A Few Thoughts on the Wolverine Game

Last week, Sony released Marvel's Wolverine for the Playstation 5 and PC. Created by Insomniac Games, the folks behind Marvel's Spiderman and Spiderman 2 games, the game was a highly anticipated release this fall season.

But prior to its release, the internet turned on the game. Fueled by the vocal minority's anger regarding the elimination of a disc drive in the unreleased Playstation 6, folks began nitpicking footage from the game, it's budget, it's writing, etc. I had minor clips of dialogue sent to me out of context which sounded bad when listened to for three seconds, but in a conversation, it was perfectly fine. I even had a friend reach out to me voicing his frustration that Wolverine couldn't self-heal... which he can. It just goes to show the extent of misinformation being spread about this game.

While I am a fan of the character Wolverine, this was a game I was happy to wait on. I have plenty to play and wasn't looking to drop $70 on something else, after I just bought Halloween the week prior. But, having grown tired of the non-stop bitching, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and play the game for myself.

I'm about 3/4ths of the way through the story and I'm really enjoying it. The graphics are good, the gameplay is fun, and the storyline is refreshing. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I appreciate the story not beginning with Wolverine as part of the X-Men. It frees him up to discover himself and allows for some unique interactions. The game leans really hard into its cinematic experience, which can make for some longer cutscenes.

The gameplay is typical of a hack and slash, although it is a bit basic, so I can see how that can get repetitive. It reminds me of an early God of War game, where there just wasn't a huge diversity in weapons. Sure you upgrade, add new moves, and progress your combat abilities, but Wolverine has claws and nothing else. I'm okay with this, because if Wolverine was shooting guns or using some other weapon, it wouldn't feel like Wolverine and believe me, if there is one thing this game got right, it is that it makes you feel like Wolverine.

Combat is brutal. There is tons of blood, body parts go flying, and you'll emerge from an epic battle bathed in enough blood that you'd think you were playing a horror movie game. Wolverine also takes damage, and with that, his clothes are ruined/as is his flesh. As he heals, the flesh grows back, and at one point in the game there is an explanation for while the clothes regenerate at well.

The voice acting is really, really good. Liam McIntyre plays our title character. You may know him as Weather Wizard from The Flash TV show. He portrays Logan with a bit more subtley and depth than Hugh Jackman does. He's not depressed, but you can feel the weight of his existence in his dialogue. There is this underlying pain that haunts the character, and that is what makes Wolverine so interesting. It’s nice to see the game didn't shy away from that, and instead embraced it a bit, as you run across challenges to help you recover long, lost memories.

So, how good is Wolverine? Well... it's definitely a step-down from The Spiderman games, but its also a very different type of game. Spiderman is an open world adventure, while this is a more straightforward narrative. I'm quite happy with this decision by the game designers, because I wouldn't have any interest in an open world Wolverine game. I like that I get to see diverse settings, and an open world just wouldn't offer that experience.

When I take into consideration a few graphical hiccups I've run across and gameplay I wish was a bit more expansive, I would rate this game a seven out of ten. It's a solid adventure and an excellent Wolverine simulator, but it doesn't do anything to really break the mold or stand out.

But let me mention just one last thing...

I grew up in a time when superhero games weren't as abundant as they are now. Sure, I loved Superman on my Atari 2600, but outside of dropping quarters in X-Men The Arcade Game, I don't have a ton of great superhero video game memories from my childhood. Despite this... I played them ALL. Even into the 2000s, every low-budget Green Lantern game, or Gameboy Advance Flash game, I played it. I wanted to experience these character in an interactive experience. I wanted to be these characters I grew up reading and watching on TV.

Thankfully, superheroes are more popular these days, and we've seen some amazing video game renditions. I still play the Arkham series regularly and I love just swinging around New York as Spiderman. And while Wolverine isn't going to reinvent the third person superhero genre, I absolutely adore running my adamantium claws through a group of bad guys who surround me. I love going on a fury attack and I couldn't help but smile the first time a familiar face showed up in the game.

Wolverine is a good game. Don't let the internet and bitching take that away from you if you like the character or superhero games, although I would recommend waiting for a sale.