Marvel's Wolverine Has Heart but Lacks Ambition as Critics Praise Logan While Criticising Repetitive Gameplay

Marvel's Wolverine is drawing a broadly positive but cautious critical response ahead of its 15 September release, with early reviews praising Insomniac Games' take on Logan himself while questioning whether the PS5 exclusive is ambitious enough in its combat and structure.

One argues that the game has plenty of heart but lacks ambition, particularly when compared with the studio's Marvel's Spider-Man titles.

That criticism centres on a tension at the core of the game: Insomniac has created a compelling and emotionally troubled Wolverine, but surrounds him with gameplay and exploration that reviewers say can feel familiar.

Set before the formation of the X‑Men, the game follows Logan as he becomes involved with characters including Sabretooth, Mystique and Jean Grey while confronting elements of his past.

Critics Praise Wolverine Himself

The Guardian praised the characterisation and Liam McIntyre's voice performance, describing the game's Wolverine as a flawed and conflicted hero capable of both extreme violence and vulnerability.

His rivalry with Sabretooth and developing relationship with Jean Grey provide some of the story's most emotionally effective moments, according to the review.

The game also makes extensive use of Wolverine's defining abilities. Players can slash through enemies with his claws, dodge and parry attacks, leap towards opponents and unlock increasingly powerful abilities.

A rage system is central to combat. As Logan takes part in fights, his rage builds, eventually allowing him to become more powerful and unleash heavy attacks.

The Verge was more enthusiastic about this approach, arguing that the straightforward, blood‑soaked action is one of the game's strengths.

It praised the decision to move away from the sprawling open‑world structure of Spider‑Man, instead describing Wolverine as a tighter combination of God of War‑style combat and Uncharted‑inspired cinematic set pieces.

Repetitive Fighting Becomes a Problem

However, the simplicity that The Verge sees as refreshing is described as a weakness by The Guardian. The newspaper's review praised the combat as smooth and empowering but criticised the lack of variety, saying players rarely need to experiment with different techniques.

Unlike Spider‑Man, where movement and web‑based abilities encourage more varied combat, Wolverine can often come down to repeated melee attacks, parries and special abilities.

The Guardian compared some encounters to older beat‑'em‑up games and said the fights become more repetitive as players face familiar enemy types.

The game is largely linear, with Logan travelling between locations and set pieces rather than freely exploring a large open world.

While The Verge welcomed that more focused structure, The Guardian felt the restricted environments stopped locations such as Tokyo and Madripoor from feeling fully alive.

A Spectacle That Plays It Safe

The contrast between the reviews largely comes down to expectations. The Verge sees Marvel's Wolverine as a return to a focused, single‑player action game, with its roughly 13‑hour campaign avoiding the bloat associated with many recent open‑world releases.

The Guardian, meanwhile, believes Insomniac has delivered a polished and visually impressive game that does not fully match the potential of its protagonist. Both perspectives recognise the same strength: Wolverine himself works. The concern is that the game around him may not be ambitious enough.

For fans who have waited years to control Marvel's most famous mutant, the combat, story and set pieces could still make Marvel's Wolverine an appealing PS5 adventure. The early reviews suggest Insomniac may have created a game that captures Wolverine's heart and rage more successfully than it explores how far the character's next major game could go.