This is my second time playing Spider-Man in less than three years, however, this is the first time I’ve played the game on the PlayStation 5, and the first time I’ve played the DLC. But before I focus on those elements, I’ll just give my brief feeling on Spider-Man with this second playthrough.
With Spider-Man, Insomniac is taking all the lessons they’ve learned from the criminally underrated Sunset Overdrive and applying them to one of the biggest superhero franchises in the world. Simply traversing the New York City of Spider-Man is a joy, and swinging around without ever accomplishing anything is almost enough game in and of itself. But Insomniac also blends this with a story that doesn’t hit the same points we’ve seen in movies before, instead building the baseline for an exciting new direction for this world. Insomniac isn’t cashing all their chips on this one game, setting up the future, while also providing a compelling, surprisingly emotional narrative that shocks even when it goes in the exact direction you’re expecting.
At this point, Spider-Man might be my favorite PlayStation 4 exclusive game, and both times I’ve finished this game, I’ve wished there was more of this game to play, because I didn’t want to leave this world.
Yet this time, I received more game, as I have finally played the DLC. I admire what Insomniac is trying to do with the DLC here, as each chapter focuses on a different female character that sort of gets the short end of the stick in the core game. Yet with these stories, Insomniac gives the player compelling first and second acts, then almost completely ignores the third. Especially with Black Cat and Yuri, the DLC provides an exciting story for these characters, and then eventually loses them in the long run. These stories are all concluded, but they’re done as almost an afterthought. Not to spoil anything, but the first two DLC chapters end with pretty big character moments, which are entirely forgotten by the beginning of the next chapter.
But I generally like what the game is going for with these DLC, breaking up New York City so the player can focus on smaller areas, rather than just adding on to the existing abundance of things to do in the regular game. I honestly didn’t expect the DLC to introduce an entirely new villain, even if it is such an underwhelming villain as Hammerhead. And especially with the first DLC, I think the game is exploring new ideas, new tech, and interesting new ways to play in this world that I hope are explored in further releases. The second and third DLC pretty much fall back on the same old same old, and the abundance of fighting does get kind of old.
Playing this remastered version on the PlayStation 5, I really love how the controller feels, as the shoulder buttons give feedback whenever you’re swinging through the city. There’s a weight to every use of the web, and while it’s such a small detail, it immediately made me excited to replay this game. I also think this game runs so fast now that I almost feel like navigating New York City is actually slower than I remembered it being?
Spider-Man remains one of the best PlayStation exclusive games I’ve played in the last few years, and it’s still wonderful to see just how much Insomniac gets right about this world. Alongside Batman: Arkham Asylum, Spider-Man might be one of the best superhero games in the last twenty years.
