Marvel’s Wolverine on PS5 Nails the Character, Not Much Else | Preview
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Polygon has published a hands-on preview of Marvel's Wolverine, the PS5 game from Insomniac Games, following a session with game director Mike Daly at PlayStation's London offices. The preview praises the studio's meticulous, character-first approach: Wolverine's look, movement, combat and characterisation are described as note-perfect, though the writer found little else beyond this central achievement particularly notable, including a "mildly clunky" boss fight.
The demo covered the game's opening and a section from the end of its first act, set before the formation of the X-Men so the story can focus solely on Logan. It features Wolverine working alongside Sabertooth and Mystique in the mutant team Team X, led by Nathaniel Essex (voiced by Troy Baker), on a mission to rescue Essex from tech magnate Bolivar Trask. Later sections include a Sentinel confrontation, downtime with Jean Grey and other characters in a district called Lowtown, and a plot thread involving the ninja group the Hand. Insomniac, also behind the Spider-Man games, is reportedly building a shared Marvel universe that may extend to a future X-Men title.
- Polygon previews Marvel's Wolverine, praising its character portrayal above all else
- Insomniac's Logan is called note-perfect in look, movement and personality
- Story is set pre-X-Men, featuring Team X, Sabertooth, Mystique and Jean Grey
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Marvel's Wolverine is an upcoming PS5 game from Insomniac Games, the studio behind the Spider-Man series, built around Marvel's clawed mutant antihero, Logan. It is being developed as part of a wider shared Marvel universe that Insomniac is creating on PlayStation, and could eventually lead into a separate X-Men game. The story is set before the X-Men team existed, allowing the game to focus entirely on Wolverine himself rather than a larger ensemble cast.
In the game, Wolverine is part of a covert mutant unit called Team X, working alongside fellow mutants Sabertooth and Mystique under a leader named Nathaniel Essex, voiced by actor Troy Baker. The plot involves rescuing Essex from a wealthy businessman, Bolivar Trask, and later brings in other X-Men characters such as Jean Grey, plus a robotic threat known as a Sentinel and the secretive ninja organisation the Hand.
This coverage is a preview, meaning a journalist was given early hands-on access to an unfinished version of the game ahead of its full release, rather than a review of the finished product. Previews like this help set early expectations for how a highly anticipated game is shaping up, based on impressions of specific demo sections rather than the complete experience.
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