Marvel's Wolverine nerfs 'fart gas' as developers tease removal of more handholding mechanics

Baked into his mutant DNA, Wolverine's nose is so powerful that legend implies that he can sniff out a Sunday roast on Wednesday.

The iconic X-Men character had his honker ridiculed in Marvel's Wolverine, though, as Logan's sense of smell sparked a debate that has ripped through the entire industry.

Despite earning rave reviews from players, Marvel's Wolverine has been widely criticised for its 'handholding' features, leaving its critical acclaim rating to be much lower than it could be.

In our review, we revealed that the QTE prompts actually have no impact on the game, which progresses if you put your controller down entirely.

"When they’re used in Marvel’s Wolverine, it felt like a simple button mash would do, rather than abiding by on-screen prompts," we wrote.

But the tip of the iceberg in the 'easy' handholding mechanics is the fart gas that sneaks into Logan's nose.

Throughout the game, the players see a range of gas-looking prompts that guide Logan to different objectives, quickly being dubbed as 'fart gas' by gamers; the lingering green trail that followed Jean Grey was the most obvious methane metaphor, but the issue isn't with the choice of colour, but whether the game needs to prompt players so much.

Now, Insomniac Games has confirmed that the mechanic has been nerfed, and that it could be removed entirely soon.

Marvel's Wolverine wafts the fart gas away with new update

In a new hotfix released on September 19, Insomniac Games has dulled the effects of Logan's scent-following capabilities and teased that there will be ways to toggle it in the future.

In the patch notes, the developers stated, "This hotfix addresses some common crashes experienced by a small percentage of players since launch.

"Additionally, this hotfix adjusts the presentation of the Scent Trails and Audio Sense indicators, including reduced opacity to make these visuals less intense.

"Our team continues to evaluate ways to further improve Senses in the game, including exploring toggleable options for a future update."

These mechanics aren't always a hindrance, though. In The Witcher 3 (one of the greatest games of all time), Geralt of Rivia can use his mutation skills to sniff out blood trails and footprints to find NPCs in need of assistance, and fans barely batted an eyelid.

The difference is that Geralt's sniffer is activated through players pressing a button to activate it, and the heightened senses aren't constantly in your face. Insomniac could deploy a similar strategy for Marvel's Wolverine that would allow Logan to use his enhanced nostrils at choice moments, rather than constantly cluttering the screen.

Marvel's Wolverine does do a lot of things right, though, which has earned it a huge 97% rating on the PlayStation Store and generated around $130 million on Sony's platform in the opening three days.

Still, there's nothing like a hotfix to help polish an article - smell you later, farty pants.