Every few months, there's what I call an "It Game"; the release that has snagged the most industry attention for one reason or another. Typically, it's some hot new release by a big studio, or an indie that's popping off like Meccha Chameleon, but there's no true definition for what pulls it into the spotlight. When you see it, you know.
For many, Insomniac's Wolverine was set to be this type of title, riding off the success of their Spider-Man games to depict more and more of the Marvel Universe. Despite all the hype, Wolverine has suffered a bit from its own excitement as many have found the game wanting. This has left a massive hole in the current gaming zeitgeist, but Remedy's long-awaited sequel, Control Resonant, seems to have taken up the slack in September.
It's difficult to overstate just how excited people were for Wolverine. Backed by the success of X-Men 97's second season, the growing importance of the X-Men in the MCU, and Marvel Rivals' constant growth, it really did seem like the perfect opening for high-octane Wolverine action fare to enter the gaming world again.
Instead, many fans feel they got an entirely "meh," hand-holding experience with pointless QTEs, an overall lack of combat, and a seemingly decent story that still didn't feel nearly as explosive or impactful as it needed to be. To many, it feels like Insomniac fumbled a serious opportunity at a time when they really needed an absolute mind-blower... which is exactly what Control Resonant seems to have ended up.
The sequel to Remedy's SCP-inspired third-person Metroidvania-like, Control Resonant is exactly what many wanted from Insomniac's Wolverine: High-octane battles, a gripping story for long-time fans, and genuine maze-like level design that feels amazing to conquer with Dylan Faden's numerous reality-warping abilities.
Fans have come out across social media praising the game, and its 2 million wishlists and over a thousand positive reviews on Steam alone say it all. Remedy has once again come out of the isolation of their development style and seem to have released an absolute masterclass before diving back into their work.
The biggest boon of developing games for a varied universe like Marvel or DC, in my mind, would be how every single series can vary wildly in tone and gameplay based on their central character. Insomniac started almost perfectly with Spider-Man, using every corner of his characterization and combat to really sell a version of the wall-crawler already a few years deep into his craft.
With Wolverine, the perfect answer would have been a more brutal combat loop that rewarded hyper aggression and really sold Logan's decades upon decades of combat experience. The game we got feels like it's held back by training wheels in many ways, terrified of a player veering any way other than directly ahead, severely limiting what Logan himself can do in the process.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.dualshockers.com/control-resonant-steals-wolverines-thunder/
