Online, that quickly became repetitive, shallow or too close to the formula Insomniac has spent years refining.
There is an important difference between familiar and lazy. A familiar camera, a skill tree and dodge-heavy combat do not make Wolverine a reskin. The problem will come if the gameplay starts feeling repetitive after five hours. Violence can make a strong first impression, but the design has to carry at least 15 hours of story.
The worst problem for an $80 exclusive
Insomniac appears to have understood several things. Logan is the only playable character, even if Sabretooth, Mystique and Jean Grey join certain encounters. This is not an origin story either. Both decisions cut out two of the superhero genre's most exhausting detours and keep the adventure close to its lead.
Marvel's Wolverine launches on PS5 on September 15 for $69.99 in the US and €79.99 in Spain. At that price, plenty of players want more than competence; they want the reason they bought the console. But demanding that every blockbuster reinvent third-person combat is also a remarkably efficient way to enjoy nothing.
My opinion of these first impressions is simple: Marvel's Wolverine does not look likely to change gaming, but it does look like a very well-made Wolverine game. Catch up on its story, characters, release date and editions before the final verdict arrives.
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