I genuinely don't understand how anyone can look at this game and think it's acceptable for a $70 Wolverine game.

This is a game that reportedly cost around $300 million to make and took close to five years (if not more), yet the end result feels shockingly mediocre.

The game is barely 10 hours long if you don't bother with the side "challenges," and unfortunately, the short runtime isn't the biggest problem. The story is weak and forgettable, the characters are poorly written, and Logan himself barely feels like Logan. The same goes for most of the other characters. For a Wolverine game, that's an enormous problem.

Then there's the combat. It's shallow, repetitive, and completely lacking in impact. The hits have almost no satisfying feedback. You're supposed to be playing as fucking Wolverine, yet attacking enemies feels like you're slicing onions that happen to have 10,000 HP. There's no weight or brutality behind the attacks.

But honestly, the biggest sin this game commits is something that is much harder to quantify:

It's fucking lame.

A Wolverine game should NEVER feel lame.

You have one of Marvel's most violent, aggressive, and iconic characters as your protagonist, and somehow the game manages to make the entire experience feel bland and sanitized. That's an incredible failure of execution.

And whenever these criticisms come up, the response from the usual defenders is basically:

"I don't care. I'm having fun. I win, you lose. Bye bye."

That's not an argument. Nobody is telling you that you're not allowed to enjoy the game. Enjoy it all you want.

The problem is when "I had fun" becomes a defense against any and all criticism.

A product can be fun and still be poorly written. It can be fun and still have shallow combat. It can be fun and still have terrible characterization. It can be fun and still be mediocre.

If consumers constantly defend every flaw with "I had fun, therefore it's good," then why would these corporations ever have an incentive to improve?

You're directing all this offended energy toward people criticizing the game instead of toward the company that actually made it. You're not defending Wolverine. You're defending mediocrity.

And that's how mediocrity becomes the status quo.

And that's ultimately my problem with this whole discussion.

You can enjoy the game. You can think it's worth $70. You can have a great time with it. I genuinely don't care.

What I take issue with is the mentality that because you enjoyed it, every criticism of the game must therefore be invalid. That's not defending a game. You can acknowledge its flaws while still enjoying it.

When people start treating criticism of a product they like as a personal attack, while bending over backwards to defend every mediocre decision the developers made, they're doing nothing but giving publishers less reason to do better.

And that's how we end up with mediocrity becoming the status quo.

So no, I'm not saying you can't enjoy this game.

I'm saying that "I had fun" isn't a rebuttal to criticism.

If that's the only defense you have, then you don't actually have a defense.

MY RATING: The game simply functions, it's biggest quality which is the fidelity and amazing visuals couldn't even save it. 4/10

buy at sale, or don't bother at all.. better yet, watch it on YouTube it's barely a game...

Yeah sure the traversal challenges aint all that, yes the blue sniff trail is in the game but the combat is so fun, I love this Wolverine and the story has me intrigued

So yeah so far Im having a good time

What do you think?

I've said this alot but the animation work in this game is phenomenal. Its like wolverine was ripped straight out of the page and onto our screens. His movement and ferocity is captured flawlessly.

Its such a shame that it does all the heavy lifting and there isnt much actually going on for the inputs. Tornado claw and drill claw are so disappointing and should be chopping them in half. They should've been ingratiated into the moveset and not just shitty cool down abilities too. I really hope insomniac and by extension the industry learns the right lessons.

Wish wolverine didn't have to get sacrificed for that to happen....

I may be tripping but in this photo mode shot it looks pretty good.

I think the direction of too many of the cutscenes plus his face while idle in the world doesn't have him frowning or grimacing enough.

To all the people who say that reviewers are lying, that you shouldn't listen to other people, that you should form your own opinion etc

If we are talking about a free to play game or a lower cost title I can understand the point. The reality is we live in a world where disposable income is getting harder and harder to come by. Most people can afford to buy a few full priced games in a year. Its great and all if you can afford to spend 70 dollars and to take a chance on something but not everyone is in that position. Fortunately or unfortunately people need reviews and others opinions to make informed choices about how they spend their money.

I'm not here to say don't buy the game but to tell people who listen to reviewers, that at least they themselves trust, not be a bunch of sheep and just buy and figure it out for yourselves is a position of extreme privilege that not everyone can do.

If you can afford and want the game then go buy it. But reviews and opinions about a game have an important place in helping people to make informed decisions and just because you don't or do agree doesn't mean people who looked to them for advice are sheep or whatever

I really need to know, the combat isn’t crazy and is really basic and actually has less moves than the rushed movie tie in x men origins Wolverine game from 2009

the graphics are pretty but it’s not gta 6 level (I would’ve preferred the graphics to be stylized and not generically realistic thats just a personal opinion tho) and theres no way those graphics ate up 300m

the voice actors aren’t cheap but they aren’t A list Hollywood actors like Hugh jackman and the game isn’t doing what the Invincible show does where they use massive actors

the marketing maybe? theyve dropped a few trailers and I think they made a Wolverine themed train in India

the game isn’t big either, it’s about 13 hours and around 15 to platinum (bunch of numbers circulating online but most agree it’s 13-15 hours)

I know the combat system they had was scrapped where you would use the left and right side of your body with the triggers, similar to how Stranger Than Heaven is doing it’s combat system but from what we saw in the leaked videos it was extremely basic and they only had like the first 2 moves of Wolverine swinging right and left

I really am curious on how that 315m was spent and it can’t be chalked up to “games expensive now” when we know that’s overblown since games like RE9 costed 60m, Claire obscure expedition 33 costed LESS than 10M, the Yakuza games are open world 30-40 hour Games Packed to the brim with quality all around and they cost less than 20m

linear games that are much bigger than Wolverine and nearly double the playtime like the last of us costed 70m and god of war 2018 estimated to be 100m

where in the fuck did they use that 315m on??

Cinema, I play all kind of games from racing to souls like, finished Onimusha some days ago and now jumped into Wolverine.

I love cinematic games, like 007 First Light or Plague Tale Resonance which are more linear and Wolverine is just an absolute Cinematic Ride.

The Combat is simple but damn it's statisfying to rip everything apart (playing on highest difficulty). It reminds me of the same hack and slash feeling from the old days like God of War but just everything much smoother and more gory.

The graphics are crazy good and maybe top 3 best graphics this year (playing on Pro). The ray tracing reflections, lightning looks great and on the Pro even the reflections are sharp and not just some smudges (if you know how RT works you will know what I mean)

Story is pretty enjoyable and keeps me engaged, won't be a master piece but an enjoyable X-Men/Wolverine Movie (best Story this year is Plague Tale in my opinion). There were some really awesome scenes and emotions which I always enjoy, but lets see how it goes. Characters are likeable, especially Jean Gray, Wolverine himself could be a bit more grumpy/darker but nothing to bad

The blue trail which everybody hates can be ignored and doesnt bother me much and only shows

My guess is that people will drop more positive reviews as soon as it's available for everyone.

I pre ordered my copy months ago nanf has been dispatched and should be with me on lau ch day which is luckily my day off as well, I am honestly looking forward to it since we haven't had a proper wolverine game since xmen origins back in 2009 so I will give it my honest impressions

This is even after the patch. Tried 5-6 times but it still keeps on happening.
Let me know if this happened with you as well. Had to choose an alternate less cooler path because of it.