Insomaniac lends its superhero video game expertise to the most famous X-Men of them all, losing just a touch of the Marvel magic in the process.16:00, 10 Sep 2026Marvel's Wolverine aims to give the Canadian superhero the AAA video game treatment. Yet despite emotional character performances and a raft of fun collectibles, combat never truly leaps above its full potential.‌Given that Insomniac is also the best at what it does, I can think of no better studio to tackle what has been pitched to be the marquee Wolverine game. Of course, it also helps that the developer has already proved it can work wonders within the Marvel realm, having done so with no less than three fantastic Spider-Man games. But Wolverine, by his very nature, is a different beast - and I mean that both literally and figuratively.‌The Living Weapon is a complex, nuanced character when handled correctly, no doubt, yet metal claws seem somewhat limiting for a developer known for giving players some of the most creative weapons in all of video games via its much-beloved Ratchet & Clank series. And despite its best efforts, the character’s incredibly restricted combat toolset is an obstacle that Marvel’s Wolverine never quite overcomes - marring this comic book adventure’s true potential. Despite this one fatal flaw, however, Insomniac’s latest effort remains an incredibly polished superhero action game that otherwise does justice to Logan’s pre X-Men origins.‌Starting off with the good, then, and one of the smartest choices Insomniac made with Marvel’s Wolverine is to not make this an open-world game. While I imagine there was an early temptation to see if this was possible and it seemingly goes against what players expect from a modern, big-budget superhero game, the fact is that Wolverine’s moveset works best when pointed at a single target.As such, giving him an overly large interactive map a la Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 wouldn’t make all that much sense. However, this isn’t to say you don’t do a lot of globe-trotting. Far from it. From Madripoor to Japan and all the way back to Logan’s home country of Canada, Marvel’s Wolverine spins up an ‘us-versus-them’ mutant storyline that is epic in scope yet still feels authored in where it elects to take you.‌At the centre of it all is Liam McIntyre's performance, which is excellent in balancing Wolverine’s inherent rage alongside his quieter, more emotional side. It would have been easy to portray the squat Canadian as a gruff, anger-riddled machine intent on destroying everything in sight, but thanks to the time Marvel’s Wolverine takes to focus on Logan’s past in some pretty unique ways alongside how he bounces off his fellow Team X members such as Sabertooth and Mystique and new additions like Jean Grey, this is one of the most in-depth Wolverine stories I’ve experienced outside of comic books.The visual design of the ensemble cast itself aren’t quite as inspired as Insomniac wrestles to have them make sense with its own 1048 universe, but they luckily aren’t too much of a distraction.Getting into the real meat of my issues with Marvel’s Wolverine, and it’s unfortunately the main crux of the entire adventure: combat. Previous Wolverine and X-Men games have flirted with the idea of making Logan’s trademark claws interesting to varying degrees of success, sure, but doing so across a true, character-focused story centred on Logan and no-one else that spans upwards of 15 hours? It turns out that continuously hacking, slashing, and stabbing has its limits.‌Enemy bouts in Marvel’s Wolverine aren’t bad per se, yet there were plenty of times while playing that, after facing the umpteenth horde consisting of increasingly spongey enemy types, I ultimately grew tired of repeatedly spamming the Square button with the odd L1 parry, instant leap attack, or dodge thrown in.Claws outAdmittedly, Insomniac tries its damned hardest to imbue this otherwise basic combat system with a bit of depth and nuance in the form of Special Techniques, which essentially function as super moves tied to a cooldown that momentarily allows Wolverine to grant himself a little breathing space. The likes of Tornado Spin, Spiral Strike , and Brutal Assault can all be deployed whenever you’re in a pinch during fights, and the ability to improve them as Logan levels up throughout the campaign is appreciated.The problem is, however, that the cooldowns tied to each Special Technique is so gosh darn slow, undoubtedly being an intentional choice so as to ensure that players can’t just spam them in every encounter. And yet, this being a superhero game first and foremost, that’s exactly how I should feel. Hence why it’s weird to see Wolverine’s inherent capabilities strangely hampered in this way.‌Luckily, a lot more successful is how Wolverine’s rage is handled. Rather than just have him scream at enemies and call it a day, Insomniac has done a pretty decent job at turning the character’s wrath into an actual mechanic, whereby the more efficiently you dispatch enemies, the quicker you build the designated Rage meter.At Rage Level 1 Wolverine gains the ability to regenerate his health back when downed, at Level 2 every combo ender becomes more lethal, and then finally, at Rage Level 3, you can fully rip-and-tear as the unhinged beast buried underneath the Logan skin, leaping around the screen in quick fashion and taking down foes almost in a single hit. The kicker is that maintaining this level of rage isn’t the easiest, so it bodes well to make the most of it while it lasts.‌Combat itself might not be as in-depth or layered as I was hoping for, but one aspect to Marvel’s Wolverine that is undeniable is just how well it caters to even the most passing comic book fan in terms of the Easter Eggs and collectibles peppered in. Whether it be a mention of a certain New York-based lawyer or a fan of playing cards sporting a distinctly pink outline, Insomniac knows exactly when to go deep and when to pull back without ever taking the full focus away from the X-Men world.The best unlockables, of course, are the distinct lineup of Wolverine suits that pull from the character’s history in movies, TV, and comic books, all of which make the hunt for each level’s handful of hidden Whiskey Bottles, Nightmare Cabin challenges, and machine parts worthwhile.Overall, Marvel’s Wolverine isn’t a bad game, but it is an oddly restricted one that is never able to reach the heights of Insomniac’s other Marvel fare due to the limited combat ability of its central character. Popping out and tearing through bad guys using Logan’s adamantium claws feels good to pull off in the moment, yet despite a built-in upgrade system, passive buffs to apply, and Special Techniques aimed at breaking up the typical hack-and-slash action, it doesn’t develop nearly enough to hold up an entire game.Article continues belowIt’s a shame given that in terms of its characters, story, and sheer reverence for this universe Marvel’s Wolverine is absolutely on par with the studio’s other first-party AAA material. In the canon of wider Wolverine games, however, PlayStation’s take isn’t all that definitive.Rating: 3/5Marvel's Wolverine is scheduled to release exclusively on PS5 on September 15, 2026.