Sony opened State of Play with violence. Raw, unfiltered gameplay from Wolverine, their big September exclusive. Developer Insomniac Games took the stage, showed us what happens when adamantium meets human bone, and dropped the news: preorders are live.
Logan is tracking the Reavers. Paramilitary mercenaries, cybernetically enhanced, rounding up mutants like cattle. The footage is gruesome. You watch him slice through enemies, then take a hit that leaves a gaping wound in his torso. He shrugs it off. That’s the thing, isn’t it? He heals. Always does.
The action sequence puts you on a motorcycle, leaping off mid-sprint onto a convoy of moving trucks. Jump. Land. Kill. It’s fluid. Combat builds a rage meter, filling up as you break bones. Dump that meter for burst attacks or just to patch yourself up. Simple loop. Effective loop.
Then came the cameos. A crowded hall of fame really. Jean Grey looks serious. Mystique shifts shape. Nightcrawler pops in. Even the Sentinels loom large in the background. But the real kicker was Sabretooth. His oldest rival, staring down the barrel. You knew he’d be there.
PS5 exclusive. Launches September 15. Costs $70. Standard fare for a first-party hit. Preorder and you get early access to his classic brown suit. Not the red-and-blue spandex, but the street gear. Reflective claws included. Nods to Hulk #340, of course. Also includes an extra Technique Point and four PS Avatars. Small things. Nice to have.
If $70 stings, there’s the $80 Deluxe Edition. It layers on more content. Five suits total: Incredible, Savage, Age of Apocalypse, Night Hunt, New Leather. Then five sets of claws. Smooth-edged. Hollow blades. Serrated spines. Tapered ones. Three Technique Points this time instead of one.
Is it worth the extra twenty dollars?
That depends on how much you like customizing your violence.
The game is a brutal sandbox for those who want to feel the crunch of metal on flesh.
Insomniac hasn’t given us the full story yet. Just the setup. Just the blood. September is coming fast. We’ll see if the rage meter lives up to the hype, or if it’s just another metric to manage.
For now, Logan has a convoy to catch.
