Transcript
Andrew McKinney: Welcome to gaming reviews with Andrew I'm your host, Andrew McKinney, and today we are going to be talking about Wolverine. Yes, I know. You have never listened to my podcast before. This is my very first episode, and the first one I'm going to be talking about is Wolverine. It already has a lot of...
Andrew McKinney: back and forth on whether this game is good or not. Everybody's talked about it. You know, why am I doing this as my first one? and I think when you're done listening to this and my take on it, I really hope that you get a... really good idea of the type of gamer I am and if I fit within
Andrew McKinney: what you like to do and who you are maybe you'll just subscribe and follow me and listen to all of the other reviews that i have which i have a bunch on my pipeline of older games. And my intention is to let you know whether it should be played today.
Andrew McKinney: Okay, if you or me. You are somebody. that does not get to game all of the time. You get to do it in your free time. whenever you possibly can, but it is not a...
Andrew McKinney: major hobby or habit or or or something that you Point. dozens and dozens of hours a week into, okay? This is something that you'd like to do for fun, and so you don't want to waste your time playing games that are not valuable.
Andrew McKinney: Okay. I am like that. There's plenty of good games, right? Unarguably. Plenty of good games. Even good games, not all of them are worth playing and worth your time. So that's what I'm here for.
Andrew McKinney: We're going to decide whether or not Wolverine. is your it's It's your time. it's It's the game to play. if it's worth it. If you only had 10 games to play, would this make the top 10 list? Yes or nay? Basically is what we're going to be talking about. And any games that I review are going to be within that same sort of metric. Would this potentially... be in my top 10.
Andrew McKinney: games that I would want to play right now. If you're going to listen to me, there's probably going to be 50, however many episodes, and maybe 20 or 30 of them make it. quote unquote, within that top 10. It just means that it's really good game.
Andrew McKinney: and it And I do not regret playing it, and I think you guys would enjoy it, and you won't regret playing it either. so Okay. without further ado, that's a little bit about what I do what I like. Most of this little... tidbit is going to be towards the end of every video or every podcast, sorry, instead of at the beginning. But since this is the first one, I wanted you guys to get a little bit of an idea of who I am.
Andrew McKinney: So. Let's jump right into it. Wolverine. Is this game? Worth it today. Is it worth your time, money, et cetera, to play this game? so I could answer this in a little...
Andrew McKinney: few different ways. I'm going to give you kind of the summary. first. and then we can kind of go into the different sort of segments of gaming and whether it fits within what you kind of like so uh first and foremost the question really becomes is this worth playing Yes or no. oh Okay. For me personally.
Andrew McKinney: I think it was worth it. Okay, I enjoyed. the game. For the most part. Okay. here's my hot take this is what nobody really seems to talk about okay because you'll either get people and gamers to talk about how this game sucks.
Andrew McKinney: You shouldn't play it. Or... hey all of those reviewers don't know what they're talking about this is a great game i loved it let's play it What nobody's talking about is not whether this is not worth playing.
Andrew McKinney: but whether it's worth the price tag that they're asking for it. Okay. That is the big question. Okay. And for me. that is unequivocally No.
Andrew McKinney: It is not worth $70. whatsoever. That is my only regret with this game. I do not regret playing it I enjoyed it. Bright.
Andrew McKinney: Do not think it was worth $70.
Andrew McKinney: Let me tell you why. Okay. Now if you look at it statistically wise, okay, that's that's probably the most you know analytical way we could look at it is statistically speaking this game costs to make about the same amount that it costs to make.
Andrew McKinney: the Spider -Man games that Insomniac made. Okay. roughly around the same. In those Spider -Man games you get to play as Spider -Man. In an open world. New York City.
Andrew McKinney: where you get yourself maybe... 2025. Our long story. with a bunch of different side content that you could get. Okay, all for the exact same price And for the exact same amount of money that they.
Andrew McKinney: invested in Wolverine. you do not get that same level of gameplay with Wolverine. Okay, this is designed to be a linear story. And there's a lot of people talking out there about how this potentially was supposed to be more open world. And they started running out of money, etc, blah, blah, blah. The question is, Like.
Andrew McKinney: If they were running out of money just to build the world. And they... Were able to do that for the exact same amount of money to build spider -man. Where was their money going? Like, is it because the other Spider -Man games did so well that, you know, now all of a sudden they're top talent and everybody needs to get paid 10 times more for salaries and things like that. And so just to make another. equal game is going to cost double as much like Like.
Andrew McKinney: like is that Is that what's happening? Is that the whole point? Because I don't understand where that money went. okay They didn't have name brand talent. to do the, you know, A -listers, doing the characters.
Andrew McKinney: These are new actors and actresses that we really haven't seen. So it's not like they're getting paid millions of dollars for this. One wouldn't think, obviously.
Andrew McKinney: The world. Isn't this magically beautiful, unique? place It's... It's graphically, it's great. It's a great game graphically, but it's not this. crazy unique place where it's just like okay i could see how they spent 300 million dollars just for what you got
Andrew McKinney: The amount of content, okay, you're looking at... you know, Max, really, 15 hours. I think it took me a little less than that to to play through the game, and I got majority of the little side content that they had.
Andrew McKinney: So I think with like the Spider -Man games, you could you'd probably put in about 40 to 50 hours to complete everything versus this game where I think it's closer to about 18. To complete it,
Andrew McKinney: Again, for... the exact same amount of money that they spent. So... That's where it kind of gets a little weird for me. That's where it gets it gets tricky. Okay, because then they put the price tag on it. for the exact same amount that you got that game.
Andrew McKinney: Okay. They think that obviously because they spent the same amount of money. It - is worth it, okay but you're not getting the same thing. The story, in my opinion, was not this.
Andrew McKinney: amazing, wonderful thing that I was like, Oh my God, I need the second one. Okay. We'll talk more about that here in a second. When I talk about the, my go deeper in the story.
Andrew McKinney: So then if you look at it from a second perspective, right, we're no longer looking at insomniac. how they've spent their money, the games that they've made before and how it compares. Now we're looking, how does it compare to other games that are coming up?
Andrew McKinney: Okay. Let's talk about the holy grail of of gaming for 2026, GTA 6. Okay. for $80, $10 more, you basically get everything you possibly could with GTA. And that game reportedly...
Andrew McKinney: Just the story, main story. reportedly was around 80 hours. Okay, whether that's true or not, I don't know. But it's a big game.
Andrew McKinney: They poured one and a half billion dollars is roughly what people are saying around there. to make this game. And I paid 80 bucks.
Andrew McKinney: To have access to it And based off of what we're seeing right now, This is going to be a fantastic game. So now think about it. right Think about it from that perspective.
Andrew McKinney: You have a $70 game, 18 hours. to do 100 % completion. And then you compare that price tag to an $80 game, even a $100 game if we're talking about the... the the next level to GTA.
Andrew McKinney: And you are asking me whether or not this game was worth it? No. No, no, no, no, no. This is not worth the $70. Okay. The only reason a game like this would be worth the $70.
Andrew McKinney: is if it was on the same sort of playing field. as like Rocksteady's Batman games. Okay, the Batman games are especially the first couple or... First one, the second one, a little bit on the shorter side, gets a little bit longer each each game that you play.
Andrew McKinney: But those to me Should always be referenced as at this at least for now as the bass. level of how good superhero. video games should be.
Andrew McKinney: you they all three were fantastic I've played through multiple them multiple through them multiple times. And I will probably play through them. Yet again, because that's how good they are.
Andrew McKinney: Okay. And this game to me... like graphically was better. But... But. playthrough -wise, game... and story wise.
Andrew McKinney: was not nowhere close to it. I would rather play through all of the Batman games again than ever play Wolverine. I don't, I will not be touching Wolverine again. So it's those Batman games that I would be willing to if they came out and remastered remade whatever any of those games to modern day graphics and gameplay, I would.
Andrew McKinney: pay every single dime, whatever it costs to do that. This full 70 bucks. Because that's how good those games are. This was not on that level.
Andrew McKinney: And to me, That's where... It becomes a difference between everybody that's reviewing these games. whether they want you to play it. or they don't.
Andrew McKinney: The end of the day, it comes down. to the price tag And... my personal opinion. is that price -wise, it is not worth $70.
Andrew McKinney: Do I think you should play it at some point? Sure
Andrew McKinney: You know, it has its moments it's an It's an enjoyable game. I've played worse. I think you'd be especially if you're into superheroes, X -Men, etc.
Andrew McKinney: Like. You would probably f - find enjoyment in it and i think you would enjoy it slightly more paying half the price. and you'd feel less.
Andrew McKinney: you know
Andrew McKinney: you'd feel
Andrew McKinney: Less regretful, that's the word I'm looking for. of buying it. When you when you spend 30 to forty dollars on it instead of 70. It's just completely different, in my opinion. It's just a completely different feeling.
Andrew McKinney: Because now let's dive into the actual game, right? So analytically wise, we just know that on paper, it just doesn't make sense for it to be $70, right? And you got to be a diehard fan to want to spend that kind of money to play this game.
Andrew McKinney: um But then the question is, did you get, as a diehard fan, do you get everything that you want out of it? Okay, so let's let's let's dive into the actual game itself, okay? Let's talk story because I'm a story -based gamer. I... that's primarily what I play games for.
Andrew McKinney: Okay. So if you're listening to my podcast and you like my reviews. Then... I think you're gonna enjoy. Continuing. to listen and subscribe. because I'm going to focus more on the story and I'm going to have more.
Andrew McKinney: Uh... honest feedback and detailed feedback on story versus things like Completionism. or combat or whatever it is. where I don't really care too much about that kind of stuff. so When you get to the story of Wolverine...
Andrew McKinney: It's in essence split up into three different parts. You've got quote -unquote act one, act two, act three, with each act having its own primary antagonist.
Andrew McKinney: that somewhat leads... to the next one? But... Also kind of not really. so so so at least Act 1.
Andrew McKinney: doesn't transition too much. into act two In a way that like. made me Excited about it where it made kind of sense like it It had a transition. like If you play it through the game, you'll you'll you'll understand what I'm talking about. It had a transition from how you got to you know defeating the...
Andrew McKinney: Act 1. character you know, main boss to. to then... how we slowly built our way up to the finale and the end of this, this game. um But just it just it just never felt...
Andrew McKinney: enticing it never felt like powerful. in my opinion Okay, I think most of the characters were done pretty well Most of them you really haven't heard of.
Andrew McKinney: You know, you've got your... primary through year four. and I think most of us. are familiar with. Like if you're not a huge X -Men fan or or you just kind of know the bare minimums, everybody knows Wolverine.
Andrew McKinney: Everybody knows Mystique. You know Jean Grey And uh... Sabretooth. well You're you're more your' most common of the... the characters that you see in this game the ones that everybody kind of already knows every else. It's kind of...
Andrew McKinney: not as Not as well known. Not in the... the mainstream kind of. Um... world. So. From a story perspective...
Andrew McKinney: Okay, I'm just gonna summarize it. There's not gonna be any spoilers or anything like that. your character, in this case Wolverine. is in short,
Andrew McKinney: Trying to... Protect. Mutants. all over the world. In essence, The... non -mutants The humans.
Andrew McKinney: don't know that mutants exist. This is an environment where... mutants don't Shh. show themselves.
Andrew McKinney: to the world And...
Andrew McKinney: And and and you've you've got a... Character. that You got a primary story. Where the...
Andrew McKinney: Main villain. is wanting to Shh. switch that prerogative, right? it's It's very much a magneto kind of mentality where they want mute where he wants mutants to be the the primary rulers and they have this device to rule to to release the mutant gene in people that have it.
Andrew McKinney: Okay. And so. Long story short, Wolverine is trying for... to make sure this device doesn't get out because it does dangerous bad things And the... villain character wants it and wants to use it to find out who the mutants are and Uh,
Andrew McKinney: Turn them into mutants. and take over the world in essence. so that's kind of that's a really really generic basic summarization of the game You go through a bunch of different.
Andrew McKinney: you know things to get to that point. Okay. um and And for the most part, it's it's fine. It's an okay story.
Andrew McKinney: I didn't have any issues with it. You know, I played through it. it didn't it didn't like jump out at me i would probably give the story itself maybe a seven out of 10.
Andrew McKinney: like there was times and moments where I was invested. And... you know I wanted to get to the next. Part. But here's... here's Talking story. Here's the part of the story that Really?
Andrew McKinney: ruined it for me with this game. Okay, now now... This may or may not... This... isn't going to necessarily spoil the story. It's just going to spoil a particular mechanic of how the game works.
Andrew McKinney: Um, So if you want to skip this section of it, it's probably going to be. talking about it for about a minute or two. Um, It's not going to ruin anything for you. I think this might actually...
Andrew McKinney: help determine whether or not you play this game. This is what bothered me the most about the Wolverine game, which is out of the. three side things that you could do, right? Side thing one being collect whiskey bottles. Side thing two. two being collect. boxes so that way you could unlock the different material boxes basically to unlock the different costumes. And then number three are your nightmare doors.
Andrew McKinney: This is basically... You know Logan going and trying to remember his past okay so and this is a trial time trial things like traversal or fighting or combat or whatever it is yeah you You do it, you beat it, and then it unlocks a memory. Here's what pissed me off.
Andrew McKinney: The very first time that I did this, okay I was excited. I'm like, we're going to get this amazing, beautifully told story of Logan's past. And. Insomniac decides that the way that they're going to tell that past story is through a monologue.
Andrew McKinney: You sit there and look at a wooden carving as Logan talks about what happened in his past. And that's it. That is The Nightmare Doors.
Andrew McKinney: And most of them don't even really tie that... much into each other. like it just feels Weird. Like, you kind of understand. what Logan is after, who he's looking for or what is going on in his life.
Andrew McKinney: But what pissed me off the most was that we didn't get to see it visually. I didn't even care if I got to play through this. You just don't I just wanted to visually see what he was talking about.
Andrew McKinney: right When it was 1904 or whatever. it was what he was doing. When he was in the war, when he was in Japan, whenever he was doing all these things, why can I not visually see that?
Andrew McKinney: Why do I have to listen? to Logan talk about it.
Andrew McKinney: That was the dumbest thing. honestly that that ruined the game for me in essence of like why i'm not going to play it again that's what That's what really got me to say this is not worth $70. I think if they had... played that story visually if we would have been able to see that historic part of it and and visually being able to be part of the story.
Andrew McKinney: I could understand. This being priced a little bit higher.
Andrew McKinney: But the moment, the very first door that I unlocked and walked through and did that, and and that's how they did it, I... it really started to kind of just be like, okay. At this point, I've started the game, paid 70 bucks for it. I got to finish it.
Andrew McKinney: That's how... much That's how taken out of that. moment I was. It ruined it for me. I really I just if they do a second one.
Andrew McKinney: I really hope that they... Don't do this same crap. So story -wise from that perspective, that's going to ruin it for you. If you're me.
Andrew McKinney: If you wanted to feel and see the the visual of the story. But everything else... It was good, and... Okay. And like I think the story would do well if...
Andrew McKinney: We don't have such repetitive combat. So let's talk about the combat in this game a little bit. so I think that's kind of also what made it feel repetitive and like, okay, I i just want to be done with this game.
Andrew McKinney: is that you were kind of doing the same thing. the same move
Andrew McKinney: to get from one mission to the next. to the next. And. it it just didn't it didn't really feel exciting after a while.
Andrew McKinney: You know. I don't know really know how to describe it. i just it just It just felt repetitive and boring at a certain point. Like it got there's interesting moments. There's like the gore and everything like that with how it works is like I thought it was cool.
Andrew McKinney: right the The mechanic itself is great. I just wish there was more to it. I wish there was more. combos and things, and and the and the and the... The little... techniques and gene things that they do just it just It felt so...
Andrew McKinney: So like a game that would have been made 20 years ago. like Like this is a game from 20 years ago that... you know ah and early stages of GTA where they were kind of just testing out some mechanics and trying to see what would work. what what dent and they were kind of experimenting.
Andrew McKinney: It feels more like an experiment more than anything. The problem is that they put so much money and time into this and marketing that it... it It wasn't an experiment.
Andrew McKinney: Right. This was like them thinking this is gonna be the biggest thing in the world so You'll enjoy the combat. For the first several missions and I think after that you're gonna start Getting a little irritated and bored And then that's going to slowly start making the story a little bit worse for you.
Andrew McKinney: So. From that point, the completionism aspect of it is... Super easy. Super easy. I know that they went in and patched.
Andrew McKinney: you know When I played it, they didn't have the patch to be able to remove the hints. portion of it. Um, Which is fine. I don't care. I would have probably kept the hints on personally because I don't, you know, like I'm not a completionist.
Andrew McKinney: I just, if I'm going to complete a game, if I'm going to do any side thing, I just want it to matter. I want it to mean something. You know, collecting the the material boxes, getting the different costumes. That was cool. I like that.
Andrew McKinney: Nightmare doors felt like a waste of time. I stopped doing them honestly Whiskey bottles, same thing. waste of time, not worth it. didn't bring anything to the game. So, you know, the side missions was just never a thing. And I think if you're a completionist, you're not going to have fun with it.
Andrew McKinney: If you're somebody that wants to... and course yourself with. the the world. They're just not. much of that in this game You know, it is not an open world game.
Andrew McKinney: You know, there's areas that a little bit bigger that you kind of walk around and explore just a little bit, but there's not like things you could pick up and listen and listen to and read and. all of the like like all the things that you would if you're exploring an actual open world game.
Andrew McKinney: It's just they just don't have that
Andrew McKinney: I think at some point maybe at one point in their making of this game they were looking at doing that. Following a Spider -Man -esque. Style?
Andrew McKinney: And then for some reason they changed it. so if you're a completionist it's not for you if you like to explore worlds it's not for you If you're a big...
Andrew McKinney: you know learn about the environment and the lore and and get to know the characters, it's not for you.
Andrew McKinney: It's truly just playing through an X -Men. story.
Andrew McKinney: And... I've definitely played through worse stories. And I don't regret playing through it. I enjoyed it. It had its... moments. it got repetitive combat wise but story wise i i don't regret playing it So...
Andrew McKinney: To summarize. End of the day. Is this going to make my top 10? List, no. I think personally, if you have no...
Andrew McKinney: like connection to Marvel or X -Men or anything like that. you I would just probably skip this game. I don't think you're going to get much value out of it. You're not going to learn anything. You're not going to feel like, oh my gosh, I love X -Men now.
Andrew McKinney: Like it's just not. the thing You're probably going to be more frustrated than anything that there's certain story aspects that you get. lackluster. experience from.
Andrew McKinney: If you are an X -Men fan... then I would encourage you to play it. Okay, it was fun. it You do get to... interact and meet cool characters. but but I would just recommend you wait for a sale.
Andrew McKinney: Wait for it to be at least at least half off. before you buy it and play it. i I already see people selling it. used the discs at least half off at this point.
Andrew McKinney: It's barely a month or two old. and It's already half off on disk. So people are getting rid of it People don't want to keep it.
Andrew McKinney: But at the end of the day, is it going to make my top 10? No. i'm never playing this game again i wouldn't play through it again And unless you understand the lore and youre you understand the world, that's really the only people that I think should play it.
Andrew McKinney: and play it at half off, and that's that's about it. That's my overall review. I'd probably give the game a 6 out of 10. Overall.
Andrew McKinney: Just... In my opinion it it did fail. in a lot of places. So... Um, I was disappointed myself.
Andrew McKinney: Anyway, thank you so much for listening to the very first. game review wolverine from insomniac i hope you got some value out of this i hope that i was able to answer some some questions that you had about the game and really help you kind of determine whether this is worth.
Andrew McKinney: your time or not. Don't know what the next one's going to be. If you... You listen to this. you know This is the very first episode. I probably don't even have social media.
Andrew McKinney: you know, if you're listening to this within the first month or two. i don't really have anywhere for you to. Contact me. or anything like that so Um, quite yet.
Andrew McKinney: but You know. When I do set that up, if I do get some numbers, listening numbers and and followers that... kind of make it look like people are interested in listening to me.
Andrew McKinney: Well. At that point, I i will probably start. uh setting those up so that way you could ask me questions or ask me to review any certain game if you're If you're trying to determine whether or not it's worth your time and energy. so Anyway, thank you so much for listening. It's been real.
Andrew McKinney: My name's Andrew, and we'll see you guys on the next one.