No open world here Marvels Wolverine First game plus

Marvel's Wolverine Goes Linear, Will Launch with New Game Plus

Marvel's Wolverine is dropping the open-world template of Marvel's Spider-Man for a linear, story-driven structure, narrative director Jess Reiner-Reed confirmed in an interview. It will also ship with New Game Plus at launch, letting players carry equipment and progression into a second run. That decision answers one of the loudest complaints about Insomniac Games' last release, and the narrower campaign path makes this a very different game from the studio's recent Spider-Man work.

If your clearest memory of those Spider-Man games is clearing map icons, expect a reset. Wolverine's core appeal is close-quarters, brutal action; forcing that into a sprawling open world would dilute the violence that makes Logan's fights land. A linear campaign lets Insomniac tighten the pace and front-load set-piece combat closer to the rhythm of God of War or The Last of Us Part II, assuming the storytelling and enemy design hold up from beat to beat. The trade is breadth for intensity, which suits a hero whose main tools are claws, not web-lines.

The cost is clear: it loses the web-slinging traversal and the open-city playground that made Marvel's Spider-Man feel like a superhero joyride. Insomniac is swapping that replay hook for New Game Plus: at launch, players can start a second loop with their existing build, alongside collectible whiskey bottles, hidden material crates, and Nightmare Gates-style challenges. The bottles and crates give completionists something to chase, while the Nightmare Gates presumably act as combat gauntlets for a maxed-out build. The framing is tidy enough—"mop up what you missed, then face harder fights"—and it keeps the main story from feeling like a mere warm-up.

This is worth comparing with Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which shipped in 2023 but only got New Game Plus in a March 2024 post-launch update—months after release. That left dedicated players with little reason to return after finishing the story, and it became one of the sequel's few real missteps. Launching with the mode means Marvel's Wolverine avoids that particular pitfall, and it gives anyone who wants to mainline the campaign and replay on a harder setting a clear path from day one.

Players are already arguing about it online. Some like the tighter direction, pointing out that open-world bloat has turned the genre into a chore. Others worry that a linear path plus collectibles won't stretch far enough unless those challenges escalate enough in the second loop. If you want the freedom to swing through a city at your own pace, this is not that game. But if you want a tighter, melee-focused Wolverine action game with day-one replayability, it deserves attention. Treat it as a wait-and-see title: hold off on a pre-order until Insomniac shows real combat and level-structure footage.