- Insomniac Games has addressed the "fart gas trail" controversy in Marvel's Wolverine.
- According to marketing director James Stevenson, the scent trail represents Logan's superior tracking ability.
- He added that the scent trail appears only when Wolverine is "tracking a specific scent/sound" during certain missions.
It’s been quite an interesting few days for PlayStation, and not in a good way. Yesterday, Hideo Kojima announced that PHYSINT is moving to Xbox after Sony initially tried to axe it. Later that day, Marvel’s Wolverine opened to lukewarm reviews with a 78 on Metacritic and faced multiple controversies, most notably the “fart gas trail” controversy.
Multiple reviewers have mentioned that Marvel’s Wolverine has a blue scent trail that appears during missions to lead Logan to the next objective, which players have termed the “fart gas trail,” and there’s no option to disable it. However, Insomniac Games today clarified its inclusion before Marvel’s Wolverine release, and there’s a lore-specific reason.
According to Insomniac Games marketing director James Stevenson on X, the Marvel’s Wolverine scent trail, or the “fart gas trail,” represents “Logan’s canon mutant super senses and elite tracking ability.” Here’s the whole explanation:
It only is there when he’s tracking a specific scent/sound (a person, whisky, or another clue scent) – story/mission moments or when he catches a whiff of a collectible
Since Marvel’s Wolverine isn’t an open-world game like Insomniac’s Spider-Man series, fans think a scent trail is too on-the-nose, especially for a linear experience. Logan’s enhanced sense of smell does exist in Marvel comics, but most players think Insomniac’s execution could have been better.
Collectibles are also part of the Marvel’s Wolverine trophy list, so the scent trail is definitely a helpful addition. However, it also takes away from the excitement of hunting for collectibles or stumbling upon enemies in unexpected areas, no matter how linear the game may be.
Fans had already been criticizing Marvel’s Wolverine online for months before its release, so this is just another Tuesday at Insomniac. Speaking of controversies, the Marvel’s Wolverine “fart gas trail” controversy is reminiscent of Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) puddle controversy.
During the infamous puddle-gate controversy, players called out Insomniac for removing some puddles from the “Straw, Meet Camel” mission that appeared in the E3 2017 gameplay reveal. This feels like the modern version, except puddles have been replaced with a trail Wolverine can’t escape.
