- Published
On Tuesday, Sony will release Marvel's Wolverine - the biggest game exclusive to the PlayStation 5 this year.
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Sony → publish → PlayStation
It's made by Insomniac, the studio responsible for the recent Spider-Man titles, which have sold 50 million copies in recent years.
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which → make → years
But unlike the friendly neighbourhood superhero, Wolverine has a Pegi-18 rating in the UK, meaning a child cannot legally buy the game, and it contains considerable levels of blood, gore and violence.
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it → have → blood
It represents a gamble for the studio responsible for some of Sony's biggest hits - will it turn out to have been worth it?
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This review does not reveal the game's biggest moments, but beware minor spoilers for some of the characters that appear and a few early sequences.
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Some of the images contain blood.
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You play as Logan, aka Wolverine, the comic book superhero that can self-heal and has retractable claws.
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that → play → claws
Donning the famous yellow-and-black outfit (among others), you hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies.
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you → don → enemies
The combat is free-flowing and easy to pick up, as Wolverine stabs and slices his foes with copious amounts of blood on display.
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Wolverine → pick → display
Still, some may feel it doesn't go far enough.
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it → feel → ?
There are some stealth options, but I generally ignored them and went in with my claws out.
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The game didn't penalise me for this.
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game → penalise → this
You also unlock a slew of abilities, much like other games in the genre, meaning you get even more powerful as the game rumbles on.
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game → unlock → genre
And a clever system allows you to spend the rage you have accumulated to regenerate your health.
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you → allow → health
The combat kept me hooked the whole way through the game, which took about 20 hours to get to the end credits.
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which → keep → credits
My colleague was faster, clocking in at about 15 hours.
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colleague → clock → hours
When Spider-Man released in 2018, it set a new standard for superhero games with an open-world New York City which you could freely (and entertainingly) explore by web-slinging through the skies.
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It was so influential that it spawned a popular online gag, pointing fun at reviewers who couldn't help but repeat a cliché, external about the game making them feel like Spider-Man.
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"There's a significant shake-up happening here in game design terms," freelance game critic Emma Kent told me.
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"Insomniac is moving away from Spider-Man's open world formula to adopt a linear structure for Wolverine.
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Insomniac → move → Wolverine
"That means less open exploration, and a more curated path through the game world.
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It adds to the gamble that comes with the game having such graphic violence.
"
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game → add → violence
Peter Parker and Miles Morales would go out of their way to avoid killing enemies - stringing them up or gluing them against walls with his webs - and there was no real gore to speak of," Kent said.
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Kent → go → webs
"Some games truly revel in showing detailed and over-exaggerated gore, but the violence in Marvel's Wolverine doesn't feel particularly gratuitous.
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violence → revel → Wolverine
"When you build up a sense of flow, it really does feel like you're rampaging through dozens of enemies, and I think the blood splashes are an important way of displaying the carnage you're causing.
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you → build → carnage
The reality is by having a higher age rating than Spider-Man, it is by definition reducing the amount of people who can buy the game.
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who → have → game
And the game's director Mike Daly accepted this came with a risk.
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"Even though this character appeals to kids, making a game that is explicitly like, 'sorry, this is not for kids, you should not play this game' - it does reduce the scope," he said.
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he → appeal → scope
"But I think there was no other way to do it.
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That was the cost of doing business if we really wanted to set a game with this character in this universe."
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One thing I didn't expect was the game's reliance on its performers.
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Gameplay is frequently interrupted with cutscenes, which will I'm sure prove divisive.
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I → interrupt → cutscenes
Nonetheless, the acting is top drawer, with the standout being veteran performer Troy Baker (known for many roles including Joel in The Last of Us) who puts in a memorable performance as Nathaniel Essex.
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Liam McIntyre, who plays Wolverine, told BBC Newsbeat he was "looking forward to people playing it".
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people → play → it
I'm so proud that people are resonating with the story, with the performances, the character," he said.
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he → resonate → performances
I'm so happy that I've been able to make a Wolverine that hopefully people love."
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people → make → Wolverine
And to that point - when Hugh Jackman's famous take on the character last appeared on the big screen in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine, it made $205m (then £160m) on opening weekend in the US - the best ever opening for an R-rated film.
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it → appear → film
It all suggests Sony's gamble may be a safer bet than it first seems.
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it → suggest → ?
The way you leap from building to building is superb, and feels excellent to control.
But I'd rather there had been fewer acting sequences and more gameplay.
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I → leap → building
On one or two occasions, in a cutscene Wolverine did something which felt like it broke a cardinal rule of game design to me - never show the player something cool when you could have let them do it themselves.
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them → do → it
…and 12 more, not listed.
