It's time to have conversations about Insomniac

Now I've seen my fair share of games get dragged through the mud online, but what's been going on with Marvel's Wolverine has been a sight to see. We've been getting more hands-on footage with the game set to release in about a month, and yeah, this is AAA gaming at its finest. The action sequences in Wolverine are insane and exactly what we've come to expect from first-party PlayStation games.

I'll cover you as best I can from here. That citizen is in the prison. Get ahead.

I think I'm going to stop. Get him out. [ __ ] Take cover. Go.

You see how this looks, right? The XP bar going up throughout the clip is just sending me. It's like, yes, you did such a good job holding R2 and pushing up on the left stick or pressing L3 for 20 seconds.

Now, to be fair, there was combat gameplay after this, but maintaining the agenda is the top priority here. Yeah, people have had a lot to say about this game ranging from its run-of-the-mill stealth mechanics, which I think is serviceable. It's definitely no Splinter Cell or Batman Arkham or prime Assassin's Creed, to one of its boss fights against a Sentinel prototype, which is using very dated and uninspired giant behind a ledge swinging its arms at you boss design. If I was a betting man, I'd say they probably have a full-fledged Sentinel fight towards the end of the game, but given this is all we have to go off of until it finally releases, yeah, it's not stacking up to Wolverine Origins first Sentinel fight, that's for sure.

To finally a chase scene, which can only be described as the evolution of yellow paint, in which Wolverine is chasing after a member of the Hand with a red scent marker highlighting not only where they are, but where they're traveling to. And in spite of how jaded I am with Insomniac because of Spider-Man 2, even I can acknowledge that this uncanny valley iteration of Wolverine is not bad. It's just generic. But where I'm confused is what is it about this game that has people all of a sudden waking up to the stagnant state of video games. Like Sony's bread and butter for the past decade and some change has been photorealistic cinematic storytelling with a high emphasis on accessibility with gameplay so streamlined even a lobotomite could master it. Virtually every single PlayStation exclusive with the exception of Astro Bot has been this. So if you were expecting innovation from a licensed Marvel game made by Insomniac's B team with a budget of 300 million, I don't know what to tell you.

In my opinion, there are three main factors influencing the discourse which can't be downplayed. The first being that people are just fed up with Sony, especially recently, but moreover this entire generation. To barely having any notable exclusives to now getting rid of physical discs and now your one tentpole release of the year in Marvel's Wolverine, from what seems to be the only studio you have that's actually capable of putting out multiple games in a single generation, is coming out looking like a formulaic by the numbers game. The second reason, which is natural when you have a track record for putting out some decent games, is that your latest work is always going to be compared to that. When people look at what you've done and look at what you're doing now and it doesn't wow them, yeah, they're going to get annoyed. If this Wolverine game was made by another studio or was Insomniac's first Marvel superhero game, the reception would be a lot different. And it's crazy how when you look back in 2021 when this game got revealed, like Insomniac working on Wolverine and expanding their Marvel Universe games, hey, sounds like a no-brainer. Well, 5 years later seeing the nonsense that's transpired in the industry and knowing that there's so many people working on these games that frankly don't have the type of grit needed to make this type of game. I

remember when we got our first real look at gameplay for Wolverine at the 2025 State of Play. And right after they had a dev breakdown on their approach to this game, and whether or not they were going to make something that truly captures the violent visceral nature of Wolverine, which I knew the answer was no the moment I saw these cyberpunk-like soldiers. You can add as much blood as you want, but cutting off the leg of somebody who turned themselves into an Android just doesn't hit the same. Yes, Insomniac when it comes to these Marvel games really likes tech-like enemies, but it's a cheap cop-out as far as I'm concerned. And then there's one part of this trailer that I don't think I'll ever forget. It was where one of the devs was talking about how she was concerned that a scene where Wolverine was putting his claws through somebody's skull was quote "maybe taking things a little too far." What?

Bro, what are you talking about, man? That's the wrong mindset for a rated M Wolverine game. You should be thinking about how far can you go? If your game starts looking like the modern version of Manhunt, then you'll know you've crossed the line. That tangent aside, the third and final reason for the backlash and what's really the crux of the matter is some gamers are upset that this just looks like another run-of-the-mill AAA game with a Wolverine skin. It's one thing to have reached the point of diminishing returns when it comes to graphics, but now gaming's most premium experience is stuck in this risk-averse feedback loop where projects are structurally sound and polished, but have unremarkable gameplay because it's simply replicating what's viable in the market. And given the state of the industry where people are even getting laid off from making successful games, can you really blame said studio for not chancing it? And the annoying thing is from a business standpoint, yeah, they're justified in it. The shareholder takes precedence over the gamer, who only care about getting a significant return on their investment. Then you're working on these IPs, which are guaranteed money makers so long as you accommodate the lowest common denominator. And I'm not even saying that in a derogatory manner. What I'm saying is gaming being the largest entertainment industry in the world, and by magnitudes I might add, is going to have a lot of casuals. So, when you see these movie games, which basically play themselves, understand they have the data to pull from to see what keeps gamers hooked. On top of the play test they hold to make sure these games are dummy proof. As a result, it's become gaming standard to the frustration of anyone capable of completing Cuphead's tutorial. But you can only rinse and repeat for so long before even the normies realize they finally had their fill. It just takes an excruciatingly long time, but it happens. There's a lot more I'd like to say about this game,

but these are just previews we have to go off of right now. I'm predicting when it's all said and done that we're going to have to have serious conversations about Insomniac, especially if this game ends up being a humiliation ritual for Wolverine the same way Spider-Man 2 was for Peter Parker. And if you want to see my thoughts on that, check out one of the videos showing up on the screen.

That's all I got for this one. If you enjoyed, leave a like and subscribe to the channel if you're new, and I'll catch y'all in the next one.

with a high emphasis on accessibility with gameplay so streamlined even a lobotomite could master it. Virtually every single PlayStation exclusive with the exception of Astro Bot has been this. So if you were expecting innovation from a licensed Marvel game

made by Insomniac's B team with a budget of 300 million, I don't know what to tell you. In my opinion, there are three main factors influencing the discourse which can't be downplayed. The first being that people are just fed up with Sony, especially

recently, but moreover this entire generation. To barely having any notable exclusives to now getting rid of physical discs and now your one tentpole release of the year in Marvel's Wolverine, from what seems to be the only studio you have that's actually

capable of putting out multiple games in a single generation, is coming out looking like a formulaic by the numbers game. The second reason, which is natural when you have a track record for putting out some decent games, is that

your latest work is always going to be compared to that. When people look at what you've done and look at what you're doing now and it doesn't wow them, yeah, they're going to get annoyed. If this Wolverine game was made by another

studio or was Insomniac's first Marvel superhero game, the reception would be a lot different. And it's crazy how when you look back in 2021 when this game got revealed, like Insomniac working on Wolverine and expanding their Marvel Universe games, hey, sounds like a

no-brainer. Well, 5 years later seeing the nonsense that's transpired in the industry and knowing that there's so many people working on these games that frankly don't have the type of grit needed to make this type of game. I

remember when we got our first real look at gameplay for Wolverine at the 2025 State of Play. And right after they had a dev breakdown on their approach to this game, and whether or not they were going to make something that truly

captures the violent visceral nature of Wolverine, which I knew the answer was no the moment I saw these cyberpunk like soldiers. You can add as much blood as you want, but cutting off the leg of somebody who turned themselves into an

Android just doesn't hit the same. Yes, Insomniac when it comes to these Marvel games really likes tech-like enemies, but it's a cheap cop-out as far as I'm concerned. And then there's one part of this trailer that I don't think I'll

ever forget. It was where one of the devs was talking about how she was concerned that a scene where Wolverine was putting his claws through somebody's skulls was quote "maybe taking things a little too far." What?

Bro, what are you talking about, man? That's the wrong mindset for a rated M Wolverine game. You should be thinking about how far can you go? If your game starts looking like the modern version of Manhunt, then you'll know you've

crossed the line. That tangent aside, the third and final reason for the backlash and what's really the crux of the matter is some gamers are upset that this just looks like another run-of-the-mill AAA game with a Wolverine skin. It's one thing to have

reached the point of diminishing returns when it comes to graphics, but now gaming's most premium experience is stuck in this risk-averse feedback loop where projects are structurally sound and polished, but have unremarkable gameplay because it's simply replicating what's viable in the market. And given

the state of the industry where people are even getting laid off from making successful games, can you really blame said studio for not chancing it? And the annoying thing is from a business standpoint, yeah, they're justified in it. The shareholder takes precedence

over the gamer, who only care about getting a significant return on their investment. Then you're working on these IPs, which are guaranteed money makers so long as you accommodate the lowest common denominator. And I'm not even saying that in a derogatory manner. What

I'm saying is gaming being the largest entertainment industry in the world, and by magnitudes I might add, is going to have a lot of casuals. So, when you see these movie games, which basically play themselves, understand they have the

data to pull from to see what keeps gamers hooked. On top of the play test they hold to make sure these games are dummy proof. As a result, it's become gaming standard to the frustration of anyone capable of completing Cuphead's

tutorial. But you can only rinse and repeat for so long before even the normies realize they finally had their fill. It just takes an excruciatingly long time, but it happens. There's a lot more I'd like to say about this game,

but these are just previews we have to go off of right now. I'm predicting when it's all said and done that we're going to have to have serious conversations about Insomniac, especially if this game ends up being a humiliation ritual for

Wolverine the same way Spider-Man 2 was for Peter Parker. And if you want to see my thoughts on that, check out one of the videos showing up on the screen.

That's all I got for this one. If you enjoyed, leave a like and subscribe to the channel if you're new, and I'll catch y'all in the next one.