Highlights
- Insomniac Games has a strong track record of creating games with fun and fluid movement mechanics, making traversal a key aspect of its games.
- While Insomniac excelled at capturing the agility of Spider-Man in its previous game, Marvel's Wolverine presents a challenge due to the character's lack of unique movement abilities.
- The developer may need to lean into Wolverine's animalistic nature to make him feel physically capable and ensure the game remains enjoyable to play, as traversal may not be a major focus.
With Insomniac Games attached to the project, the anticipation surrounding Marvel's Wolverine is huge and will no doubt be escalated if Marvel's Spider-Man 2 lives up to expectations. The developer created a faithful adaptation of the web-slinger that still somehow managed to feel unique in its approach, refining the ideas that previous games had put forward to craft something wonderful. However, Insomniac's resume began long before it took the reins of the beloved Marvel figure.
Insomniac has explored a few different genres, and seemingly succeeded at each one. From 3D platformers to first-person shooters and third-person action-adventure titles, it's one of the industry's most eclectic companies. One common thread is found in each of its games, however, as movement has always been a big priority, making sure that each new project is fun to control and explore, never feeling too rigid in its gameplay. Yet, with Marvel's Wolverine, this streak could risk being broken as even a Wolverine in his prime doesn't offer much in terms of agility.
Insomniac's Traversal is Always Special
When a new Spider-Man game was announced at E3 2017, it was little surprise that the studio at the helm was Insomniac, the developer of Ratchet and Clank, Spyro the Dragon, and Xbox exclusive Sunset Overdrive. The game was shown off before Sony purchased the company, but most saw it as a stellar addition to PlayStation's exceptional list of single-player IP regardless. One of the reasons Spider-Man felt like such a good fit for the Burbank-based outfit was because most Spider-Man games live and die by their traversal.
Getting around New York City has to feel fun, fast, and fluid so long as it's an option, and though some games in the past have fallen at this hurdle, Insomniac was in the best position to make something great, especially as the aforementioned Sunset Overdrive was so dependent on how it felt to move around an open space. What resulted in 2018 was an experience that handled web-slinging better than any games before it, further solidifying it as the definitive Spidey experience. The character lends himself well to a game that prioritizes movement, but Insomniac's next Marvel character is far more stubborn.
Compared to Spider-Man, Wolverine is Stuck in the Mud
Wolverine is quick, agile, and instinctive but his healing powers and retractable claws don't give him any abilities that improve traversal, so Insomniac will be limited somewhat in how they have players control Logan. Unless the developer implements a new skill to his move set, it will likely be very restricted, as Wolverine doesn't have the gifts of flight, super speed, web-slinging, or any other kind of unique movement to make controlling him fun or innovative. Treading the line between giving Wolverine more agility while staying true to his nature will be difficult, as comic fans can be picky with their preferences and are often particular about character consistency.
Perhaps the answer to this problem lies in leaning into Logan's animalistic nature, helping him feel more physically capable and ensuring that the game is still fun to play. Traversal in Marvel's Wolverine is something that the developer will have to be creative to overcome; otherwise, traversal may not be a huge part of the game at all, much like God of War from 2018. But as history shows, there are few AAA studios that can harness creativity and fluidity of movement quite like Insomniac.
Marvel's Wolverine is in development.
