Marvel's Spider-Man (2018)

Brawlers & superhero power-fantasy aren’t usually the kinds of game I’d be interested in, but I know this one is much beloved, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Game #30/200 I have been on somewhat of an open-world action kick lately, absolutely loving some games like Yakuza 0 and Ghost of Tsushima, and I knew Spider-Man had a great reputation as a AAA game from the past few years so I figured I'd give it a go and hope not to burn out on the genre. Turns out this game is super good. Like, actually amazing. Maybe the best open world game I've played, and if not, in the top 5 for sure.

It's easy to see why after playing for a bit. The gameplay is highly intuitive -- the web swinging, of course -- but also the combat, which (like many games for me) seems influenced by the protoypical Arkham series. Like those games, your goal in a fight is to build a big combo by cycling through your options: punch/kick, dodge, throw, websling, or use a special tool. Everything after a while feels fast and intuitive, and you'll have a blast swinging around an area, choosing which strategies you want to use to fight enemies. You have different types of web weapons, like the impact or electric webs, along with other tools like a high pressure air blaster (think Skyrim's dragon roar) or a spider drone that follows enemies. I didn't like using all of the tools, but there are options that add a lot of variety to gameplay. Battles are fast and exciting, and while plentiful, never feel exhausting. I would hesitate to call Spider-Man "short and sweet" because it is a full-length title. I easily spent over 20 hours getting 96% completion (I'll finish it one day, along with the DLC, which I started and was honestly not too thrilled with). But it ends its content almost exactly where you want it to. It does not overstay in the slightest. I will mention that, like practically every other open world game, there is stealth combat. It's a lot of fun, but honestly super easy and the developers could've worked on the enemy AI during these segments a bit. You're way too invincible and if you're even a little bit patient you'll be able to get away with beating stealth sections without even the threat of being found. The enemies just don't notice you. But it's still fun tying up enemies or automatically killing them with a strong kick from far away.

The game's map and skill progression is also really great. There are probably too many crimes (180 in total, maybe cut it down to 100), but they're fun to beat and have you getting into quick skirmishes or other challenges. Everything else is either super original (the photography or black cat challenges for example) or a blast to play (the forts... can't remember their actual name and the Taskmaster challenges). There are some great sidequests that will have you battling bosses like Tombstone or just helping out the citizens. You'll find that you're leveling up a ton, which is fun, and you can upgrade Spider-Man or choose from a number of different suits (many of which are very appealing) and unlocking different upgrades or abilities which add some spice to the game. The token-based system is really fun and well-utilized. I always felt an incentive to stop and do something. Notably, the science challenges have you doing such a wide variety of mini games that I felt impressed by how much thought was put into the game's mechanics. And before I forget, the controls are nearly impeccable. This game controls better, given the sheer number of actions, than almost any game I have played. You can do so much inside and outside of combat and move extremely fluidly.

You can fast travel (which has Spidey in a funny cut scene -- maybe sitting uncomfortably next to an oblivious superfan in a Spider-Man costume, or laying on the floor to avoid some bad guys near a window, etc.), but oftentimes you'll want to travel manually just because swinging around is fast and a lot of fun. The map is small, and feels even smaller due to how fast it is to swing around (you're not riding a horse or driving a car), but not TOO small. There's plenty packed into the map and the game's gorgeous graphics (I played on PS4, and yet it's probably the best looking and most realistic AAA title I've played) make NYC easy to look at. You also have J Jonah Jameson's hilarious radio show popping in and out or some phone calls with the game's various well-written characters which keep things interesting. The sterotypically superhero-ish music is also welcome. The game's voice acting is top notch and Yuri Lowenthal and Laura Bailey (who are immediately identifiable) do wonderful work as is to be expected. Insomniac's Peter is legitimately hilarious, MAJOR kudos to the writers of his quips, and in my opinion the best Spider-Man that I've encountered in his various non-comics media. Insomniac captures him so well as a person and portray him as caring without being corny and funny in the face of extreme adversity, which makes him feel unstoppable. Incredibly good decision to start this game with Peter in his mid-to-late twenties. Way too often we've seen the origin story of Spider-Man. Yet we still get to see Miles Morales' origin within this story. The tragedy in some of the game's more serious story beats are truly emotional and set up well. The game is mature and fairly violent and does not feel catered to a younger audience. I was almost shocked by how good the storytelling was and the villains are also quite well-done (particularly the main one).

Lastly, the game has some stellar missions. While they're all pretty much great and do not feel repetitive (there many have been one or two too many Miles/MJ "stealth" missions), and while bosses are kind of a breeze, some missions stand out as excellent and cinematic (side note: I am a quick time event enjoyer). The last mission (its emotional weight), the mission where MJ and Peter work together in Grand Central Station (the originality of it all: how you control MJ who is watching Spider-Man and assisting him; watching your player's character in action beyond your control but simultaneously responding to the secondary character who you're using), and the one where you stop the helicopter (just holy shit, the whole excitement of it all and the non-stop adrenaline, followed by Miles Morales being revealed at the end).

Next on my open world to do list is Horizon, but I may jump back into Arkham Asylum after many years away if the mood strikes.

I spent a lot of time with this game that is more than it should be to the point that I boot the game for a 20 minute session multiple times a day. I finished the story. I hate the Sony Theatrical style story telling, the story is predictable like 75% of the time, but I somehow managed to squeeze enjoyment out of it.

It's not bad, just a bit predictable. The music is also a ton of fun to the ears, it's absolutely outstanding.

Gameplay wise, It still feels like most Open world games but "SPIDAH-MAHHHN". I still enjoyed the gameplay in some capacity, but when most of the gameplay consists of stuff that's already been done thousands of times before in multiple games and expect it to work in this one because "Spider-man" is a bit lazy. Side quests are repetitive as hell.

Mary Jane and Miles missions makes you feel vulnerable is good change of pace, but I didn't come here to play MJ's Journalist Simulation! A choice to skip these missions and provide them as a Cutscene would've been a very welcome decision like the QTEs.

The game tends to become a chore very quickly especially while exploring the map, towers, Investigation, collecting backpacks, etc... are all feels like a chore, a content for the sake of more content. I HATE THAT!

Swinging around the city is lacking some of that sense of POWER and speed that was present in (SM2 / WOS) but I got over it by now. I appreciate the animations but still...

Gadgets, and combat is where it felt there could've been more especially when you have the Suits to build more on. a lot of missed opportunities with the way they handled the combat system that Makes the late 2000s Spider-man games more impressive.

I do enjoy how the game feels alive, and interacting with people.

with all that said: I don't see the game the way others do. I don't usually play Modern games because They feel alike to most 90% of other games, so when I do play modern games; I have to make sure this is worth it. but Spider-Man was a blind one because of the universal praise and "SPIDAH-MAHHHN". The has a lot of flaws, has a lot of jank, and a lot of content just for more content.

Overpraised and Overrated in my opinion for someone who spent about a month with this game. I don't hate on the game but I don't like it. It's another Open World Spider-man game. Hopefully the next game will be a real from heart enjoyment experience.

Great looking game to go for a swing through and as solid recreation of being Spiderman as you can get. A decent array of things to do without feeling over cluttered in the city.

Battling feels a bit clumsy and some of the stealthy bits when you're playing as Miles or MJ were a bit iffy but did serve as a break in the pace. Weirdly, I could have done with more stealthy bits when tackling bases, instead of only one wave of stealth followed by 4 more of punch ups. I enjoyed the story. It was over-the-top, but I think that's the idea?

Overall, I had a good time.

From the moment I started playing, I realised that there is so much to love about Marvel's Spider-Man. The gameplay is extraordinary, and it was a sheer joy to both traverse the city and beat up any thug or villain I encountered. I really can't stress how much fun it was to string together combinations of flips, jumps and webs to effortlessly navigate the game's many skyscrapers. Combat was equally interesting, with enough enemy variety to keep the game fresh and force me to adjust just as I was developing the perfect strategies for ending fights quickly. The boss fights were interesting, but not especially satisfying as most of the battles revolved around "Dodge three attacks and then wait to counter". And regretably, despite the variety of moves, abilities, and gadgets, I rarely used more than three or four, and I just upgraded and collected the rest for completion's sake.

Speaking of, the collectibles may have been what cost the game its fifth star from me. It seemed like harmless fun to find backpacks stashed around the city. To hunt down Black Cat's hideouts. To catch pigeons, sure. Dismantling the lairs of various villains? Wonderful, I love undermining them. But when it got to completing timed races for Taskmaster, or those awful stealth sections, I started to resent the game and only persisted with the challenges because I was so close to 100% completion. And while it was really cool to hear a crime being reported on the police radio and immediately changing course to intervene, I quickly realised that there were only about 10 different types of crime, repeated about 100 times, so they got pretty boring pretty quickly. (I finished the game at 96% because I couldn't be bothered swinging through the same areas of the map hoping for a crime to randomly generate.)

That feeling of being a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man never shone more than in the side-quests and research stations. It was so wonderful helping people directly, and changing the world in small but significant ways. The main story was pretty amazing too, featuring a wonderful cast of villains (although maybe one or two too many - it took me a while to realise that Electro and Shocker were different characters) in an incredible plot. And with the door wide open for a sequel, I'm really looking forward to seeing where things go next! Again, I really hated the forced stealth sections when playing as anyone other than the fighting machine that is Spider-Man. (Seriously, for a young hero whose image is all about being friendly, he sure does kick a lot of goons off buildings.)

And that friendliness, that charm, really impressed. I've always known Spider-Man to be chatty, witty, and hilarious. But I was playing this game to sling through the city and POW some criminals. So it really caught me off guard to see a scientiest whose eyes filled with wonder as he worked to change the world through knowledge instead of violence. The man who was utterly, helplessly caught up in the wake of Mary Jane Watson, the interminable love of his life. The nephew who would give up almost anything to protect his beloved Aunt May, and to mentor a young Miles Morales. To my surprise I came to love Peter Parker, as well as Spider-Man, and that was really special.

An excellent game that suffered from one too many collectibles in the sandbox. 8/10!

Note: This includes the DLC provided after the main release.

In following up from the Arkham style of games, Insomniac has created the next big superhero game - and what a game it is!

Starting this timeline with a more mature Peter Parker, you control Spider-Man on the verge of rising gang forces amidst a power vacuum created by Kingpin's arrest. Needless to say the spoilers amidst the game are surprising but carry the plot forward in unique and engaging ways. Peter himself with all his quips and irritation is less interesting, but his wisecracks blend into the heroic music and quality voice acting eventually.

Combat and movement make up the main parts of this game (there are investigative bits and QTEs, but those do just what they need to without intruding too much on the game). Combat is juggling a group of enemies at any point in time, dodging bullets, launching enemies, shooting webs, and utilizing gadgets and suit powerups built throughout the game. There's a lot of creative combat to be had and the game can allow either some fun gadget combinations or a seamless combo of dodging and punching to build up to some satisfying finishers.

As for movement, the game's web-swinging and web zipping are a joy. Movement isn't the most precise at times (zooming from point to point with point launching is about the quickest and most precise you can get, but is very camera intensive) but the game is very forgiving about falling and swinging about as you explore the city, getting used to how web-swinging works and providing plenty of bonus objectives to encourage exploring every nook and cranny. The city itself looks fantastic, creating a very MCU style portrait of New York while feeling more alive and detailed than any open-world New York to date.

Spider-Man is also a very meaty game beneath the initial premise. Not counting the DLC, there's plenty of bases to attack, crimes to stop, pictures to take, and mementos to pick up as enemies level up appropriately in difficulty as the story moves along. By the time the game nears its finish, you'll be sad to let go of one heckuva Big Apple.

Grand Theft Auto III is usually singled out at as the first major 3d open-world game. Well, bully for GTA. For the rest of us, the first 3d open-world game we played was Spider-Man 2. Do you remember finding the tallest building on the map, climbing all the way to the top, and then jumping off and seeing how close you could get to the ground before web-slinging to safety? 'Cause I do.

Which is why I was concerned when the game started with some nominal, mission-focused web-slinging before dumping you straight into a series of combat situations. I get that they wanted to skip the origin story, and I agree with that decision, but a Spider-Man game that starts with combat instead of just 'slinging around the city is not my kind of Spider-Man game.

But hey, as soon as the first mission is done you get to sling as much as you want, and I will say that, especially with the traversal upgrades, they did do this part right. Traversing the city never got old the entire time I was playing. The controls are smooth, the transitions between modes are relatively dynamic, and they even fixed the Central Park dead zone problem. There were some occasional frustrating moments with the auto-targeting, but in general they get 5 stars for web-slinging.

Other good things:

• Harry's not a jerk! And I like the spirit of the research station missions, even if in practice they were a little repetitive.
• In general I think "Peter the scientist" played out better in this game than "Batman the detective" did in the Arkham games.
• The suits are cool. The Comic Book suit is the coolest.
• Jameson having a radio show is a nice touch.
• The backpack with the drawing of the kid with the balloon. You Spider-Man 2 fans know what I'm talking about.
• The first half of the game is pretty fun, and it made me laugh when I was supposed, instead of at it being bad.

Where they lose stars is on everything else. If I were a real reviewer I would have been taking notes, but as it is I'll just have to try to remember some stray observations:

• Are we supposed to agree with Jameson? 'Cause for all the ranting and raving dude makes some good points.
• Combat should either get more interesting or less difficult, not more repetitive and increasingly frustrating.
• Spider-Man doesn't kill, he just webs people to the wall of an elevator shaft that's still active and also is going to blow up in 10 minutes
• Those Miles missions (especially the Rhino one) are too difficult for how little they add to the game. I won't say they don't add anything, but they should be half as long and always be entirely linear. If it's not what I'm playing the game for, it shouldn't be difficult to get through. They're like those Catwoman missions from Arkham City. Ugh.
• Those secret photo ops are NOT WORTH IT.
• As with all open-world games, urgency has no meaning here. Time does not exist outside of missions.
• Speaking of which, I was thinking about this game again recently and I realized that one thing I missed are the random events that would occur outside of missions in Spider-Man 2, and how they added another layer to how Spider-Man Spider-Mans. Sure, some of them were the typical "stop the mugging, beat up the bad guys" thing that you'd expect, but there were also ones where you had to save someone falling (jumping? were there suicide attempts in that game?) off a roof or, as previously alluded to, catch a kid's errant balloon.

The last 30% of the game is mostly a hot mess of trying to do too much and not really considering any of it in depth, and suspension of disbelief just went straight out the window.

• This got real dark for a Spider-Man game, especially for the first in what is presumably planned to be a series.
• Why are all the inmates still wearing jumpsuits? And is literally every single one of them a violent, horrible person invested in the total destruction of society? Like, presumably some of these people have families who they maybe want to protect from the just absurd number of rocket launchers, and maybe that could be a series of side missions that humanize criminals and add an interesting layer to an otherwise terrible part of the game.
• What kind of mercenary organization is structured in such a way that their boss can't make them stop working for a client?
• Why did Scorpion suddenly stop being a priority? How did he not have time to poison the water while Spider-Man was on his bad trip?
• What exactly was Octavius planning to do with the antiserum? AND WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU LET SPIDER-MAN DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH IT? (Seriously, hands down the worst narrative moment in the entire game, possibly in the entire history of Spider-Man.)
• And boy that reveal that Aunt May knew Peter was Spider-Man sure doesn't hit as hard when we JUST heard someone else admitting to knowing it too. You'd think Peter's reaction wouldn't be exactly the same level of surprise.
• And finally, why oh why does there always have to be a puberty joke?

This may not be an MCU game, but it has all the problems I would expect an MCU game to have, not to mention a modern open-world game. So, you know, it's whatever.