PlayStation gambles with 18-rated Wolverine game – will it pay off?
BBC News
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PlayStation’s Big Bet on Marvel’s Wolverine Game
On Tuesday, Sony will release Marvel’s Wolverine, the year’s biggest exclusive for the PlayStation 5. Made by Insomniac, the studio behind the acclaimed Spider-Man titles, this game promises to be a massive hit. Yet, unlike its web-slinging predecessor, Wolverine carries an 18 rating in the UK, indicating that children cannot legally purchase it, and features significant amounts of blood, gore, and violence. This presents a risk for Sony, but could it pay off?
This review contains spoilers for minor plot points and early gameplay sequences.
The Gameplay:
You play as Logan, aka Wolverine, a comic book superhero with self-healing abilities and retractable claws. Dressed in his iconic yellow-and-black costume, you engage in fluid, easy-to-pick-up combat against hordes of enemies, slashing and stabbing them with copious amounts of blood on display. While some may wish for more nuanced options, the game’s "rage" meter adds a satisfying twist, allowing for powerful attacks as it fills.
A Shift in Gameplay Style:
Unlike Spider-Man, which excelled at open-world exploration, Wolverine opts for a linear structure, offering less freedom of movement but still engaging combat that kept me hooked throughout the approximately 20 hours to reach the credits (a colleague finished it faster at 15 hours).
The Risks and Rewards:
Just as Spider-Man set new standards for superhero games with its open world, Wolverine represents a change in design philosophy. The graphic violence increases the risk that it might alienate some potential players, but also positions the game as a mature, intense experience.
As Emma Kent, a freelance game critic, notes:
"There’s a significant shake-up happening here in game design terms… Insomniac is moving away from Spider-Man’s open world formula to adopt a linear structure for Wolverine."
