Going in Blind: How I Beat Marvel’s Wolverine on the Highest Difficulty as a disabled gamer.

For most of my life, playing games at the highest difficulty has not felt possible. My eye-hand coordination does not match the capabilities of friends who enjoy harder modes, and games often lack the accessibility options that would help me attempt them. Difficulty is different for everyone. What is easy for one player can be hard for another, but accessibility determines whether some players can participate at all.

Marvel’s Wolverine changed that for me. For the first time in more than 30+ years of playing video games, I completed a game on its highest difficulty. I did not choose that setting because the game became too easy. I chose it because Insomniac provided enough accessibility for me to feel comfortable trying. I rolled credits, defeated bosses, and finally understood the excitement people describe when they overcome a difficult challenge.

Bold story choices that bend Marvel Canon

Before discussing accessibility, the story itself deserves attention. Marvel’s Wolverine is not my favorite Insomniac story. Wolverine has sections that drag, and there were times when I wanted the story to move forward so I could return to combat. At other times, I wanted the action to slow down for more character moments.

Insomniac has always been known for bending the rules of Marvel canon to make a great story, and they definitely make some interesting swings here and there; there were moments where my jaw dropped to the floor. But on the other hand, there were some low moments where some of that bending might bend in a way that Marvel canon isn’t as flexible, where we know who a character is and their outcome, and they try to give an alternate version. Which isn't bad; I love when a story offers new insights into a well-known character, but in some cases in this game it feels a little off.

The best parts of the story are the character moments and conversations Logan has with other characters. We get to see a three-dimensional Logan beyond his rage and his usual claws-first approach.

Hugh Jackman, Cal Dodd, and Steve Blum have portrayed Wolverine in great ways. What I love about Liam McIntyre’s portrayal is the nuance he brings to Logan. His performance lets the quieter moments work as well as the moments when Wolverine has his claws out.

Liam McIntyre gives an amazing standout performance. His work is absolutely award-worthy, and I hope he receives awards for his portrayal of Logan. He does for Wolverine what Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter did for Peter Parker and Miles Morales in the Spider-Man games. They elevate the characters they portray and make them their own. Liam is no exception here. He truly wears Wolverine’s claws proudly.

Combat That Improves Over Time

The gameplay is fun, but it can become tedious in certain places. The combat feels button-mashy at first. As the game develops, you unlock more techniques and adaptations (what the game calls its upgradeable skills and abilities). New enemies are introduced as the game progresses, and they require better strategies than simply pressing the same buttons.

Once I found a good flow state, the combat worked well. It isn't as fluid as Spider-Man's combat, but Wolverine isn't a fluid or acrobatic superhero. He has his claws out, and he is not afraid to use them.

The difference makes sense for the character. Wolverine stabs and slices through enemies, but the combat can sometimes feel slightly out of place beside Insomniac’s previous work.

There is stealth in this game, but it’s not as fleshed out as we’ve seen in other games or even in the previous Spider-Man games. Yes, I know that Wolverine is more combat-heavy than a sneaky Spider-Man can be. However, he is an Alpha Predator. Stalking his prey as he’s sniffing them out and hearing their heartbeats could totally play into a fun stealth mechanic. However, it just doesn’t fully work in this game. Several times I try to go full stealth, but it often turns back into regular melee combat, and I’m more disappointed I can’t keep doing stealth.

The traversal is the same as well. It is not as fleshed out and at times can feel more just placed there for traversal's sake. There are times when Wolverine jumps from handhold to handhold on a wall, but several times in the game he can just dig his claws into rock and use that as a handhold. So I’m not sure why, in the traversal where you are climbing up walls, you had to jump to different handholds when he can make his own. I would’ve loved a moment where Logan is hanging on a wall with his claws waiting for a stealth moment to strike from above, but that isn’t there in this game.

I do not want to compare Wolverine to Spider-Man too much, but both games are Marvel properties made by Insomniac. The studio has turned the volume to eleven several times before. Wolverine hits 11 at moments, but it doesn't stay there throughout the whole game.

An Extraordinary Range of Accessibility Options

Insomniac has been improving accessibility since the first Spider-Man in 2018, which included quick-time event auto-completion. Spider-Man 2 came close to being fully accessible, and Marvel’s Wolverine continues that progress. It is one of the closest action-adventure games to the accessibility level of The Last of Us Part II.

The number of options is remarkable. For blind/low vision players they include high contrast mode, larger text, audio description, screen narration, navigational assistance, automatic enemy lock-on, familiar PlayStation audio cues, and chase assistance.

Motor accessibility includes traversal assistance, automatic quick-time events, toggle options for dodging and interface holds, adjustable dodge and parry timing, automatic sprinting with a delay setting, and the ability to disable the touchpad during combat.

They also have a Game Speed option that can be reduced from 100 percent to 70, 50, 35 percent. Players can apply the slower speed throughout the game or activate it only during combat. Accessibility shortcuts can be assigned to the directional pad, letting players turn important features on or off as needed.

Deaf and Hard-Of-Hearing players also have a wide variety of familiar subtitle options such as text size, background opacity, colour, speaker tags, a dialogue arrow that points to where that person is speaking if they are off camera, visualization of attacks happening off camera, and more.

Difficulty is also customizable. Players can separately adjust combat and stealth or choose one of the preset difficulties. This combination of difficulty settings and accessibility options gave me the confidence to play at the highest level without removing the challenge.

Audio Storytelling

Marvel’s Wolverine includes audio description for major cinematics and smaller in-game moments that happen during gameplay The Last of Us Part II did not provide description for those smaller moments, partly because audio description in games was still new. Wolverine’s work with Descriptive Video Works makes more of the visual storytelling available.

There are also Nightmare Doors in this game, which contain combat or traversal challenges. Once completed, you unlock memories by showcasing a wood carving of an object that is tied to that memory. Text on the screen tells the story of that memory. Normally that would just be read via the screen reader, but here those memories are performed by Liam McIntyre, with subtle sound effects tied to each memory. It’s almost like listening to a mini audiobook, which is really great. That probably isn't designed with accessibility in mind, but it was a nice, immersive moment for disabled players.

There are still gaps. In some areas where Logan investigates his surroundings, he comments on the item he is examining. At other times, he looks at something without text, narration, or commentary. A totally blind player may have no idea what the object is. So while the audio storytelling experience is carefully crafted to feel immersive, it misses a few small areas that are disappointing. It doesn’t take you out of the story completely, but it’s enough that it’s noticeable.

Finding your way around as a blind player

High contrast mode offers extensive customization. I changed Logan to yellow with an outline and enemies to pink, although blue and red are the defaults. Shader and outline opacity can be adjusted, allowing more of each character model to remain visible. This is helpful because full shaders can make similar soldiers and ninjas difficult to distinguish. Lower opacity preserved useful detail while making characters easier to locate.

The effect does not appear during cinematics, which I prefer because it preserves the intended presentation and character performances.

Navigational assistance turns the camera toward the destination when R3 is pressed. A green line travels from the player in the correct direction with sonar effect, and directional audio reinforces the route. Unlike a breadcrumb system that requires players to reach one point before requesting the next, Wolverine lets you activate guidance at almost any time.

The system is not perfect. In some rooms, it does not point toward an object that needs to be investigated. Occasionally, it gets confused and leads you back to an area you've already visited before correcting itself. Nearby objects produce audio cues, and the screen reader announces whether to press triangle or square, but players may still need to wander around.

Speaking of bugs, the screen narrator reads the available text and can repeat menu information after a delay. That repetition is useful when a player needs to hear an option again. However, the narrator can become stuck on previous text. During one boss fight, a tip about defeating the boss continued repeating after the prompt disappeared and even played during the following cinematic. I had to save, exit the game, and return.

I equate these to probably bugs or areas that could be improved in future updates, as they do feel like there was intention in making sure this game is completely playable with navigational assistance, but may have missed some areas during testing.

Game Speed was the Game Changer

As I mentioned, there is a game Speed Option that can reduce the speed of the game from 100% to 70%, 50% and 35%. You can either set the whole game to be a set speed, or you can change the game speed during combat only, which was what I chose. Reducing game speed helped me perform the parries and dodges required to defeat certain enemies. Successful parries and dodges build a stagger meter, which opens opportunities for stronger attacks so being able to hit those perfect parries or dodges will greatly improve your chances of beating enemies and bosses quicker.

It’s not 100% perfect either. There were a few times when there is an audio cue that I use to let me know when to hit a parry or a dodge. Most of the time, the delay between the audio cue and when you hit the button and the parry/dodge happens is great. But in later parts of the game, I found the audio cue would play, and there would be at least 2-3 seconds before you truly needed to dodge or parry. It didn’t take me out or completely frustrate me; it was just something I had to adjust to that I shouldn’t have so late in the game.

Let’s talk difficulty

Accessibility did not make the highest difficulty meaningless. It made the challenge possible. I still needed to learn combat, respond to enemies, and improve my strategy. Nightmare Door challenges award bronze, silver, gold, and adamantium medals based on performance. I earned adamantium on many of them, although some remained beyond my abilities. But they weren’t impossible or out of reach.

Playing at the highest difficulty is no joke; it can be brutal, and several encounters truly tested my patience and frustration. It wasn’t an easy task, which I didn’t expect it to be. I wanted the challenge. I wanted that split-second decision that could make or break that encounter for me. The great thing about the accessibility was that all the barriers I have with my disability were accommodated so that I could focus on the game itself without me fighting the game.

Beating a boss at the greatest difficulty gave me a sense of euphoria I had never experienced in the same way. I understood why players enjoy difficult games and why strong combat design can feel rewarding. I don't plan to select the hardest setting in every game, but Wolverine let me achieve something I once thought I would never do.

Accessibility Verdict

Marvel’s Wolverine is not 100 percent accessible. Investigation scenes sometimes fail to communicate visual information, navigational assistance can become confused, screen narration may repeat incorrectly, and some combat cues and visual warnings need refinement.

Despite those problems, the game is as close to an accessibility masterpiece as we have seen. Its presets, customization, audio description, high contrast options, screen narration, navigation, combat assistance, motor settings, hearing features, shortcuts, and adjustable speed work together to welcome many disabled players.