Years and years of waiting have finally brought us to Insomniac Games’ latest, and goriest, title to date in Marvel’s Wolverine. Launching on September 15th exclusively for PS5 at $69.99, it stars everyone’s favorite anti-hero, James “Logan” Howlett, as he does what he does best: Save mutants and take on anyone who looks at him funny. Which is a surprisingly large number of people in this game.
Boasting several firsts from Insomniac, Marvel’s Wolverine offers an action-adventure unlike its previous titles. We’ve boiled down 15 different things you need to know about Logan’s brutal new tale, starting with the refreshing revelation that it’s…
Not an Origin Story and No Spider-Man Cameo
Whenever a superhero gets an adaptation, be it movies, TV shows, or video games, it’s usually common to begin with an origin story. Much like Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, Marvel’s Wolverine side-steps this, focusing on a world where mutants are discriminated against, and Logan is on a mission to stop Bolivar Trask from abducting them. And though Insomniac has confirmed this is set in the same universe as its version of Spider-Man, you shouldn’t expect the friendly neighbourhood web-crawler to appear anytime soon.
Not Open World
For that matter, don’t even expect a “friendly neighborhood” that Logan can hang around in. Instead of an open world, Marvel’s Wolverine opts for a linear adventure that spans multiple locations worldwide, from the Canadian wilderness to the streets of Tokyo and the back alleys of Madripoor. It fits Logan’s character to a tee – he never hangs around too long in a single place, though you will have brief stop-overs between missions to interact with other characters before resuming the hunt.
Only Logan
After much backlash to the MJ and non-powered Miles Morales sections in its previous games, Marvel’s Wolverine won’t feature any other playable characters. Which is hilarious considering the characters whose powers would make them worth controlling (imagine popping heads, Scanners-style, as Jean Grey). Insomniac clarified, however, that it’s less about addressing backlash and more about keeping the focus on Logan, which also explains the lack of X-Men.
Team-ups With Jean Grey, Sabertooth and More
But while you can’t control other characters directly, they’ll still lend a hand or claw from time to time. Besides the gameplay trailer, which saw Jean helping Logan by tossing Reavers hither and yon, we’ve seen clips of the latter teaming with Sabertooth to decimate enemies. It even becomes an impromptu competition of who can slay the most faster than the other – a typical bonding experience between frenemies with anger issues.
Logan’s Abilities and Parrying
Kicking fools off ledges and pouncing on them with Wolverine’s claws is one thing, but you also have unlockable Techniques like Tornado Spin to rip through surrounding enemies. Skills like Knee Breaker also come in handy for interrupting foes, and though parrying plays a big part in the overarching gameplay loop, many previews thus far have only scratched the surface of Logan’s capabilities.
Rage
Of course, you’ll learn how Rage works very quickly. In short, it builds up when you’re attacking and starts dropping when you’re not. There are three levels, and at level 2, Last Stand (not the movie, thankfully) becomes available. If Wolverine falls, then it essentially acts as a self-revive, restoring his vitality in the process. At level 3, you can execute critical strikes, some of the most devastating attacks in the game, to reduce enemies to puddles of their former selves.
Adaptations
Adaptations function like passives, which augment your playstyle in different ways. For example, Enraging Sprint causes ranged attacks from enemies while Logan is sprinting to generate Rage. Healing Dangerously restores health when successfully “reacting” to Power Attacks or Reckless Attacks, while Expanded Crit lets you perform the aforementioned critical strikes against enemies with higher health remaining. Your Adaptation Level and Strands determine how many can be equipped, but there’s seemingly something for everyone here – be it the defense-minded or those who want to lean into Rage.
Stealth Sections
As much as he’s known for his berserker combat style, Wolverine is skilled at tracking and infiltrating. Stealth sections will put those skills to the test, especially when you have to destroy inhibitors that restrict his healing, adding some much-needed tension to the equation. You probably shouldn’t expect Hitman-style sandbox levels with targets to assassinate, but Insomniac could very well surprise us.
Suits, Lots of Suits
What would a Marvel game be without an extensive collection of suits (and in Wolverine’s case, claws) to choose from? Besides the five suits and claws in the Digital Deluxe Edition, Logan dons a variety of outfits, from his more tactical Team X suit to a more casual fit and the Battle Reborn outfit – a twist on his signature apparel. Insomniac hasn’t outlined how many you can expect, but you can craft them by discovering upgrade materials throughout levels.
Mission Replay
What happens if you miss something or want to focus on the story? With how much you can collect and discover, it’s a good thing that Marvel’s Wolverine supports Mission Replay out of the box. You can return to pretty much any mission to mop up collectibles or try a higher difficulty.
Nightmare Doors
Explore enough, and you’ll also happen upon Nightmare Doors. Think different locations, but twisted within the confines of Logan’s mind, and turned into a time trial where speed is of the essence. Succeed, and you’ll get one step closer to learning more about his past, although there are different ranks and rewards to earn from the same.
Accessibility Options
An extensive list of accessibility options feels a given in any major PlayStation Studios title, and this is no different. From navigation, traversal and chase assists to separate options for tailoring enemy health, damage and stealth awareness; from options to toggle motion blur, film grain and chromatic aberration to extensive UI options – it’s all here. You can even toggle dismemberment, dynamic blood and violence presets, opting to turn off gore entirely if so desired.
60 FPS With Ray Tracing on Base PS5
Following the release of almost every title this generation, the development team has released new graphical modes and features, pushing the limits of the PS5. With Wolverine, it’s offering 60 frames per second and ray tracing support in Performance Mode at launch itself. Why the change? Well, as head of technology Mike Fitzgerald explained to IGN, it’s “important for the presentation.” “For this game from the start, we said, ‘You know what? We know we’re confident we can ship this now. This is going to be a 60 frames per second game with ray tracing as the PS5 should have. We’re going to build the game around this and towards this.’”
New Game Plus
Another first for Insomniac is including New Game Plus out of the box. After completing the story, you can go again while retaining your progression, including any abilities and suits. It also adds more variation with exclusive Adaptations. Further details have yet to be shared, but if you want a more challenging experience or to unleash Wolverine’s full potential, it may be worth jumping in.
PS5 Pro Support
For all the fanfare surrounding the PS5 version, Insomniac has been pretty quiet about PS5 Pro support. PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution support is confirmed and will deliver “exceptional image quality and frame rates,” but that’s it. Will it deliver dedicated Pro modes with full ray tracing like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2? Time will tell, and thankfully, it won’t be too long before we find out.
