Marvel’s Wolverine: Ferocious combat in a linear package

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It is only natural to expect a large, open world game featuring everyone’s favourite X-Man, Wolverine. Given Insomniac Games’ track record of making three excellent Spider-man open world games, Wolverine is quite different. It is a bloody, visceral, action-packed rollercoaster ride akin to Call of Duty . So, before going in, it is important to temper your expectations and that is where Wolverine is at its most enjoyable.

Completely sidestepping the normal X-Men timelines, Wolverine is set in its own alternate reality and follows the shadowy Team X. Comprising mutant operatives Sabretooth and Mystique, this version of the black-ops team is led by Dr. Nathanial Essex, who comic fans will recognise as Mr. Sinister. There is no Magneto or Professor X here, instead mutants are being actively hunted by Bolivar Trask, for his infernal experiments.

Freed from the shackles of being tied to the movies or past games, Wolverine powers through with its own world and narrative. Logan, aka Wolverine, is excellently portrayed, from his wild man origins to an angry hero who clearly hides a lot of pain behind his expressive eyes as he slashes through the story with blind ferocity.

This narrative is a big, fat, bloody, adamantium clad freight train that is on the rails, even while it feels a bit restrictive, as you are led by the hand from one section to another, with cutscenes in the middle. It almost feels like the first God of War games, but this is slightly more committed to its linearity.

Wolverine ’s combat system is fast and furious, blending the tried and tested Spiderman formula, with a healthy dash of a Sekiro -like parry system. Though, the parries are more stylish and cinematically handled, and in many fights with other famous villains from the X-Men universe, it has Wolverine duck, roll and parry to survive. Successful parries not only reward you with free hits, but also feel excellent.

It is a fighting system that is fun, and easy to get a feel of. There is the lunge mechanic, which lets you close distances extremely fast, making it the single best move to turn the tables against most of the bosses. Logan is quite a crouching, little guy in this game, and it seems everyone else towers over him. What he loses in height, he makes up in sheer speed and ferocity.

Logan’s ability is his healing factor, and while it may seem he is invincible, the game handles it well. He can take an incredible amount of punishment, and his health bar depletes fast, but it also fills up as he pours his rage into attacking. Which means if you do certain attacks right, you gain back your health.