Insomniac’s new Wolverine game has landed on the PlayStation 5 and it is fair to say that there is a bit of noise around it, and not in a good way.
It was the first major game that is exclusive to the PS5 since Sony announced the end of physical discs, so that was always going to put it in the firing line.
Then came the very current trend of previously attractive female characters being made fugly, seemingly to match the new generation of game developers with their interestingly coloured hair and empowerment stickers on their laptops.
This time the target was Mystique.
Just as that was all blowing up, complaints began to emerge of over the game being too linear and with a relatively short campaign mode.
Now that criticism has switched to a gameplay feature where Wolverine uses a scent trail to follow to complete objectives.
This is displayed as a blue vapor line on the screen. It cannot be turned off.
When combined with waypoint markers, internal character dialogue and a highly linear game, the title is now being accused of treating players like idiots, or children, which jars with the adult nature of the game, featuring violence and bloody atttacks.
Wolverine now seems to have such a toxic discourse around it, that many industry observers wonder if it can move beyond it and post some decent sales figures, or if this narrative will bring it down just as it hits the stores?
