Marvel's Wolverine Review Scores Are Mixed, Below Insomniac's Previous Games

Marvel's Wolverine releases on September 15 on PlayStation, but critics and the press have already published their first reviews. Surprisingly, the PS exclusive has received mixed reviews, with a 78 on Metacritic across 112 reviews and a 79 on OpenCritic from 63 critics.

Reviewers generally praised the game's visuals, intense and "brutally satisfying" combat, calling it "superb," and the action's compact, roughly 15-hour length. According to one Metacritic review, it did "an excellent job adapting the iconic mutant." Another Metacritic review calls the game a "visual spectacle." Voice work and the dynamic between characters were also listed as advantages.

However, critics point to repetitive combat, resemblance to previous studio games, a predictable storyline, and limited content. One Metacritic review reads, "Marvel's Wolverine is fast-paced and brutal in all the right ways, but severely lacks the variety and charm that Insomniac Games is known for."

Scores from individual outlets range widely: GameSpot and IGN both landed at 6/10, TheGamer gave it 4/5, Hardcore Gamer awarded 5/5, DualShockers scored it 8.5/10, and Giant Bomb was the most critical at 2.5/5. For example, IGN's review claims combat wears "thin" by the conclusion and calls the game "an enjoyable tale with good character work at times and a strong portrayal of X-Men’s lead." Eurogamer's breakdown expressed mixed feelings, finding Wolverine's characterization surprisingly warm and describing Logan as "vulnerable, emotive" and "kind," but assuming the combat grew "one-note" over time.

Compared to other Insomniac Games titles, Marvel's Wolverine scores lower on OpenCritic. Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart each hold a score of 88, while Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales sits at 85.

It's still a few days before the release, but you can catch a glimpse of the Wolverine's brutal gameplay in the extended gameplay trailer:

The highly praised visuals were created with the help of scanning real environments and textures in Japan:

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