Spider-Man Review

Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: 1
Playtime: 25 hours (Includes beating the game and completing 98% of side missions and collectible gathering)


In my youth, super hero games more often than not always felt like a cheap imitation of what was to be seen in your comics or films.  They never quite captured what was the feeling or essence of being that enamored hero.  Then came Batman: Arkham Asylum in 2007, which raised the bar of what super hero games were capable of, perfectly emulating what it meant to be the caped crusader.  Now in an even rarer occurrence for that of super hero games, Insomniac's Spider-Man has swung onto the PS4 as an exclusive title, looking to reboot our friendly wall-crawler like never before.  Is this sporty new web-slinger of a game able to replicate the essence of Spider-Man as Rocksteady Studios did for that of Batman?  Or is it just another cash-in on a familiar and beloved icon?  Suit up as we swing along with the pros and cons of this super-filled review.

Traversal / Combat

One of my personal favorite aspects of Spider-Man is the fluid and thrilling sense of how he zips about New York, gracefully and stylishly shooting his webs from building to building.  And boy does this game not only capture this feeling, but makes it better than I could have ever imagined.  The way Spider-Man parkours off of vents, ledges, and more as he leaps from rooftop to rooftop.  Or when you swing into a building and immediately begin sprinting up the side of the building at full speed.  The way every web shot actually clings to a surface and he's not just swinging from some arbitrary point in the sky.  The means of traversing this city is so amazingly considered, and yet is still so fluid and easy to control.  It makes the act of going from point A to point B both a relaxing and mesmerizing experience, and its execution is almost worth the entire game in this of itself.

Swinging around New York has never felt as good as it does in this game.

When you're not swinging about these skyscrapers, you're more than likely laying waste to the criminal underbelly of the city.  Fortunately, the combat of this game delivers another satisfying punch to the experience.  From stealth take-downs to webbing baddies to walls to a flurry of kicks and flips, Spidey has got a wide arsenal of moves at his disposal.  And combat is kept interesting by the great variety of enemies and situations in which to fight them in.  Whether it be a gang of thugs at the park equipped with bats and guns, or a gang of demon-masked criminals bearing crazy whips and bazookas, there is always a rush to be had chaining together combos and weaving around their varied attempts to bring you down.  There can be a bit of a learning curve, especially when it comes to some of the more advanced enemies, but nothing that can't be overcome with a little perseverance.

Open-World / Side-Missions

As mentioned above, the joy of traversal is unmatched in this game, and that is in part thanks to the exemplary open-world in which Spider-Man gets to take part in.  New York of course is the perfect playground for this web-slinging hero, with plenty of tall buildings to climb, dive, swing and more from.  But it is truly breathtaking to behold how much detail is captured here, from the bustling traffic to even being able to peer inside the many windows of most every building.  And I know more and more games have now mastered the art of masking and hiding loading screens, but it still seems like glorious witchcraft that you can swing from end to end of New York in seamless fashion with no apparent loading to be seen.

Just another beautiful day in the friendly neighborhood of Spider-Man.

On the topic of seamless gameplay, this game does a brilliant job at sprinkling a plethora of fun goodies and missions to chase in such natural fashion.  From hidden backpacks to research stations to car chases and more, there is such an abundance of enjoyable and varied scenarios in which to take on.  And as Spider-Man listens in to the police radio frequencies for crimes in which to stop, it really feels like your in his shoes, with too many crimes to stop and never a moment's rest.  This game delivers such a satisfying and addicting feedback loop of just one more interesting thing to investigate, always happening to be within close proximity of where your last objective just ended.

Mary Jane

From the many Spider-Man universes I've experienced, this is probably my favorite depiction of the character Mary Jane Watson.  During the cinematic moments between Peter and Mary, there is such a chemistry and natural flow to their banter.  She carries a wealth of feelings, such as a caring affection.  An annoyed resentment.  A burning determination.  There is a history and realness felt in their relationship that is rarely felt in games.  Aside from these delightful cut-scenes, there are also moments in which players get to control and play as Mary during her investigative roles.  While they may not deliver the same level of thrills as webbing up baddies as Spider-Man, these segments are still an absolute pleasure to play through as they offer a deeper and more personal means to directly know this iconic character we so rarely get to know.

Just from this simple still, you can tell there is such a myriad of thought attached to Mary's character here.

Lore / Easter Eggs

Spider-Man is a series with a long and rich history, and this game does an admirable job stuffing this game to the brim with an abundance of this history.  With every hidden backpack collected in the city (of which there are 55), players are treated to a little anecdote pertaining to the goodie it contains, all of which are interesting or an amusing joy to listen to.  There are also a ton of fun little Easter eggs relating to the larger Marvel universe, such as the Avengers tower or Dr. Strange's sanctum, which are equally a joy to stumble upon.

Humor

Another key defining ism of the esteemed web-head is his fantastic sense of humor and numerous quips he dishes out to the bad guys.  Thankfully, Spider Cop here delivers such admirably, making hero work equal parts epic and amusing.  And while on the topic of humorous banter, JJ Jameson delivers such entertaining moments in the form of podcasts which will play periodically while swinging about New York.  While it always hits the same notes of what an underhanded crook Spider-Man really is, these rants never fail to give a chuckle and are quite enjoyable to listen to as they relate to recently completed missions / tasks.

Controller Disconnected / Fast Travel

One small last positive note here, though one easy to overlook, when your controller becomes disconnected or runs out of battery, there is actually a specially designed screen of the most adorable Spider-Man informing you of such.  And on another note, though I rarely ever fast-traveled in this game because web-swinging is just too much darn fun, should you choose to fast-travel, there is a brief loading screen showing our spider hero casually riding the metro with other regular riders.  You can't help but smile from these little touches.

When your battery dies because you just couldn't put the game down.  Adorable.

Main Story

While the game has its memorable moments and thrilling action sequences, I personally wasn't enamored with the overall plot or many villains to be found.  The villains felt uninspired and when you get towards the end of the game, much of the plot begins to bear holes that have you questioning various points of the narrative.  It was enjoyable enough to string players along to the awkward finish, but I find considerable more enjoyment from everything outside the main story in this game.

Scoring Mechanics

Many of the crimes, hideouts, and other challenges in this game all contain additional bonus objectives in which to earn various tokens for upgrades or new suits and the like.  This does add a nice bit of extra play incentive in which to test your slowly mastered skills, but the requirements of using specific moves or defeating enemies in specific ways makes these otherwise fun missions feel more of a bothersome task as they inhibit your preferred play style.  Worse, these objectives only briefly appear at the start of the mission, making them easy to forget in the first place.  So you better pay attention and remember if you should care to pursue them without repeated efforts.

They look pretty finished to me...

Time of Day / Loading Screens

There are many missions in this game that are set / staged during a specific time of day.  This is fine and all, but when accepting these missions at different times of day, the game undergoes an awkward loading screen in which to change the time of day and load the mission.  Considering the mostly seamless nature of the majority of the game, these transitions are incredibly jarring and really break not only the general pacing, but the whole feel of the narrative when time is just jumping all over the place.  I would think a better solution would be to have these missions only available at the specific times needed for the mission, which would give players more reason to explore New York at various times of day, be it naturally during the main game or post-game when players have more control over the time of day.

(Lack of) Cel-Shade Filter

I try not to criticize games for what they don't do, but the very inclusion of what is the coolest looking cel-shaded Spider-Man costume demands that I do just that.  It's so cool!!  But it looks so jarring next to the other realistic styling of characters and the city.  Oh how I wish this costume also enabled a cel-shaded filter across all assets in the game...

Nothing to see here folks.  Just a cel-shdaded web-slinging hero riding the rails with his fellow high resolution civilians.

So at the end of the day, does this game deliver the promise, the feeling of being Spider-Man?  The answer: An unequivocally, absolute yes.  Despite a debatable narrative, this game delivers on all the most important components with exhilarating gameplay mechanics and a cast of stellar leading characters.  Insomniac clearly had some confidence in their game when they gave this a name bearing no subtitle, but it certainly earns the merit as being the unquestionable definitive means to experience this hero.  This is Spider-Man.

If you have any questions or thoughts about this game, please feel free to comment and discuss below.  Thanks.  And happy gaming!