Marvel’s Wolverine will be a huge departure from Insomniac’s Spider-Man game, and the mechanics could be a great opportunity for some change.
Insomniac Games has revolutionized video games based on characters from the Marvel Universe thanks to Marvel’s Spider-Man. Since then, other developers have taken note and created games that give Marvel’s library of characters a fresh feeling of gameplay. A recent example of this is Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which saw its heroes thrive in a turn-based strategy environment. While Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is on the way, Insomniac has widened its reach by also tackling a completely new hero with Marvel’s Wolverine.
By nature, Marvel’s Wolverine will already be a huge departure from what Insomniac Games had made before. Perhaps the most obvious change is the Mature rating that the game will embrace to provide an authentic Wolverine experience. However, being that Wolverine and Spider-Man couldn’t be farther apart in most ways, Marvel’s Wolverine will require some major shifts in mechanics from those implemented for the Web-Head. Yet, the foundations of Marvel’s Spider-Man could easily be modified and expanded for Wolverine’s gritty adventure.
Wolverine’s Traversal Could Be More Layered Thanks to the Location
Considering Wolverine has never been known to swing from webs to reach his destination, traversal would have to be changed considerably to allow players to explore the world (should the game still maintain an open-world setup). Thankfully, according to hints in the trailer, the game will likely be set in the fictional city island of Madripoor, which has always been known for being sprawling but also compact. As a result, players could expect an aspect of traversal involving parkour as Wolverine could climb buildings using his claws and use the rooftops as a means of transportation. However, there’s also a method seen in God of War where the map isn’t easily traversed and explored in sections within the city, allowing for detailed locations without the need to travel too far in one go, like in Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Logan’s Healing Could Revolutionize Combat and Stealth
In Marvel’s Spider-Man, players had to rely on Spider-Sense, agility, superhuman strength, webs, and gadgets to stealthily or combatively clear a room. However, Wolverine has none of these and instead has always relied on his brutality and healing factor that has made him nearly immortal. As a result, approaching combat similar to Marvel’s Spider-Man may only work to a point. For example, Wolverine usually rushes head-first into combat, but when it comes to stealth, he could borrow strategies from Spider-Man, distracting enemies and luring them into traps. However, a brutality similar to that of God of War‘s Kratos would better serve the character. As a result, flair and combos wouldn’t be the main focus since using his berserker rage to stop foes may be the best way to get an authentic experience. Plus, with his healing factor, the goal would be to inflict as much damage as possible before he takes too much and is potentially knocked unconscious. Ultimately, style would take a backseat to aggressive combat to better capture the essence of Wolverine.
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NPC Interactions May Open Up Paths to Get Information
Marvel’s Spider-Man had a fair amount of NPCs that helped keep the city of New York feeling alive. However, they were more designed to give the player side missions to complete or to offer brief moments of interaction while walking the streets. Marvel’s Wolverine could take things further by giving the NPCs of Madripoor a more important role as individuals that could provide information. The ultimate goal would still be to push the story and conduct side missions, but Wolverine, using a classic disguise like Patch, could infiltrate and gain intel in areas he wouldn’t normally be able to enter. However, if he were to choose a more brutal approach, interrogation could also be a means of gaining intel from NPCs. In the end, the goal would be to offer variety among NPCs to obtain the same results and further the narrative.
Wolverine’s Past Could Affect Player Choices
In Marvel’s Spider-Man, the story was straightforward and allowed its players to experience it without any surprises that could come from a morality check, such as a good or bad ending. However, Marvel’s Wolverine features a far more complex, darker character, and that could open up the door for more options as to how the player works through the game. For example, should players embrace Wolverine’s more brutal side or stick more to the straight and narrow, the decisions could offer different endings or perhaps a post-credits sequence tied to those choices. This could be made to be related to Logan’s past as Weapon X and how he could never fully shake the animal within. This could expand on Marvel’s Spider-Man‘s storytelling style by letting players choose how much of the narrative and Wolverine’s backstory they wish to explore.
