Marvel's Wolverine: What the First Reviews Say

The embargo has lifted: The first reviews for Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games are here, shortly before its PS5 release on September 15, 2026. We haven't played the game ourselves yet, so here we summarize what IGN, Eurogamer, GameStar, GamePro, and other publications are reporting so far.

How Do Critics Rate Story and Characters in Marvel's Wolverine?

The publications are largely in agreement regarding the narrative: Insomniac stages Logan's story as a tight, linear, and significantly darker character drama with the cinematic ambition typical of the developer. The strict 18+ age rating allows for a more brutal, direct presentation than what players have come to expect from the PlayStation studio's Spider-Man games. Several reviews particularly highlight the character development of Wolverine himself and the supporting cast.

What Do IGN, Eurogamer, and Others Criticize About the Gameplay?

The consensus is notably more reserved when it comes to the combat system. Both IGN and Eurogamer award 6 out of 10 points in their reviews and consistently criticize that Logan's abilities offer significantly less variety compared to Spider-Man: Instead of gadgets and acrobatic traversal, claw attacks, counters, and aggressive forward charges primarily dominate. IGN describes the combat system, in its own words, as essentially repetitive over the course of the game. Not all publications view this identically critically – some voices rate the overall package much more positively in their scores – but across the breadth of current reviews, the impression of a rather conventional, unsurprising gameplay foundation with strong presentation predominates.

Context: This pattern is not new for Insomniac – even with the Spider-Man games, the story and presentation, according to critics, usually ran much smoother than the gameplay innovation. Nevertheless, for a genuine M-rated Marvel solo project, Marvel's Wolverine is a remarkable outlier in the otherwise rather family-friendly PlayStation Marvel portfolio centered around Spider-Man. Those primarily looking to dive in for the story should, according to current critical reception, be well served; those expecting maximum gameplay variety should temper their expectations somewhat. We will provide our own assessment after release, once we have played it ourselves.

Source: IGN

Will you be picking up Marvel's Wolverine on its September 15th release? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.