Marvel's Wolverine's Glowing Red Tracking Trail Has an In-Universe Explanation

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the reaction to the latest gameplay reveal for Marvel’s Wolverine, you might have noticed plenty of debate about a red line.

Gameplay for Insomniac’s upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive shows Wolverine chasing members of evil ninja crime gang The Hand across the rooftops of Madripoor. The target leaves a glowing red tracking trail, which makes it easier for Wolverine — and the player — to see where his quarry is going and follow in hot pursuit. The gameplay, from X / twitter user Blue Thunder, shows this below:

Here's your first look at some of the movement and traversal in Wolverine during a rooftop chase scene with The Hand pic.twitter.com/kyUINOygrO

— Blue Thunder 🔜 GAMESCOM (@BlueThunderReal) August 13, 2026

But some have said the red line in this sequence holds the player’s hand too strongly. Drudging up previous discourse about Final Fantasy’s yellow paint guides, some have said Wolverine’s line removes any potential skill required for the chase, and so it will likely be little more than a boring, on-rails set piece.

Of course, the red line is a navigational aid and by default will make this section of the game easier because, as the player, you can see it and you can follow it. But there is, at least, an in-universe reason for Logan to be following a red line such as this: it is a visual representation of the mutant’s incredible tracking ability, which is fuelled by his heightened sense of smell.

Anyone who knows anything about Wolverine knows he’s always sniffing the air, which helps him work out who or what he might be facing around the next dangerous corner. Similarly, he can smell his target as it runs away, so he knows where they’ve gone. So, what we’re seeing here is a scent trail, or, Wolverine's super smell power manifested as a trail the player can follow.

There are some lingering questions around this. Is the red line an accessibility feature, and, if so, can you turn it off? Insomniac’s official list of accessibility options for Wolverine include a “Chase Assist,” which lets you toggle reduced movement speed for targets during chase sequences. Perhaps this also turns off the trail.

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Incidentally, Wolverine also has a number of navigation assists in its accessibility features list, so you can show a direction trail towards the nearest enemy or mission objective, and even set its color. Again, the in-universe explanation will simply be that one of Logan’s superpowers is being an incredible, animal-like tracker. But you can definitely turn this one off.

I imagine most will have made their mind up about this chase sequence already, and it will be difficult for Insomniac to change minds in the weeks before launch. Indeed, complaints about the chase have gone viral across social media. One negative comment about the gameplay on X / Twitter — viewed nearly 1 million times — was countered by another fan pointing out Wolverine’s sense of smell as an explanation for the red line. “Bingo,” James Stevenson, Insomniac community and marketing chief, replied.

My issue with the gameplay here has less to do with this red line and more to do with the odd sense of momentum Logan has as he runs, leaps, and changes direction. In particular, there’s a jarring pause when Logan leaps off the zipline where he appears to lose all momentum, as if he’s frozen in mid-air for a millisecond before landing on the ground. That bothered me more than the red line, if I’m honest. The question is, will this momentum killer be felt when you're in the thick of the action?

The red line isn't the only hot topic around Wolverine. Insomniac finds itself facing criticism sparked by various bits of recently released gameplay. For example, there’s gameplay of a boss fight against a Sentinel that isn’t doing Wolverine any favors at the moment. Some of the criticism probably does have merit, based on what I've seen of the game (I haven't played it). On the other hand, I think the combat looks like it packs a punch, and I’m excited for the story. I love Insomniac’s games, including all its Spider-Man games, so I’m looking forward to giving Wolverine — a superhero I’ve loved for decades — a shot when it comes out.

We've got plenty more on Marvel's Wolverine from our big interview with Insomniac. And don't forget to check out our hands-on preview ahead of the game's September launch.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].