There is something reassuring about a Wolverine game that understands that its leading man should move like an angry muscle tank with somewhere to be. Logan doesn’t need a backpack full of gadgets or a city full of criminals politely waiting their turn.
He needs a reason to be furious, something unfortunate enough to stand in his way, and enough room to let those claws do their thing.
For much of Marvel’s Wolverine, Insomniac gets that right. Its take on the mutant is savage, quick and surprisingly personable, delivering a cinematic adventure that finds room for both bloody confrontations and a story worth following. Some of its supporting systems could use sharper claws, but there is plenty here for fans to sink theirs into.
After the sprawling playgrounds of its Spider-Man games, Insomniac has opted for a more controlled approach. This is a linear campaign, running around 15 hours, with a clear path through its environments and relatively little room to wander. Anyone expecting to spend their evenings freely prowling Madripoor should adjust those expectations.
That structure works particularly well when the story is pulling you forward. There is an appealing directness to having a campaign that knows where it wants to take you. The trade-off is that the spaces between its big moments can feel restrictive, especially when another stretch of traversal leads into another familiar combat encounter.
Fortunately, Logan himself makes a strong first impression. He moves like Wolverine should: low, fast and ready to turn a leap into somebody else’s problem. His physicality is one of the game’s most convincing achievements.
There is aggression in the way he closes distance, and enough agility to prevent him from feeling like a heavy character simply lumbering towards the next fight.
Traversal is necessarily limited by his abilities, but Insomniac’s experience with Spider-Man still shows. Jumping and climbing have a quick, dynamic quality that suits Logan without pretending he can suddenly swing across a skyline.
The routes may be prescribed, but the character moving through them feels right. Wolverine does not need to move like Spider-Man to be enjoyable to control.
Combat builds on that same physical identity. Close encounters are bloody and confrontational, with combos, defensive responses and bursts of aggression keeping Logan in the thick of things.
This is a character whose signature weapons are attached to his hands, and the game understands the appeal of getting him within arm’s reach.
The team combos are a particular highlight. They give the action a welcome sense of shared momentum and make the supporting cast feel involved in the fighting. For a character so often framed as a loner, watching Logan work with others adds another enjoyable dimension to the experience.
However, the action could do more to develop across the campaign. The initial thrill of being Wolverine carries considerable weight, but familiar encounters gradually make the underlying structure more apparent. There is only so much freshness another room of enemies can offer when the rhythm of clearing it remains similar.
The combat is entertaining… it just needs more variety to keep that early excitement alive.
Stealth is considerably less persuasive, and that feels like a missed opportunity for a character with deep roots in espionage and covert operations. Logan may be famous for resolving disagreements with six adamantium claws, but there is an experienced operative beneath all that growling. A Wolverine game has good reason to make stalking enemies as satisfying as charging straight at them.
Here, the limited stealth options do too little to bring that side of him to life. Compared with the opportunities to observe patrols, choose an approach and set up an assassination in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, these sections feel basic and restrictive.
Wolverine does not need to borrow that entire formula, but his heightened senses and covert experience should offer more interesting ways to hunt. Too often, stealth feels like a brief interruption before the fighting resumes, rather than a convincing expression of another skill Logan has spent years mastering.
The suits also feel like a missed opportunity. They offer aesthetic variety, but there are no suit-specific abilities to give those wardrobe changes a mechanical identity. Dressing Logan differently is fun, especially for fans with a favourite look, but it would have been satisfying to have more reasons to experiment beyond deciding which outfit wears the blood best.
The story provides a stronger reason to keep going. Logan has enough personality and emotional range to carry the quieter scenes, and the relationships around him give the campaign substance beyond its next confrontation. It is a good Wolverine story because there is more to its central character than his capacity to survive punishment and dispense considerably more of it.
Sabretooth is a standout. His presence makes the dynamic around Logan more interesting, and he is a character the game leaves you wanting to explore further. There is enough there to suggest that giving him more space would enrich this corner of Insomniac’s Marvel universe. He deserves more than simply being remembered as the other bloke with claws.
The presentation helps hold everything together. Detailed characters and environments give the adventure a strong visual identity, while the contrast between its superhero elements and grittier atmosphere suits Wolverine well. There is plenty of spectacle, but some of the most memorable details emerge when you slow down long enough to notice the world around him.
Madripoor deserves particular praise. Insomniac has taken the time to get the accents and local lingo right, giving its streets a familiarity that goes beyond neon signs and vaguely “Asian” scenery. From the background conversations to the exchanges you catch while passing through, there is a welcome sense that someone paid attention to how people in this part of the world actually speak.
The storefronts reinforce that impression, with Malay, Tamil, Vietnamese and Chinese signage bringing a recognisable mix of languages to the streets. These details help Madripoor feel inhabited, with communities going about their lives around Logan’s latest disagreement with somebody’s internal organs. The setting has character even when its leading man is keeping his claws at Hand (pun intended).
This is especially enjoyable for fans from Southeast Asia. Hearing familiar accents and expressions, then spotting languages (and dishes) you encounter in everyday life, creates a connection that an impressive skyline alone cannot deliver.
There is real pleasure in recognising those touches without having to mentally excuse another awkward approximation of the region.
Insomniac deserves kudos for that care. A fictional setting gives a developer plenty of freedom, but making it feel culturally convincing still takes effort. Madripoor benefits enormously from the attention given to its conversations, storefronts and everyday atmosphere. It becomes a place worth paying attention to between fights, even within the campaign’s limited room for exploration.
Marvel’s Wolverine succeeds most clearly at making Logan feel like Logan. His movement, the team combat and the story give this focused adventure a strong foundation, while Madripoor adds a particularly rewarding sense of place for Southeast Asian players.
Underdeveloped stealth, cosmetic-only suits and increasingly familiar encounters keep it from reaching the same heights throughout.
Still, there is considerable pleasure in a superhero game that commits to its character this thoroughly. Wolverine has the claws and the attitude. Insomniac has supplied the heart. A little more depth in the systems around them would make the whole package considerably harder to put down. enthusiasts