Marvel's Spider-Man (2018)

An entirely cromulant open-world action game. With well tuned controls and a gawk-worthy recreation of New York City that will capture the hearts of virtual tourists and New Yorkers alike. But, in being a product made to appeal to the highest common denominator, it denies itself the room to play with the more engaging aspects of it's source material. Continuing the modern trend of filing down Peter Parker's abrasive attitude to, at worst, mild snark, throwing out all semblances of media crit found in the Daily Bugle and it's Editor in Chief by reducing him down to an inoffensive Alex Jones facisimile and hand-waving the lead's struggles with poverty by giving him constant outs he had turned down because of his Morals, so as to avoid reminding the audience that class is so often thrust upon us with little escape. The writing understands that exploring the oftentimes cruel circumstances of domestic life are essential to the make-up of what Spider-Man, but always stop short of exploring them before it might ever distract from web-swinging, or worse inspire discomfort. You play through the miserable experience of being evicted and grip the controller as Peter waddles his way back to his Aunt so he can have a roof over his head, but all in a light-hearted manner you'd see in any "down to earth" Disney flick, with little consideration for the long-term consequences.

A fine video game that you can sink dozens of hours of content out of that wanted to be an okay movie. A reminder that after a 60+ year long legacy and millions spent in production of projects every year, Marvel and its associates still struggle to come shoulder-to-shoulder with the disposable 12 cent magazines of yore

It's hard to overstate the importance of the Batman Arkham series of video games. Not just in their design, but what they did for licensed games, but for superhero games, too. They didn't have to be bad anymore, and they could actually be good. Or VERY good, as is the case with the Arkham series, and with Marvel's Spider-Man.

Movement in this game is a blast. Just swinging around was so fun I rarely used fast travel. Stopping random crimes while on the way to a bigger event always felt very like something that would happen in the Sam Raimi series of films. Which I think this game borrows a bit from (in particular with this version of Doctor Octopus). Though the repetition of the different kinds of crimes did wear a bit thin, but you can just ignore them if you want. No matter how un Spider-Man-y it is to do so.

Combat is pretty fun, too. Spidey quips a lot during battles, and I even chuckled fairly often at the dialogue. So I need to give props to Yuri Lowenthal (of Naruto and Rave Master (deep cut) fame) for voicing an excellent Spider-Man. I kind of hope he keeps playing Spidey in future installments.

Stealth in this game is a weird addition, and it seems obligatory since the Arkham games did it. Stealth makes a bit more sense for a character like Batman, though. But it's also just way too easy in this game. Guards basically don't do anything as their teammates are picked off. The guards in the Arkham games would just start shooting randomly at a place where you might be hiding. After getting the range increase for stealth takedowns, I kind of feel sorry for the hired goons. But the MJ and Miles scenes feel especially unnecessary. It is nice to work them into the story, but it's so weird to go from web slinging action to the next installment of "MJ-tal Gear Solid."

To close out, Insomniac basically defined the PS2 era for me with Ratchet and Clank. It's great to see them still making quality games 20 years later. I'm gonna take a break from Spidey, but I think I'll swing back around for Miles Morales soon.

Fresh off of replaying Spider-Man: Miles Morales it’s hard to love the first game as much as I did at launch. It’s still a great game at its core but I hope that Miles Morales is an indication of where the series is going. Unlocking surveillance towers is not something I want to be doing in further games, not for the mechanics and certainly not for the unsavoury implications. I also much prefer the idea of the community app as a means for Miles to obtain information on crimes and activities in the city, much more than Pete’s willingness to piggyback off the police while simultaneously aiding them.

I also hope the suit slot and powers rework in Miles-Morales carries forward to the next Spider-Man game because I find the dual visor and dual suit slots work quite well, and Mile’s access to powers is greatly appreciated over the limited approach in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Pete has twenty-four distinct power equips to Miles’ four (venom punch, smash, launch and dash). Yet Pete can only access one while Miles can access all through different button combos. I’ll take a drastic reduction in powers if I can mix and match without having to jump into the menu to change my equipment.

I was strolling through the streets of New York to marvel at the astonishing details and architecture when a pedestrian came at me and asked to get a selfie. While Spider-Man was having a little chatter with his fan, someone from behind shouted "Yo, you got some kind of skin condition under that frickin' suit" and because of 3D sound it sounded so real I was getting goosebumps.

What a game. What passion and love crafted into this.

Score: 9/10 (main game), 7/10 (DLC)

This game was the first I have 100%ed in a long long time, so that should tell you something about the quality of the game. Featuring what would be one of my favourite versions of Peter Parker and telling a refreshing and moving story that benefited from the game's interactivity, Spider-Man was a total joy to play. The fact that it also had brilliant gameplay boosted the whole affair, a good story can help a game a long but when it's as fun to play as this one was it really is great how well it all comes together, I had such a great time with all the characters and I can't wait to return with Miles Morales on PS5. The DLC was not too bad either, more of what you like, if you will. Not mind blowing but worth it if you really liked the game. Overall this game was pretty great and I probably put something like 50 hours into it. Awesome stuff, 'nuff said!

This sold a lot of copies so you probably don't need me to tell you how good it is!

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.

4/5

The swinging was awesome. Combat was repetitive and a bit tired - I found normal too easy and hard to be frustrating. The main story was pretty engaging, but nothing incredible - very predictable beats. Peter was very likeable but some of the surrounding characters were not so well done. Too much map marker bullshit for my liking. Have the remastered game on PS5 but will probably not revisit it.

I did end up revisiting this game just over 2 years later and I have to say the gameplay grew on me, particularly the combat. Was definitely fun to use gadgets and get massive combos on the hardest difficulty. The 40FPS + 4K mode on the PS5 was also a game-changer, definitely my preferred way to play games from now on, mix of smoothness and beautiful fidelity. I started the DLC story 'The Heist' - and it was dead boring. The story of the main game is still great, but not the kind of great where a second playthrough is warranted. The MJ and Miles sections are still terrible.