It's almost here. Marvel's Wolverine, Insomniac's take on Logan, lands September 15 exclusively on PS5, and Forbes put together a solid rundown of everything you should know before launch day. The short version: this is a mature-rated, single-player action game, and it's reportedly fully playable offline on disc, a detail I touched on earlier this month and still think deserves more applause than it got if it holds up.

The longer version gets more interesting. Combat is built around Logan's berserker instincts, with a regenerating healing factor that changes how you take risks, and the suits situation sounds appropriately deep for a character who's worn roughly a hundred costumes over fifty years. Insomniac earned the benefit of the doubt on suits with the Spider-Man games, so I expect the wardrobe here to be a nostalgia vending machine.

There are the usual edition tiers and early access windows, so if you buy the pricier version you'll be slicing people a few days ahead of everyone else. Standard playbook at this point. Nothing about that surprises me, and nothing about it offends me either, as long as the base game ships complete.

My honest starting point: I haven't genuinely loved a Wolverine game since the PS2 era. X2: Wolverine's Revenge and the Raven Software title from 2009 had moments, but the character has spent most of his gaming life in ensemble brawlers and licensed filler. Logan deserves a proper single-player treatment the way Spider-Man deserved one in 2018, and Insomniac is the studio I'd have picked to do it. They've got the pedigree and, more importantly, the restraint to let one character carry a whole game.

What I'm hoping for, setting-wise, is the ugly side of the character's world. Wolverine works best in seedy, violent, noir-with-claws territory, and most games have been too timid to commit to it. Think less Avengers team-up, more Frank Miller panel. The mature rating suggests Insomniac isn't being timid, and that tonal lane is where the character has always shined on the page.

September 15 also drops Wolverine into what's shaping up to be one of the busiest stretches of the year, with a whole pile of big releases crowding the calendar around it. Clear your calendar accordingly.

I'll have review impressions as soon as codes go out. Until then, start deciding which suit you're wearing first. If the classic brown-and-tan isn't in there day one, somebody at Insomniac and I are going to have words.