Marvel's Spider-Man (2018)

Okay, I finished this one a long time ago. I thought I'd wait to get all the extra content because my guess would be that, once I get to write this review, I will lose all interest and move on and never revisit that extra content... Honestly I didn't need to finish this review for me to be done with it, I don't think I will play The Heist or Turf Wars any time soon. Who knows.

So, this is my second Spider-Man game on the PS5, the first being Miles Morales. It is hard for me to judge it on its own merits because most of what I saw here I already experienced in the other one. With that said, I think this one is pretty good story-wise: my main complaint with Miles Morales was that the story felt self-contained but... I don't know, lacking. I never really connected with the Thinkerer and the CEO villain was punchable and odious but also kind of meh. Now that I think of it, the problem with Miles Morales was the Villains, even Prowler felt a little dissapointing.

Now, here we are eating good, man. The Sinister Six? Mister Negative? A freaking introduction story-relationship for DR OTTO OCTAVIUS? Oh yeah, this is the juice. I cannot imagine a better way to reintroduce Spider-Man into the AAA world of Video Games than this entry. Was it perfect? no, the Spider-Cop thing was cringe as hell and the last act of the game drags a bit, to the point when I can't come myself to complete the additional content, but in general the game is a blast.

This review is going to be blunt and straight to the point. Marvel's Spider-Man is about as deep as a creek. It’s a very pretty and polished creek that I had fun splashing around in. But it’s still just a creek.

Web slinging and combat is basic. Good looking but dull open world with a list chores to complete. It’s bloated and too long. Story and characters are just fine but not memorable. You can’t really blame Insomniac though. With a character this important and a budget this big it is not surprising they played it safe and kept things a bit bland and easy. They would have had people watching this game very closely and people would have been breathing down their neck if anything went wrong.

It is still a fine game with many moments of fun. The action sequences and cut scenes are well done. As I said it is highly polished and looks good. I can’t lie as well there is something about these bland open world checklist/collectathons that my brain enjoys on a very basic level. But this probably isn’t a good thing and we shouldn’t be settling for games like this. At the same time though if people just want a big, simple, shallow, fun, blockbuster game I’m not going to stand in the way or be too critical. If you really like this and think it’s fantastic then you do you and enjoy yourself.

Marvel's Spider-Man is well made and a decent distraction. I would recommend giving it a play through especially if you’re into Spiderman. I just hope that one day a developer tries something really cool and risky with the Spiderman universe and combat.

6.7/10

I'm sure someone else has already made this comparison, but this is basically done in the Batman Arkham series style, but this time spiders and quips rather than bats and Quinn (eh? is that something?). Combat feels rhythmic in the same way as the Arkham series where you do combos singling out individuals in groups of baddies, dodge when the indicators tell you to, and occasionally throw out a random gadget or special move. The stealth sections of this game feel very familiar in this same way. But it's goofier because you might be wearing a giant bright blue-and-red comic inspired spacesuit with glowing effects, and they still somehow can't see you perched on a street light a few feet above their heads. It feels very "hmm, must have been the wind", which could be funny if you don't take it too seriously. (And most of those stealth sections don't penalize you if you just jump in and start brawling anyway.)

Besides the buttery smooth combat, web swinging and traversal feels the best it has ever felt. They did a great job translating that experience to a video game mechanic, where the button presses actually make you feel like you are swinging. And no fall-damage means you will never be punished for making a web-slinging mistake. You'll just lose that sweet sweet momentum and have to swing a few times to get back up to speed. I hardly ever used fast-travel because it was more fun to swing to each mission (and, on a PS4, it was probably almost the same speed since fast-traveling has load times).

The story feels very comic book, but in a good way. Characters are memorable and there is some emotional connection, but also everyone feels just a little troupey at the same time. Most of the main story beats can be predicted a mile away, unless you are completely unfamiliar with Spider-Man lore. But the game knows this and writes into it. It is not about surprise twists so much as rubbing your nose in Spider-Man's pain (which is pretty much the quintessential Spider-Man experience honestly).

That DLC was rough though. First of all, it was buggy. I don't usually care about stuff like that, but suddenly my game was crashing way more often and I kept getting stuck and soft-locked. More than once I failed a side mission and just got stuck, the fail screen not loading while I was unable to do anything but reset the game. More than once I watched as the game loaded and moved assets around to prep for an in-engine cut-scene. Even the web-swinging felt somehow a little worse, like they tweaked it just a little somehow.

There are 3 DLC packs, but really they are all chapters of a single story. And this story focused on uninteresting b-tier villains doing uninteresting things. Remember Hammerhead? The guy who's main ability is having like... a really hard head? That's the main baddie. And one of the main aspects of his overall plan is to just make his whole body as impervious as his head? Wow, riveting. And then his head becomes the most vulnerable part of him! How ironic! (blech)

And then there's Screwball, a villain that is so annoying she almost single-handedly ruined the DLC experience for me. Comics wise she is supposed to be annoying, but they push it too far with her. Her missions are either annoying to complete or just feel pointless and divorced from the narrative of the game. The rewards are small for the effort. And there is no solid narrative payoff if you follow her side missions through to the end. If you do decide to get the DLC just skip her stuff, which is mostly optional. I did not go out of my way to complete this game fully, but I was still at max level with my gadgets full unlocked by the end, with tons of unlock credits to spare, so her little rewards are unnecessary.

My biggest DLC complaint though has to be the difficulty spike. In the main game each combat encounter felt pretty balanced. Just enough challenge to get you in the flow. But with the DLC they just throw too many people at you at once, they are more powerful than in the base game, and the arenas are not as well designed so I kept getting stuck on level geometry with no way to zip out of the fray and regroup. It is very much that problematic way of increasing difficulty and "challenge" by just making number-go-up choices. More people to fight. More weapons to dodge. More HP to overcome. But more is not the same as designing difficulty. So it was frustrating, with lots more starting over. I had to take breaks more than once because the frustration was out-pacing the enjoyment.

Too bad about the DLC. I'm glad to hear Miles Morales doesn't have any (probably because Miles Morales basically is DLC). So that's where I'm heading next!

This is the comic book peter parker. None of the films have any influence on the portrayal (though there are nods to them). So expect to hear sarcastic quips and gag inducing adorable playfulness in every moment.

I'm pleased to be able to say the traversal is better than the second movie game adaptation of yore. it's a blast to swing around the city, and though it's a short bump of a learning curve to get the hang of it, the complexity is for the better. It's important that it's fun to swing around, because there's plenty of shit to collect and do, as you'd expect from an open world experience, and though it's nothing special (or amazing, har) it's...fine?

No ground is broken here in any aspect. The story won't get real deep. it wont blow you away. it's just a spiderman story. It doesn't stray from comic hero territory to wonder at the causes of crime, the motivations, the factors you could better address than simply ramming heads into the street. it also, of course, features a fictional world where the police are helpful and reasonable and actually protect and assist the public. there are corrupt cops but spiderman faces no consequences for slamming their heads into things. the combat is fairly straightforward but you get a variety of abilities, gadgets, suit powers to unlock to keep up some variety.

if you can switch off your brain and just enjoy the ride, it's a fun time. every so often you do have to stop the web swining and ass kicking to do an annoying mini game. they start out refreshing and venture pretty far into annoying. it makes up for this however, with many charming details, my favorite of which is the spider man facebook page you can check to see regular comments and interactions from your fans in the street as they react to your actions in game. it's a completely unnecessary feature that is most adorable.

some of this feels dated, but it's probably the curmudgeon in me that has played too many of these games. if you want a spider man game, this is your spider man game. it doesn't get any more spider man game than this.

Fazem aproximadamente dois anos que joguei, então não me recordo 100% da campanha para analisar cada detalhe, como fiz com Middle-Earth: Shadow of War e Batman Arkham Knight.

O combate, assim como dos dois outros jogos citados acima, é um estilo que, particularmente, gosto bastante. De forma simplificada: Aperta quadrado, usa algumas habilidades especiais e usa o triângulo para dar contra-golpe.

A campanha com toda certeza é muito emocionante, trazendo alguns vilões clássicos do miranha e um final muito triste, RIP tia May. A questão do mundo aberto e os coletáveis é sensacional.

Recomendo o jogo para todos, além de ser uma platina super simples (é só você fazer 100% do jogo).

I love comic books. I love Marvel. I love Spider-Man. I love video games. I love Insomniac Games. I love open-world games. I love Marvel’s Spider Man for the PS4.

Seriously, my excitement for this game was through the roof, I love both the Ratchet & Clank and old Spyro games, so seeing them create a Spider-Man game, a character I’ve been passionate about since the Raimi films and the whole reason I got into comics as a whole is surreal. And Spider-Man really delivers.

Personally, due to my lack of nostalgia for these games (I do know that Neversoft’s Spider-Man and the Spider-Man 2 games are some unforgettable games for certain people), none of the Spider-Man games have been truly amazing for me. The closest that’s really come to me is "LEGO Marvel Superheroes", which hey, isn’t an offense, that game slaps, but that’s kind of embarrassing to say.

The web-slinging, the open-world, the story, though some games come close, never hit the mark correctly. But Insomniac hit it out of the park with this one. Marvel’s Spider-Man is probably one of my favorite PS4 games ever. The experience that it brings you is so immersive and the level of care and love put into it really shows.

Ok, the plot. This might be a bit controversial, ehhh...ok. "What? But you said this was one of your fa-” shut up okay. When this game gets it right, it really gets it right. But sometimes, it kind of drags on..and on..and on, and you get my point.

One of the things it really gets right is how Peter Parker acts. Peter Parker and Spider-Man both, are really, just good people. Which might sound boring, but they really get the ”friendly neighborhood” part correctly, he tries to help every person that he can, even if it doesn’t benefit him. All characters are really well done, MJ is likable and not just a damsel in distress all the time, Doc Ock is somebody who you can sympathize with but also come to despise, Aunt May is wholesome, Norman is a douche, Mr. Negative is fleshed out enough so we know what we really need to know, etc.

There is a really big issue with pace right after you fight Martin Li though, suddenly, he just becomes a side-villain after he’s defeated, and though you do fight him again, there’s no’s satisfying pay-off. I think that’s for general boss-fights as well, though they range from Fun - Mediocre, there’s a shortage of them at the start and middle, then at the end you just get a whiplash of them, and it feels dry. Aunt May’s death though..that really hit hard, and, yeah, I have to admit, I cried.

Gameplay-wise, oh boyyy, oh boy.

It really makes you FEEL like Spider-Man.

The web-swinging has a ton of personality, especially after you’re allowed to unlock air tricks, the responsiveness is so satisfying, and really, there’s no purpose of fast-travel in this game. Sometimes you just web-swing your way all-around the city, completely ignoring all your missions, because, this, is probably one of my favorite aspects of..this is maybe hyperbolized praise, but, really..of all time.

The combat is like a mash-up of Arkham, but a bit more energy to it, which is no disrespect, the Arkham games are super fun to play. But how you use energy, and the fucking sick combos and finishers you can do, it’s fluent and fluid, without being needless complicated.

But, what has to be single-handedly the biggest pet peeve I have with this game and keeping it from my all-time favorites. It’s the stealth. Countless people have said the same thing, and I certainly agree. It’s not that the stealth is unbearable, it’s just the amount of times you have to do it. When you have this really cool Spider-Man scene, the pace slows grindly at a considerable amount and wow, you like Miles and MJ doing stuff!

Now to be granted, the good ones, are really good. That terrorist attack scene with the Miles stealth was first, really impactful, but also led to a ton of tension. Another highlight would be the MJ mission where you get a perspective on how Spider-Man takes down bad guys from a normal perspective, and that was cool too. Though these aren’t bad, they just completely ruin the thrill and excitement.

There are also these weird puzzles, that are very unnecessary, but I don’t bother with them too much, since they aren’t really there too much.

Now, the graphics, these, are some good-ass looking cities and buildings. Keep in mind that yes, I am playing on a PS4 Pro (also yes the remaster but I don’t have a PS5) so they might look a considerable amount better, but they feel jut so alive, each of them has their own unique format and architecture, and what possibly has to be one of the best details, is the mini-dioramas in each building.

I think though Peter’s face is a bit off-setting at first, it definitely gets better as it goes along (hmm...reminds me of something else), and for the most part, the motion capture is spot-on. Also, bonus point for Stan Lee. RIP man.

The swinging animations though, they are so full of life, and the impact you feel when you jump off a high building and just start swinging again, is really satisfying. There are so many attention to details, one I can pinpoint is Peter mentioning how he has only three chest-hairs and when you get the "Undies" suit, you can actually see he only has three chest-hairs.

The unlockables, as well. These are filled with so many references for comic fans, movie fans, and game fans as well. The backpacks, the suits, though sometimes tedious to find, are jam packed with callbacks to Spider-Man media, and even just general Marvel media itself.

Though I admit, the warehouses are repetitive and somewhat boring, completing the game feels like a huge accomplishment and I love it. As far as the DLC go, I haven’t played any of it. From what I can tell, they’re fine, they don’t add anything too necessary though.

But if you’re into comic books in anyway shape or form, go for this game. I bet you’ll absolutely love it. Definitely goes up as one of the PS4’s defining games, and Insomniac created an entirely new Marvel universe that I love, and though I haven’t played Miles Morales yet, I have my hopes set pretty high. Also, can Insomniac make an Avengers game? Like, an actually good one free of any pay-to-win? Thanks.

PROS:

• Satisfying web slinging
• Fleshed out open world
• Cohesive narrative
• Understanding of characters
• Fun combat
• Amazing graphics
• Jam packed unlockables
• Attention to details
• Stan Lee

CONS:

• Boring stealth
• Sometimes dragged out story
• Unnecessary puzzles
• Repetitive unlockables

Played on PS4, Accumulative 54 Hours, Bought on September 25, 2018

2018 was the year of Spider-Man. One particular scene in Infinity War was a scene that stood out among millions, my favorite theatrical film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released, Venom was released, and this game was released. Marvel's Spider-Man is the PS4's best selling exclusive so you know that it is a very special game.

The game starts with one of the best introductions ever with the cinematic telling you about who Peter Parker is. He's unorganized, he has to pay his rent, he's a scientist, he's close to Aunt May, and it's mostly told visually. Once Spider-Man leaps out of the window, chances are, you'll be floored as it seamlessly transitions from a cutscene to gameplay. Seeing this opening along with the music that accompanies it made me feel alive.

Spider-Man 2018 has the best movement ever put in an open world game. You thought Batman jumping out of the Batmobile was cool as you grapple and glide? You have not seen Spider-Man swing around while seamlessly transitioning to running through a wall, leaping off of tips and rails, tunneling through water towers like its nothing, climbing up exterior fire escape stairs, running up walls, bouncing around cars. My favorite factor of the side stuff is taking pictures of landmarks as you can look at important parts of New York City. What's cool about these is that you can either take a picture like a normal person by doing it on the ground or you can take the picture as you are swinging like a badass. This is the main reason why Spider-Man is so good. Even the side stuff that sounds boring on paper is now a blast because of Spider-Man's movement. The movement made me want to 100% this game.

Out of all the games with freeflow combat, Spider-Man is the crowning king. It's so dynamic compared to Arkham Knight. You can use your environments to your advantage by webbing enemies to walls so it would take less to take down an enemy, you can throw objects around you, you can interact with the environments to your advantage. You're jumping around, launching people into the air throwing enemies. Everytime I was fighting, I kept saying to myself "And then, and then, and then..." Spider-Man has a whole lot more depth than Arkham Knight when it comes to combat.

I really liked the story this time around. It never felt videogamey and was very true to the core of Spider-Man as a mythos. Once you arrest Kingpin, his minions are still committing crimes. It's organic as hell as to why there is still madness going on. Fisk is in jail, do you think that the minions would just stop? NO! It feels authentic. How Spider-Man 2018 stays true to the mythos is with the themes of heroism and optimism. Like Into the Spider-Verse, being a hero does not mean being a person in a suit in saving the day. Anyone can wear the mask. Anyone can be a hero. This theme is told by Mary Jane Watson and Miles Morales being a part of the game. Not everyone likes playing as them as they pale in comparison to Spider-Man, but I feel like playing as them enhances the theme a bit more. As for the theme of optimism and how it is the key to stopping evil, the story revolves around it. An example would be Mary Jane. She wants to help Spider-Man. She wants to be his partner. She believes that she can help Peter. Mr. Negative and Otto Octavius are the antithesis of the theme. Both of them hate Norman Osborne. Good ol' friendly Spidey is the opposite, trying to better both. Once Mr. Negative was defeated. I could theorize that Mr. Li no longer has any negative energy. He is no longer fueled with vengeance. And the ending got me in tears. It's been a while since I cried in a game, but man was I invested.

Insomniac's Spider-Man is a love letter to Spider-Man. It's a game that is for both casual fans like me and hardcore fans like many. Despite not being a hardcore Spider-Man fan, this is my favorite licensed game, my GOTY of 2018, and one of my favorites. Give this game a go if you haven't. Insomniac's Spider-Man will make you an insomniac like me.

P.S. I love Spider-Man, but I can't unhear Yosuke Hanamura from Persona 4.

FINAL RATING: 10/10

There's a vast world of difference between "sandbox games" and the type of open-world games that Insomniac makes. For a series like say, Fallout or Grand Theft Auto, the excitement comes from the opportunities the game offers you. Kill every cop you see, or set of a nuclear bomb, or whatever. What makes Spider-Man so much different than other open-world, explore and do anything games is that simply the act of traversing that world is just as fun as the opportunities and story that is being told. Insomniac has gotten in the business of making games that are simply fun to just walk around in.

All the way back to Spyro and the Ratchet & Clank series, up until Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac has been great at making games that are fun to just hang out in. Grinding around the city in Sunset Overdrive, or bashing enemies in Ratchet & Clank is just as great as the story - if not even better. Almost every time I have finished the story of an Insomniac game, I have wanted to continue the game, exploring the world and just maneuvering around the worlds that are insanely fun just to move around in.

Spider-Man might be the pinnacle of Insomniac's ability to craft massive worlds that are fun to move around in. In many ways, Spider-Man owes much of its design to Sunset Overdrive, a vastly underrated game from Insomniac that does many of the things that Spider-Man does so well. One of my favorite things that Insomniac does with these large scale games is pretty early on present all the things you can do in the world - and importantly, WHERE you can do these things - and allows you to discover the world through these side missions. So many games will say "oh, go find 100 of these items, good luck!" but thankfully, Insomniac always lets you know where these items are. This makes the game simply fun, instead of borderline stressful, and especially with photo op missions and the like, will allow you to see all the different fantastic elements they've recreated in their version of New York City.

Spider-Man also borrows heavily from the other standout superhero series: Rocksteady's Arkham series of Batman games. Not only are the various mission structures very similar, but the combat especially is straight from the world of Batman. Yet Insomniac improves upon this, making both the missions and the combat not quite as brutal as the Batman universe. Wisely, Insomniac has given this Spider-Man world a light touch that makes this game charming over challenging. But if the player wants the challenge, they've hidden plenty to seek out for hours of difficult missions.

But the key to what Insomniac does so right with this game isn't just in creating a game that is incredibly fun to explore and move around in. The key here is in the term "friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man." Peter Parker and Spider-Man are sources of purity and good in a city packed with maniacal villains and criminals on every corner. Parker here is a wonderful companion, doing everything he can to improve the life of those around him. He's always assisting Aunt May, giving Miles Morales a purpose and assisting MJ when she needs help. Yet the overall arc of Spider-Man presents the idea that even though Parker's ambition to be the savior for those around him, he needs to embrace the help that his friends can give him. This is such a well told Spider-Man story, and considering I've often found the story the weakest part of many Insomniac games, I think they really nailed the right tone that this game needs.

Insomniac's strength as a video game company has quickly become creating games that are equally enjoyable no matter what you're doing in them. Spider-Man literally throws you right into swinging down the streets, and almost 30 hours of gameplay later, doing that still has the same amount of pure joy as it did in the beginning. But every aspect here is fantastic, from fighting the newly formed Sinister Six, sneaking around an art gallery as MJ, or simply walking down the street and greeting your fans or taking photos of the Wakanda embassy. Insomniac excels at making a sandbox where every grain is worthwhile.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is a game that succeeds largely based on the merits of satisfying and well developed combat mechanics. Combine this with a decent Spider-Man story and the final product is a game that shows love for its source material and is also very enjoyable to put on for an afternoon.

Many of the gameplay elements that comprise a 100% playthrough are very familiar and unoriginal. This is not nevessarily a bad thing. Players should just be aware going in, this game has no intention of reinventing the wheel. Repetitive puzzle mini-games, repeated mini-objectives scattered across the map with accompanying check list and a variety of unlockables and skill trees to grind for.

This game is exactly what players have come to expect from modern open world fare. The game is reasonably short and the combat does not get old fast. Fans of Spiderman and casuals gamers in general will have a great time. Just don’t expect much more than that.

When I think back to my childhood and the point at which superheroe films, toys, and TV shows first captured my imagination I can remember a feeling of giddy, childlike excitement, a feeling of true wonder. The Spiderman games on PS1 and PS2 made me extremely happy as a kid and provided many fond memories, but its always been the Toby Maguire films that captured my imagination, that made me buy the Spiderman masks and run around the garden as a kid; there's something about those films which just left my jaw on the floor, it had wonder, heroism, and true character that you could look up to. It stirred emotions that I have hoped would one day be replicated in a video game - and here we are.

What a phenomenal experience I have had playing this game. Right off the bat you feel like Spiderman swinging through New York City. The web swinging is like no other spider man game before it, the way you get down to street level, to how you brush over the top of trees, everything feels as if you're in control, yet you're able to pull off truly amazing cinematic stunts.

I'd like to point out some things that have truly blown me away so far. I will not mention everything as I believe that part of the reason why I was pleasantly surprised at first was because it all came as a surprise.

As mentioned the swinging is phenomenal, but the combat is also a strong component. You have full control over whether you dive under an enemy to doge, or jump over, or web etc. The fighting is so responsive there really is a wonderful sense of achievement after pulling off each move, and almost after every battle with a considerable amount of enemies I sat there and thought 'woah I just did all of that'. Fighting someone and you're near a wall? Press cirdle and push towards the wall and you'll stick to it momentarily allowing you to press square and push off towards the enemy and deliver a punch.

Now even if you aren't a Spider-Man fan, it's the attention to detail that will probably blow you away if you take the time to notice it. I'll try and list off some rapid fire points that impressed me:

So, where to begin?

• Simply running down the streets you realise that people are waiting for taxis, busking, chatting, people will shout comments at you, contextual comments too.
• There's smoke that comes out of alley ways as you run down them.
• Times Square looks amazing at night and is absolutely thriving with people, just as it should be.
• All the locations are amazing and include some nice site seeing activities.
• You have the ability to drop down slowly on a web line from a ceiling if you wish to.
• Buildings no longer have static images for Windows, there's actually 3D offices and bedrooms in the buildings now!
• As you run up buildings you can stop and crawl, at which point you can jump off and Spiderman will push away from the building in a backflip fashion.
• Peter will talk frantically on the phone whilst he is swinging but will calm down his tone if you land and stay still.
• Throwing enemies off buildings is doable but Spiderman gadgets will cleverly save them from certain death and web them to a structure before falling - most of this isnt even visible yet it still happens.
• As you hear crimes being announced you sometimes may not be able to reach them, but as you swing around the city you will see police, ambulances, and firetrucks taking care of all sorts of crimes and scenarios.

There is so much to talk about with this game. The pacing of the story is nice and you'll see the return of many well known villains, with side activities being plentiful whilst not being bombarded with side missions. The crimes are a really nice addition to the game and for once you aren't penalised for ignoring them.

You need to experience this game for yourself to truly understand what it has to offer, and if you're a Spidey fan, especially if you were as a kid then you owe it to yourself to play this game. Go get em tiger