Marvel's Wolverine is now available, offering players Insomniac's latest take on the popular superhero. While the game delivers a competent character action experience, many reviews note its tendency to become repetitive, with Logan primarily slicing and sniffing his way through linear environments. This lack of world interaction makes the few instances where the game attempts something different particularly stand out, leading to a wish that such innovation occurred more frequently.
Logan's core abilities, metal claws and a powerful healing factor, translate into a gameplay loop that often defaults to simple combat. This can result in a one-note experience. However, a specific memorable moment integrates his powers in a way that hints at a more varied game, demonstrating a level of ingenuity that feels underutilized throughout the title.
Content warning: graphic violence.
In the latter half of the game, a significant boss fight against Sabretooth occurs. The confrontation escalates to a brawl at the docks of Lowtown. During the fight, Logan is thrown onto a raft, with Sabretooth gaining a positional advantage. As Sabretooth prepares to smash Logan's head into the raft, Logan taunts him, calling him "blind." In response, Sabretooth gouges out Logan's eyes.
This critical injury shifts the gameplay perspective to first-person. With Logan blinded, the player loses their primary sense. The objective becomes to locate Sabretooth by sound and feel while Logan's healing factor slowly restores his vision. This sequence forces players to experience the fight from a disorienting, vulnerable viewpoint, with the threat of Sabretooth's attacks looming as sight gradually returns in stages, from general outlines to full color and focus. This unique gameplay mechanic, however, is a singular event.
Following this segment, the combat reverts to the familiar claw-to-claw fighting. While the game's action can enter a satisfying flow state of slashes and parries, the author expresses a desire for more creative combat encounters that leverage Logan's unique powers beyond superficial visual effects. The game's focus on visceral, often gory spectacle, while fitting for the character, could have been balanced with more mechanically innovative moments like the blinded boss fight.