Marvel's Wolverine Debuts with Metacritic Average of 77

Reviews for Insomniac Games' highly anticipated action title Marvel's Wolverine have officially dropped, and the game's initial reception has positioned it among the lower-rated first-party PlayStation 5 releases of this console generation. At the time of writing, the big-budget action game holds an average score of 77 on Metacritic, calculated from just over 100 evaluations.

While a Metacritic average of 77 is classified by the aggregator as "generally favourable," the score represents a noticeable departure from the highly rated track record established by other major Sony-owned studios. Prior to this launch, Burbank-based developer Insomniac Games had not delivered a game with a Metacritic score below 85 during the current hardware generation, making this release an interesting outlier for the studio.

When comparing Marvel's Wolverine to other first-party PlayStation 5 releases, the difference in critical reception becomes clearer. Sony's first-party library includes highly rated titles such as Marvel's Spider-Man 2 at 90, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered at 90, The Last of Us Part 1 at 89, Horizon Forbidden West at 88, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart at 88. Other prominent releases from Sony studios include Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut at 87, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales at 85, and Days Gone Remastered at 78.

The rating represents a steep drop-off for Insomniac Games, which achieved critical success in 2023 with Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Insomniac has been particularly active over the last seven years, producing more titles than any other Sony-owned developer during this generation. Despite the lower overall average, some critics found plenty to appreciate. Push Square reviewer Liam awarded the title an 8/10, describing the experience as highly enjoyable despite some clear flaws.