Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine has finally been released, but some of the video game's mechanics and design choices are getting more attention online than genuine hype.

Following generally positive reviews from critics, gameplay clips from Wolverine began circulating online, sparking criticism over the game's difficulty and what some players describe as excessive hand-holding.

In particular, the game's objective-guiding "Scent Trail," which has since been nicknamed Wolverine's "fart gas," and several sequences that seemingly complete themselves have become recurring subjects of memes — just like the whole Mixtape debacle earlier this year.

So, why are people criticizing Marvel's Wolverine? What's the deal with the infamous blue line, and how did the controversy turn into a plethora of memes? Here's what you need to know.

What Is 'Marvel's Wolverine'?

Marvel's Wolverine is an action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and released for the PlayStation 5 (PS5) on September 15th, 2026. The game stars Liam McIntyre as Logan and takes place before the formation of the X-Men, following Wolverine as he becomes involved in a conflict surrounding missing mutants.

Unlike Insomniac's open-world Spider-Man games, Wolverine features a largely linear and narrative-driven campaign, which is where a lot of the negativity is stemming from, but we'll get to that later.

Ahead of release, the game received generally positive but mixed reviews as critics praised elements such as its visuals, performances and the portrayal of Wolverine, while others criticized it for repetitive or simplistic combat, linear levels and aspects of its story.

Its Metacritic score sat in the high 70s shortly before release, below Insomniac's three Spider-Man games, which scored between 85 and 90.

Why Are People Criticizing The 'Wolverine' Game And How Is It Being Used In Memes?

Much of the online criticism centers on the perception that Wolverine excessively guides the player rather than allowing them to figure things out independently and does far too much hand-holding.

This became a major talking point on September 10th when YouTuber Skill Up published a negative review of the game that accumulated millions of views in just a few days.

In it, Skill Up criticized several aspects of the game and argued that its design reflected a broader AAA philosophy of coddling players, stating, "That will be the legacy of this game, I think. A wake-up call and an expiration date for this philosophy of AAA game design that feels the need to coddle the lowest common denominator at the expense of the rest of us. I don't recommend this."

That same day, clips demonstrating some of these complaints from the game began going viral as negative attention toward Wolverine began to brew.

One showed a quick-time event continuing successfully even when the player didn't press the required buttons, receiving over 3.5 million views in short order.

Em Marvel's Wolverine, se você não apertar o botão durante o QTE, você não falha: o jogo "aperta" por você.pic.twitter.com/vtGUX3bsm6

— Academia dos Gamers Oficial (@academiadgamers) September 10, 2026

Another showed the game's scent ability highlighting nearby objects and collectibles with a large blue visual effect, inspiring jokes that the game had been designed for players with short attention spans.

oh god they made a wolverine game for the average tiktok user pic.twitter.com/hnx60zSa03

— kewlbot 🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏 (@kewlbot) September 10, 2026

Similar criticism continued surrounding the release, with another viral clip showing a motorcycle chase in which the player could apparently succeed without touching the controller at all.

No hands required on controller for chases and QTE parts in the new Wolverine game. pic.twitter.com/hrTjGJFpee

— Mo (@Xgmaeseeker) September 15, 2026

As footage from Wolverine continued to spread across X / Twitter, Reddit and other social media platforms, criticism of the game's mechanics quickly developed into memes exaggerating how little input players supposedly needed to beat it.

On September 11th, a "Problems, Stress, Pain" meme calling the game "mid" received thousands of upvotes on Reddit, and the following day, another viral post compared the $70 game to the mobile game Subway Surfers.

They're ripping wolverine apart😭 pic.twitter.com/k24ZQ9Lz2g

— eppy (@epppyyy) September 12, 2026

One of the more elaborate jokes appeared on Reddit on September 13th, when a Redditor edited a screenshot from Wolverine to cover the screen with objective markers, assists and other visual guides, parodying the perception that the game constantly tells players where to go.

Other users and meme creators also connected the controversy to the "Focus, M" meme, another gaming format that mocks modern AAA game design and excessive player guidance.

Listen M
by
u/Round-Good1179 in
MemeVideos

What Is The 'Fart Gas' Meme?

One mechanic from the video game has become perhaps the most recognizable meme of the current backlash: Wolverine's "Scent Trail."

The ability visually guides players toward objectives and other points of interest using a blue trail. As clips of the mechanic circulated, Washington Post journalist Gene Park jokingly referred to the visual effect as "Wolverine fart gas" in a September 10th tweet that quickly racked up millions of views.

i don’t think you can turn off the Wolverine fart gas. this is after today’s update. i’m at the same spot where Skillup follows Jean Grey’s fart gas and you can see her fart gas in the background of the menu where those options are turned off, but Jean’s fart gas particles stay https://t.co/seHs52VNBY pic.twitter.com/WRdx0bjqkK

— Gene Park (@GenePark) September 10, 2026

The nickname stuck, and the "fart gas" became shorthand in online discussions for complaints that the game provides players with too much guidance.

The discourse became widespread enough that Forbes covered the mechanic on September 12th in an article about the already-infamous nickname, noting that while some of the game's guidance options could be disabled, the Scent Trail remained.

What Are Some More Examples Of Memes From The 'Wolverine' Game?

How the entire internet is treating Insomniac’s Wolverine right now pic.twitter.com/LPYOQ5yH2s

— Endymion (@EndymionYT) September 12, 2026

Peak gaming experience delivered to you by Insomniac Games for the low price of $70

Marvel's Wolverine 💀 pic.twitter.com/hICZVw6ovY

— Geralt of Goonia (@GeraltofGoonia) September 14, 2026

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For the full history of the Marvel's Wolverine controversy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for even more information.