“I’m the best there is at what I do. But what I do best isn’t very nice.”
Wolverine’s famous statement is an apt introduction for what you’re in store for with Insomniac Games next Marvel property. The X-Men’s titular ‘apex predator’ is off on a whole new adventure, in a completely new universe, as they join the studios popular Spider-Man games (canonized as Earth-1048).
My friends at PlayStation invited me to check out an early build of the upcoming title. Not only that, but we also got to sit down and speak with Senior Project Director, Jess Reiner-Reed, and talk more about the studio and their work on Logan’s journey. Yes, those will be coming in a part 2. And most likely a 3 and 4.
After a brief overview of the game, presented by Reiner-Reed, we were guided toward the jungles of Telambang. Or something that resembled it. But a bit more corporate. The plants may have also been fake. Helping myself to some snacks (a few pieces of rockmelon smashed back with gummy worms), I sat in my assigned chair, chucked on a Pulse Elite headset, and took in the scene in front of me playing on the PlayStation 5 Pro. And I tell you what…if there’s anything Insomniac is going to do, it’s making a beautiful game.
I hit X to start and we’re straight into it. While I can’t remark too much on what I see initially, as the game goes heavy on the lore immediately, I was x-cited. We then join Team X, comprised of Mystique (Nicole Pacent), Sabretooth (Brett Gipson) and Wolverine (Liam McIntyre) who are attempting to break a hostage out from a facility in Telambang (c’mon, you should have seen it coming). After a brief stint as a human missile, you will play through what is essentially a tutorial level.
The world has a sense of enormity. But it also plays very on-rails.
It guides you precisely to where you need to be at first. And I appreciate this as Logan’s move and skillset is expanded upon with each new area. Sprinting. Parrying. How you build up rage to activate your healing factor. And how new skills and genetic adaptations will work to evolve to your playstyle can be overwhelming if not done right. But much like everything else I’ve spoken of previously, Insomniac have thought of that too. A sharp and concise UI, provides feedback as to what you may be putting points into and how they’ll look. Or it will stylize them in ways so you can understand what you might be about to change. Something they learnt earlier with the Spider-Man titles.
Logan’s movement and animation is a beast on the Pro. It’s also beast in the way it presents. The way Logan slightly hunches into sprints. The way his dodges emulate some of the swiftest and instinctual creatures in the animal kingdom. And the sense of sheer ferocity behind his intent. I mean he is the best at what he does. While accessibility can remove the gore and language, the viscera is basically one of his personality traits. Blood will splatter. Limbs will fly. And you’ll be smiling ear to ear, while being quietly judged you damned maniac.
Our preview build then took us to our first boss fight. A battle against the longtime X-Men villain, the Sentinel. You may have seen clips online, but they don’t really reflect what entails at all. I found I had to steadily learn the pattern it was creating. I couldn’t just brute force it. And I appreciated this, along with the assistance from Mystique who proves to be just as capable with firearms in this universe, as she is in others.
Oh, then the Sentinel breaks free.
Yeah, that was…uncalled for. But it just meant Team X had to come together to fight it. And I had to equip Logan with adaptations which fit my playstyle. And after that, we shook hands and went on our merry way. Though in all honesty, the game took a darker turn which led to our final part of the preview: Madripoor.
If you don’t know what Madripoor is, it’s a fictional city heavily influenced by South East Asia. It’s also an important piece in the lore of Wolverine, where he spent his time as a character named Patch. Fancy tuxedo and all. As we join an expanded group of mutants, we find ourselves at a bar drinking away our troubles. Served a fresh beverage by Tyger, we…wait. Is that Kelly Hu?? As in ‘Lady Deathstrike from X-2’ Kelly Hu?! That’s a deep cut Easter Egg if I’ve ever seen one. Anyway! We are served a drink and have to use our enhanced senses to find our next story beat. Yes. The stank of others will tell us what we need to know. But also Logan’s enhanced hearing can allow a more stealthy approach to things if need be.
Things occur which lead to an encounter with a certain clan, who then have us follow them through our first platforming section in the preview. And while I already enjoyed the movement I’d come to experience, the ramped up jumping and smooth traversal Logan uses to navigate the world is where the real fun lies. Miss a building ledge? Use your claws and climb. Fall in a long alleyway? Run for your life and find your way back to the path the game wants you to chase. While prompts try to add more tension, that sense of knowing Wolverine can traverse in ways we normally can’t, added a reassurance to a flawed action that say…a web would save in Spider-Man.
This final section also offered a first look at Nightmare Trials.
A hallucinatory reaction from Logan’s cerebrum that spawns doors in the wider world. Enter these, and you will face challenges that will unlock pieces of Logan’s past. We got to play a traversal challenge and combat challenge. And at the conclusion of both, we get to listen to Logan recall parts of his past. One, which in this preview, definitely gave me a sense of excitement for the story that the writers wanted to make. In fact, it impressed me that they managed to bring up one particular part of his history that connects to certain emotions in his present!
So what can I say about my time with Wolverine? One of my PlayStation Pals asked what I thought once I finished the preview build. And I just straight up said to them:
How dare you make me have to wait to play more of that…”
I want to see more of it. Not because it’s Wolverine. But because it’s Insomniac. A company who, in an era of live service games, got the opportunity to develop another single player experience for the PlayStation 5. Something they showed they’re capable of with both the Miles Morales spin-off and sequel to Spider-Man. I trust the studios love for gaming, that started for the majority of us in 1998 with Spyro The Dragon, will bleed throughout the game.
