Marvel's Wolverine was inspired by one of the few video game movie tie-ins that doesn't suck: "We had the same challenges as those devs"
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Most video game movie tie-ins suck, and most Wolverine games suck. 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, defied both of those conventions. It launched to generally favorable reviews and is remembered to this day as one of the better video game adaptations of Logan, especially next to absolute stinkers like LJN's 1991 NES Wolverine game.
Now, when I say video game movie tie-ins, I mean games developed specifically as promotional accessories to big movie releases. The Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T. is probably the most infamous example, and it seems Hollywood has largely phased out licensing out these kinds of games, but most of us around a certain age have that one game from their childhood that they bought because of its association with whatever movie, and that disappointed them deeply. Ironically, the only ones I have strong memories of are EA's hack-and-slash Lord of the Rings games from the early '00s, which are undeniable bangers.
Anyway, X-Men Origins: Wolverine did a good enough job adapting Wolverine's unique moveset that, many years later, Insomniac took notes from it while making Marvel's Wolverine, according to game director Mike Daly.
"We were definitely aware of that game, and we took inspiration from it," Daly tells TheGamer. "The reference gathering part of the project had us really looking everywhere, and I think that game did a really fantastic job of asking and answering a lot of the same questions that we asked and answered. Like, how do you represent Wolverine as authentically as possible? I would say rather than we took ideas from the game, it's more like we had the same challenges as those devs and sort of arrived at similar conclusions."
Going off these comments as well as the abundance of bad Wolverine games, it's safe to say there's something about Logan's iconic suit and powers that's difficult to bring to players' hands in a way that's lore-accurate and satisfying to interact with. The good news is, according to GamesRadar+'s hands-on Wolverine preview, Insomniac seems to have done exactly that.
"Before playing Marvel's Wolverine, I was afraid I would miss so much from Insomniac's previous Spider-Man games," writes staff writer Dustin Bailey. "Sure, the combat and missions in those games were fun enough, but the truly excellent part was swinging through the streets of New York City at breakneck speeds and digging for little odd jobs and side missions along the way.
"Going hands-on with the game completely erased those fears. Insomniac has repurposed the fundamentals of its previous games here, yes, but it's done so in a way that feels appropriate for Logan. The turn from friendly neighborhood wall-crawler to this brooding new hero makes all the difference."
Marvel's Wolverine claws its way to PS5 September 15.