Review Copy Provided by PlayStation
Every frame of Marvel’s Spider-Man feels carefully crafted by a team
with a deep reverence for the iconic character.
Insomniac’s history paints them as the perfect developer to handle the unique challenges
of bringing the webslinger’s world to life,
and they’ve gotten to build their own version of that friendly neighborhood from scratch.
The end result is simply amazing.
Skipping over the story we know so well after six feature films,
we meet Peter Parker at age 23,
eight years after becoming Spider-Man.
After he’s finally thrown Wilson Fisk in jail,
new and old threats battle for control of New York,
and both of Peter’s lives are turned upside down.
It’s a story for the fans, speeding past references
only the truly devoted will understand or appreciate, but
it’s also full of surprises and moments that will change’s Peter’s life forever.
There are plenty of epic cut-scenes, but a good amount of the story comes through Spidey’s phone
as friends call you while you’re getting from A to B.
It’s an effective way to juggle multiple threads at once,
and it keeps the game’s pace at top speed.
There’s more to being Spider-Man than swinging and punching.
There are a fair amount of stealth sections,
tech puzzles that have you routing currents or matching patterns,
and Mary Jane’s job reporting for the Daily Bugle
has her sneaking through some areas on her own, without backup.
A few missions follow Peter out-of-costume,
showing how his talents and responsibilities can get mixed up when he has to solve problems.
All the missions connect together naturally and introduce new side activities
that evolve depending on the most recent developments in the story.
This means you’re not given a laundry list of markers to find when you start the game,
and the progression adds context to the stuff you can do when you’re not saving the city.
You’re encouraged to sample all of it,
because the various objects to find or side missions to finish give you tokens
that unlock new mods, upgradeable gadgets, or Spider-Suits with individual powers.
There are only a handful of spots for each activity, so each bundle shouldn’t take you too long,
and some have bonus objectives that award more tokens.
When you’re out exploring, it’s easy to grab a nearby backpack
filled with relics from Peter’s past or
to snap a photo of a famous New York or Marvel landmark while you’re zipping by.
Most of these add color to the world and update fans on what
this version of Spider-Man has accomplished, and the historic challenges he has yet to face.
Random crimes have parameters that shuffle around to make them less repetitive, like
occasionally having to chase bad guys fleeing in a speeding car,
and there’s a finite number of them in each district.
There’s also a fair amount of variety in an array of Oscorp Research Stations
that later become fast travel points.
Peter monitors them while his buddy Harry is out of town,
and the science experiments required to complete each station
offer fun, unique mechanics to play with, or environmental effects to shake things up.
Challenges and enemy bases that you can play as many times as you want
are useful for sharpening your traversal or combat skills,
and Spider-Man can track down a few bonus villains with their own agendas outside of the main campaign.
All these tasks are a joy to tackle because of how quickly you can make your way across town.
Webbing around feels natural and lets you direct Spidey exactly where you want him to go.
Shifting between the standard swing, a course-correcting web zip,
and a targeted landing, there’s no spot in the city you can’t make your way through somehow.
Traversal can be mesmerizing but it’s very forgiving.
You don’t have to worry about damage from falling,
and the game will easily avoid obstacles if you’re holding the right trigger,
keeping your momentum even when you make mistakes.
The game does fight back when you get into combat.
Some enemies are shielded or require extra webbing to stun,
and their sniper rifles or rocket launchers can be dangerous from a distance.
Each brawl gives you lots of options.
You can overload your enemy with numerous gadgets, yank everyone into the air,
or take out a dozen of them from the shadows before you get spotted.
You can zip directly over to an enemy and quickly switch targets.
Suit powers and mods let you specialize your perks,
and they make the game easier or harder depending on your preference.
The combat system is playful, leaving lots of room for improvisation,
and it’s the perfect fit for Spider-Man’s carefree attitude while fighting.
All of this takes place within Insomniac’s version of Marvel’s Manhattan.
The story sticks to Spider-Man’s cast of characters,
but there are structural references to several other comics.
Along with city streets, several detailed interiors open up like
a museum selling Fisk’s estate, or Aunt May’s homeless shelter, to name a few.
Inside and out, this New York definitely has a personality.
You’ll see cops, firefighters, and paramedics on the job,
and get praised or yelled at as you mingle with citizens.
J. Jonah Jameson even has a podcast with regular episodes
condemning every step Spider-Man takes.
The city itself is beautiful.
The time of day stays frozen until you advance the clock
by completing mainline missions, letting you preserve a particular aesthetic
if you feel like pausing the story and working on upgrading your gear.
As the chapters go on, New York’s appearance changes,
illustrating the impact of the forces you’re fighting against,
and recent events will pop up in Spider-Man’s social media feed or in the latest issue of the Bugle.
There are also plenty of outfits you can put on to visibly chart your progress,
another reason to keep collecting tokens.
We ran into a few weird bugs, like one side quest we couldn’t finish
and a few landmark photos that wouldn’t take right away,
but otherwise Spider-Man performs rather well on the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Load times are brief, transitions between gameplay and cut-scenes are immediate,
and the lighting gives some scenes more depth
than you typically see in a super hero game of this size and scale.
The music, voice acting, combat animation, seamless traversal,
and a web of endless activities all feel fresh and polished,
making the events believable and appropriately dramatic.
Insomniac Games has used their power responsibly while translating their vision of Spider-Man,
and they’ve created his largest and most detailed adventure to date.
They’ve taken lessons from their previous action-adventures,
along with recent successful franchises in the super hero genre,
showcasing what’s possible not only for Spider-Man,
but for all comic book characters in this generation of games.
Easy Allies Reviews are made possible by the generous support of viewers like you at patreon.com/easyallies.
Become a patron for as little as $1 per month to hear extended Spider-Man impressions
from Brandon Jones and Kyle Bosman in the next episode of Spoiler Mode,
available shortly after launch.
Review Copy Provided by PlayStation