Highlights

  • Marvel's Spider-Man 2 excels with polished gameplay, next-gen visuals, and an engaging narrative, setting the bar high for Insomniac's future games.
  • Insomniac Games should focus on quality over quantity, maintaining its short, tight narrative approach for Marvel's Wolverine.
  • Balancing a strong story and engaging gameplay will be crucial for Marvel's Wolverine's success and player enjoyment. Considering how Wolverine lacks the traversal abilities of Spider-Man, as well as tech like web-shooters and gadgets, a shorter game could keep his limited skillset from feeling repetitive.

Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man 2 got a lot of things right. Polished gameplay, true next-gen visuals, and a lively and engaging narrative are just some of the game's strongest assets. It manages to successfully build on everything that the first game did so well while standing on its own two feet as a game with its own identity. While one of its more surprising qualities was the relatively modest length of the game's main campaign, this arguably helps the narrative stay tight and impactful, ensuring it doesn't outstay its welcome. In an industry becoming bogged down with games intent on content bloat, Insomniac should double down on Marvel's Spider-Man 2's approach in its upcoming Wolverine game, taking a quality-over-quantity approach.

Aside from numerous unceremonius leaks that began to surface several months ago off the back of a cyber attack on Insomniac Games, Marvel's Wolverine has had precious little official information announced so far. The highly anticipated single-player action game does not yet have an official release date, but is still thought to be a ways off. Still, Insomniac has done a fantastic job building its Spider-Man universe, and means the developer should be able to apply many of its learnings to the upcoming project. Fans will be hoping that they get a well-rounded game that tells a great story and gives them a fresh look at the veteran comic book hero, but it may be best if that game is on the shorter side.

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Marvel's Wolverine is Spoiled For Choice in One Important Area

No matter what direction it goes in for Marvel’s Wolverine’s story, Insomniac Games will have plenty of options for one important role.

Marvel's Wolverine Should Follow Spider-Man 2's Lead

Insomniac's Spider-Man Games Run Time

Game Title

Time to Complete

Time to Complete + Extras

Spider-Man

17 hours

Approx. 30 hours

Spider-Man Miles Morales

8 hours

Approx. 20 hours

Spider-Man 2

15 hours

Approx. 26 hours

As video games have evolved over the past few decades, their size and scope have increased exponentially. With technical and graphical improvements have come bigger worlds, more complex mechanics, and most importantly, more content. Many video game developers seem to have directly linked value for money with volume of content, and while this can at times be true, it is not often the case. This can sometimes result in overly bloated games which demand dozens of hours of the players' time, in a world where time is probably the most precious commodity.

Over the years, games such as the Assassin's Creed franchise have been accused of being unnecessarily overloaded with content just to pad out the game's run time, and there's no doubt that such tactics can severely impact the narrative's effect on the player. Some gamers are beginning to tire of these huge time sinks, instead favoring shorter, more compact experiences, such as the recently released Stellar Blade. Shift Up's action-adventure game is by no means particularly short, but it doesn't outstay its welcome and isn't filled to the brim with filler content. Some content does exist for those that want to spend more time with the world, but those that don't can simply continue with the main experience.

Marvel's Wolverine Needs to Balance its Narrative With Gameplay

Insomniac has proved it knows how to handle the Marvel universe correctly, with each of its Spider-Man titles receiving varying degrees of critical acclaim. Taking into account all side activities, the two mainline games have clocked in around the 20-30 hour mark, but for those just looking to experience the story, this can be done for both titles in under 20 hours each. This feels like the sweet spot that balances value and quality of content. Each game has plenty of side activities for those who want to engage them, and importantly, none of this content feels forced. There's no reason to believe Insomniac will deviate from this formula with Marvel's Wolverine, nor should it. The variety in Wolverine's gameplay is likely to be lesser than that of Spider-Man given the nature of his powers, so making sure that the game doesn't overstay its welcome will be a must.