Marvel's Wolverine Review: Great Claws, Shallow Game
Insomniac nails Logan, the violence, and the production values. The repetitive combat and thin mission design make this a wait-for-sale game.
Marvel's Wolverine is a beautiful, expensive action game that runs out of combat ideas long before Logan runs out of people to stab. Insomniac nails the character and underserves the game around him.
The violence has weight. The animation sells every hit. Logan moves like a dangerous person instead of Spider-Man with shorter travel time. That fantasy is convincing enough to carry the opening hours. It is not deep enough to carry the whole campaign.
Logan is the best part
The performance, writing, and physicality understand why Wolverine works. He is angry, damaged, and frightening without becoming a one-note rage machine. The quieter character beats give the brutality a reason to exist.
The game also looks excellent. Environments, facial work, finishers, and technical polish make this a proper first-party PS5 production. Nothing about the presentation feels cheap.
The combat gets dull
Good impact is not the same as good depth. Encounters keep returning to the same answers: close distance, counter, build rage, execute, repeat. Systems that initially look broad do not create enough new decisions, and enemy variety cannot hide that forever.
That is the central failure. Wolverine is built around fighting. When the fighting becomes routine, the entire game starts leaning on animation and character work to disguise the repetition.
The blockbuster defense
There is a fair case for the direct structure. This is not a sprawling RPG and it does not waste time pretending to be one. Players who want a focused Wolverine campaign can move from story beat to set piece without clearing a city full of chores.
The problem is that focus should make every encounter sharper. Instead, the smaller scope exposes how rarely the missions ask for a genuinely different approach.
Game Pelt verdict
Wait for a sale. Marvel's Wolverine delivers the character fantasy, the blood, and the production values. It does not deliver an action system strong enough to justify full price unless Logan is already the entire reason you are here.
Great claws. Good Logan. Shallow game.