Review: Marvel's Wolverine (PS5) Delivers Linear Action and Brutal Combat

Insomniac Games has traded the open-world architecture of its previous superhero titles for a linear, focused action experience in Marvel's Wolverine. Set before the establishment of the X-Men, the story follows Logan as he is rescued from a life in the wilderness by Nathaniel Essex. Essex offers a sanctuary away from societal prejudice, setting up a narrative push-and-pull between rescuing mutants and stopping abductions. The roughly 20-hour campaign merges present-day events with flashbacks into Logan's past, exploring locations across Canada, Japan, and the fictional island of Madripoor.

Combat serves as the core pillar of the title. Embracing gore, decapitation, and human butchery, the combat system features fast-paced cuts and impalements without a stamina meter. Players unlock special attacks and team combos as they progress—such as Jean Grey using telekinetic powers to set up easy kills—resulting in brutal finishing animations. Traversal features light exploration, allowing Logan to track scents and jump great distances. However, critics noted that the linear design can feel restrictive, featuring invisible walls and mandatory objective paths that occasionally break immersion.

Voice performances received widespread acclaim. Liam McIntyre portrays Logan, while Troy Baker voices Nathaniel Essex, alongside Krizia Bajos as Jean Grey and Brett Gipson as Sabretooth. Optional backstory elements are delivered via Nightmare Doors (or Nightmare Cabins) that unlock audio logs of Logan's memories. While the vocal performances and motion capture were praised, reviewers expressed disappointment with the presentation of these optional memories, which appear as white text on translucent backgrounds.

On PlayStation 5, technical performance and graphical fidelity stand out. Playing on a PS5 Pro set to Performance Pro mode delivers 60 frames-per-second gameplay with enhanced visuals through PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), alongside a Fidelity Pro option providing 30FPS with advanced ray-tracing capabilities. Base PS5 players can also toggle between performance and graphical optimisations. Customisation is primarily limited to unlocking and mixing various suits and claw styles found through materials crates scattered throughout the levels.