Marvel's Wolverine, developed by Insomniac Games for PS5, has received a largely lukewarm critical reception ahead of its September 15 launch. As of this writing, the game sits at 77 on Metacritic and 81 on OpenCritic, scores that are not bad on their own but fall short of expectations for the studio behind the acclaimed Spider-Man series and for a marquee PlayStation exclusive.
According to Kotaku, that 77 Metascore makes Marvel's Wolverine the lowest-rated game from any PlayStation Studios developer since the PS5 launched in 2020, with God of War: Ragnarok currently the highest at 94 and Sackboy: A Big Adventure previously holding the lowest spot at 79. GamesRadar+ adds that the score marks Insomniac's worst rating for an original game since 2016's Song of the Deep, falling short of the studio's past work like Sunset Overdrive and the Ratchet & Clank series.
Sources note a split between smaller international outlets, some of which gave the game scores of 9 or 10, and larger, more prominent sites, which mostly landed around 6 out of 10. Kotaku reports that Eurogamer, VGC, IGN, GameSpot, and GamesRadar all gave the game a 6, while Giant Bomb rated it lowest at 5. Because Metacritic weights scores by outlet reputation, the higher marks from lesser-known sites carry less influence on the aggregate.
Individual reviews cited by Polygon reflect this divided but generally underwhelmed tone. IGN's Simon Cardy, in a 6/10 review, found the story compelling but said combat that is 'initially slick and satisfying' wears thin by the end, summarizing the game as 'okay.' Kotaku's own Kenneth Shepard offered more enthusiasm, appreciating the game's break from bloated AAA design and its handling of X-Men themes of oppression, though he found both combat and Logan's personal struggles could feel one-note, calling it 'a structural throwback to a simpler time' while hoping a sequel wouldn't feel as stagnant. YouTube critic Skill Up delivered one of the harshest verdicts, saying he does not recommend the game and criticizing its 'obnoxious, hand-holding game design,' with constant pop-ups, GPS pointers, and audio pings padding out its roughly 20-hour runtime.
Other critics found more to like in specific elements. Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell, awarding three stars, said the game follows familiar Sony action-game trends but praised its portrayal of Logan as 'openly vulnerable, emotive, apologetic, kind' and 'a totally charming' action hero. Polygon's own Giovanni Colantonio was far less forgiving, calling Marvel's Wolverine 'the biggest disappointment of the PS5 era' and arguing its visceral combat and spectacle couldn't rescue a melodramatic story stretched across 15 blood-soaked hours. GamesRadar+'s review, written by Leon, similarly described the game as 'never a bad experience, just an underwhelming one full of odd choices,' while reporter Dustin Bailey noted that an early two-hour hands-on session ended up showing most of what the finished 10-15 hour game had to offer.
Kotaku points out that with 106 reviews logged at the time of writing, opinions on the game vary widely, and that at a $70 price point, a mixed critical reception can make the game feel like a costly gamble for players. Still, several sources frame the outcome as notable mainly because expectations for Sony's in-house studios are unusually high; as Kotaku puts it, having this be Sony's worst-rated PS5-era game is, in its own way, a sign of how strong the platform's overall lineup has been.