We reviewed Marvel's Wolverine

Driftwood
Thursday, September 10, 2026 | 5:00 PM
10 comments

GSY Review PS5

We knew it—the beginning of September was going to be very busy for our small team of enthusiasts, and after Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, it’s now Marvel’s Wolverine’s turn to go through Gamersyde’s critical wringer. After so many glowing reviews of all the major Sony exclusives in recent years, you might think this new article would be just like the previous ones. Still, we invite you to take the time to read our verdict before jumping to any conclusions.

Verdict

It’s heartbreaking because the developers at Insomniac had always managed to win us over until now, but this time, unfortunately, the magic didn’t quite hold up until the end. Once we got past the first few hours—which, it must be said, were already pretty formulaic in terms of progression—the routine set in so quickly that we eventually grew quite weary of the gameplay. The progression system doesn’t offer enough variety to make the combat system deeper or more diverse, and since the roster of enemies is also quite limited, a comparison with the studio’s previous titles clearly doesn’t work in Wolverine’s favor. The lack of variety in the locations you explore also weighs a bit against the game, even if our expectations in this regard were perhaps a bit exaggerated, and even though this doesn’t detract from the quality of some of the destinations on offer. Ultimately, this is a title that will undoubtedly be very appealing to the general public and more casual gamers, with endearing characters and solid overall production values. Wolverine is undoubtedly not the most impressive game on the console, but it remains visually polished and offers a very smooth experience with nice RT features. Following the incredible Saros—which we cannot recommend highly enough, as its gameplay and art direction reach heights that have been unfairly overlooked by players—this new exclusive left us with a slightly bitter aftertaste: one of disappointment. This is a first for us, as we’ve been big fans of Sony exclusives for many years, but there’s a first time for everything... We hope that our enthusiasm will be reignited in the coming months, particularly with the single-player DLC for Ghost of Yotei—a game that truly delighted us last year—or, of course, Intergalactic, the upcoming Naughty Dog title, about which we hope to hear more soon. In the meantime, even though this Wolverine game is by no means a bad game, it seems to us to fall short of the brand’s biggest hits and will therefore not make it onto our list of the most memorable games in the PlayStation ecosystem.

On the upside
Pretty well-developed characters
Classic but effective writing
It’s brutally fun...
Technically solid
Excellent voice acting
Pretty and polished, with some beautiful environments
VRR, graphics modes, ray tracing
Very decent playtime (17 hours)
Great end credits songs
The main theme is also pretty cool

On the downside
Combat can get messy
The combat system lacks variety and depth
… and then everything becomes very repetitive
Art direction is too generic (enemies, some of the environments)
Too few bosses, and they aren’t memorable
A couple of visual shortcomings with ray tracing
Lack of diversity in locations
Too long for what it has to offer
Platforming is too hand-held
Pointless and outdated QTEs

Our full video review in French (automated English subtiltes available)

unknownuser0001

Commented on 2026-09-12 22:52:08

So it's a mixed bag for you as well. The fact that they only showed the first gameplay 3ish months before release probably means that even Insomniac/Sony had little confidence in this game, Wolverine is one of my favorite Marvel character and I really wanted this to be good but an encounter with Wolverine should leave most foes in pieces which none of the trailers showed and the story trailer also didn't make it better for me.

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2026-09-12 23:09:35

The embargo was pretty early though, which usually happens when the publisher is confident. It's hard to believe considering the end result honestly. The good news is that Sony didn't try to hide it by asking reviewers to wait until launch day. Insomniac did so much better in the last, I don't know what happened.

The Skill Up review exactly reflects my thoughts, with a bit more anger, but everything they say I agree with and I talked about it in the video review or the full French review. That said, I also saw a bunch of 9s and 10s in some reviews.

dc_coder_84

Commented on 2026-09-13 01:28:03

I also found the digital foundry verdict a bit disappointing. I mean it would have been cool if they had developed some additional RT effects for PS5 Pro but that version was rather boring. PSSR 2 is nice but come on they are a 1st party studio.

Commented on 2026-09-13 09:01:16 In reply to dc_coder_84

I also find it surprising that they didn't underline some of the poorer reflections more. I mean, you can't help it in certain situations, but when two detailed main characters are in the foreground in front of a mirror and a third appears on the screen thanks to his reflection, which makes him look like a PS1 model, it's so obvious it's jarring. They could have simply done the scene differently if you see what I mean. It looked so bad I took a picture with my phone to share it with davton.

Commented on 2026-09-13 22:01:27

Good point on the embargo however Sony is currently cocky enough that they might just thought that it will be well reviewed no matter what.
Those high scores mostly came from smaller outlets so could be paid reviews.

Insomniac maybe got burnt out a bit, their release schedule is really tight so they have to reuse assets and mechanics from the Spider-Man games that they just don't work with Wolverine at least based on the reviews I read it seems to be the case, they need a new formula but likely the X-Men game is in the same danger.
Even Spider-Man, Miles and Peter are mostly fighting the same way, same animations. They can't do this same formula with multiple characters moving the same way in X-Men.

The whole industry is stagnating, very few innovative new games out there.

Commented on 2026-09-14 07:35:00 In reply to unknownuser0001

Paid reviews don’t exist, it’s a myth. ;)

Now maybe some outlets feared the consequences of a bad review. It might also be that some people are such big Wolverine or PlayStation fans that they simply can’t be trusted.

Spider-Man’s combat system is much deeper and more varied than Wolverine's, it’s not just a matter of copy-pasting their previous work. That said, Spider-Man is probably more interesting a character as a video game hero, in terms of traversal possibilities and combat.

andrewsqual

Commented on 2026-09-14 18:28:24

Its a difficult enough character to adapt. If it had of been Spiderman but its a Wolverine reskin, people wouldn't have been kind to it either. I'm still getting it and will probably enjoy it either way. Its just a shame that a PS5, fairly linear style game, isn't more insane looking in the visual dept in 2026. Because by comparison, even later gen PS4 open world games were, and STILL are, amazing looking to this day.

If they weren't going to make it open world like Spiderman, GOW 2018 already set the bar years ago for a semi-open world experience that lends itself to then having stunning visuals at any given time too.

Commented on 2026-09-14 21:33:22 In reply to andrewsqual

All Wolverine needed to be recommendable was a proper combat system (it plays the same from beginning to end and the skill tree doesn't help much) and another approach to exploration in more "open" areas. Wolverine's sense of smell is logical, but since all the environments are very limited in scope, it's like being taken for an idiot with a GPS line showing you where to go. QTEs are also useless and outdated if you ask me, but at least you can switch them off. Things GoW 2018 did very well and should have served as examples to follow. That said, I'm not angry at Insomniac or anything, they have been very important for Sony this gen. I wish they wouldn't be used just to make Marvel games though.

Commented on 2026-09-14 22:43:58 In reply to Driftwood

This game design just don't make sense, looks like a miscommunication inside the studio. One group wanted a serious, brutal Wolverine for adult fans and one group wanted a dull game for kids and the end result looks like a mashup.
They have their mechanisms and assets for these Marvel games that's why they will only do these games. Doing something different would require more time, Ratchet & Clank might have a chance to comeback though but doing different type of games can't be done fast nowadays.
I'd like to see their take on a spy/stealth game since those are rare nowadays and people want it, hopefully 007 game might ignite this genre again.

Commented on 2026-09-15 11:23:44 In reply to unknownuser0001

I'd rather see them develp another Ratchet & Clank than another SPider-Man/Venom/X-Men game but it's subjective obviously. I don't think Sony will risk asking them to work on a new IP, it's not something they seem to be pushing (outside maybe of ND with Intergalactic).