***THIS IS A (RELATIVELY) SPOILER FREE REVIEW***
It's been a while since Spider-Man has gotten the video game treatment. His last few outings in this medium have been mediocre and at times down right horrible due to the fact that they were movie tie-ins. In fact, many would say that Spider-Man 2, which came out in 2004 was the last great Spider-Man video game (I would argue that Ultimate Spider-Man, which came out a year later was the last great Spider-Man game, but I digress). I think we can safely say now that Insomniac Game's Spider-Man PS4 has claimed it's place as the definitive Spider-Man game. This game has it's flaws, but it's one of the most fun I've had playing a video game in a long time.
Spider-Man PS4 is a free-roaming game that features a twenty-three year old Peter Parker that is entering his prime as New York City's Wall Crawler. However, he still has the daily struggle of balancing his personal life as a research assistant to Doctor Otto Octavius, his time volunteering at a homeless shelter run by mysterious philanthropist Martin Li with his Aunt May, and his career as Spider-Man. Spider-Man is helped in certain missions by either his ex-girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, who works for the Daily Bugle or Miles Morales, who enters Peter's life under tragic circumstances. The story begins with Spider-Man reaching a new pinnacle in his crime fighting career as he recently finished putting many of his most dangerous antagonists behind bars and finally doing the same to Wilson Fisk A.K.A. The Kingpin in the opening mission. However, Fisk warns Spider-Man that his incarceration will create a power vacuum in the city's underworld, which is a prediction that proves to be correct. A new gang of supernatural powered mask wearing criminals called The Demons led by Mister Negative start to reclaim The Kingpin's old territory. Mister Negative's motives and identity are unclear, but he is able to corrupt people that he touches and can shoots blasts of negative energy from his hands. Spider-Man and Mary Jane quickly figure out that Mister Negative and The Demons are a part of a much more complex conspiracy that threatens to bring New York to it's knees.
The first thing that impressed me about this game was how gorgeous and detailed it was. This game is so detailed that you can count the individual threads on Spider-Man's various costumes. It's not just Spider-Man that is incredibly detailed. Every major character's outfit has a ridiculous amount of detail to it. These characters look and act like they could exist inside of a Marvel film. Anybody who was initially worried about graphical downgrades (and I was one of them) had their fears put to rest as soon as the opening mission started.
Spider-Man PS4's recreation of New York City is the most accurate representation of the Big Apple ever in a video game. Manhattan is the only borough that players can roam around in. Some people may be disappointed in that, but I think that this is a good thing because that gives Insomniac Games an opportunity to add New York City's other boroughs in potential sequels. All of Manhattan's most iconic landmarks like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and The American Museum of Natural History are all rendered in photorealistic detail. Although this game doesn't directly feature other superheroes in the plot, their presence is still felt in New York City. The Avengers Tower, Doctor Strange's Sanctum Santorum, and other locations found in the Marvel Universe are present in the game. These buildings are fun Easter Eggs for fans of the Marvel Comics and Cinematic Universe. They also open up the possibility that other Marvel heroes could play a role in sequels to Spider-Man PS4 or in games of their own. After playing this game for over twenty plus hours, I highly doubt that we'll see a more accurate rendering of Manhattan in this console generation. Spider-Man PS4's New York City will have native New Yorkers impressed (and think of how hard it is to impress New Yorkers) and will provide a great opportunity for players to sightsee if they can't afford to visit.
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The web-swinging and movement in Spider-Man PS4 is one of the highlights of the game and and a gameplay mechanic that Insomniac Games capture perfectly. Players have the opportunity to fast travel in this game, but web-swinging is such a blast that they'll probably never do it. What makes web-swinging and wall crawling mechanics so great is that it always keeps the player in motion. If you swing into a building, Spidey will simply start running up or down the wall. This corrects a major flaw in past Spider-Man games where players would come to a screeching halt as soon as they accidentally swung into a wall. Spider-Man PS4 truly gives the player the feeling of what it would be like to be Spider-Man swinging around New York City much like the Arkham games gave players the feeling of what it would like to be Batman gliding around Gotham City. If there is one flaw with the web-swinging it's sometimes not all that accurate when you want to latch on to specific points. There really isn't any good excuse for this flaw and this is one mechanic Insomniac needs to improve for the sequel. Another criticism, is that this game slows to a crawl when you're not in motion. Once again, this is a problem that should've been corrected when this game was in development.
Combat in Spider-Man PS4 is very much connected to web-swinging as Spider-Man is at his best when he's in the air. Insomniac could've copied the Arkham combat system, but they wisely developed a different, albeit somewhat similar combat system for this game. The combat in this game is fun at first, but gets repetitive as the game goes on. Although, there's a dozen different attack combinations that are at the players disposal, the player only needs about three of them. The additional combos are great, but Insomniac doesn't really give the player a good reason to use them. If there is one good thing about the combat in Spider-Man PS4 is how it incorporates Spidey's webs. Spider-Man can web up enemies and then throw them around or web them up to the point where they get stuck to walls. Insomniac also gives the players various creative gadgets that they can use on Spider-Man's enemies. These gadgets were a great idea and is a welcome deviation from past Spider-Man games where the player had only the option to shoot their webs at enemies and little else.
Perhaps the most underrated high point of Spider-Man PS4 is how player choice is handled. Players can change Spider-Man's costume at any point during the game even if it's in the middle of combat. Spider-Man's alternate suits have a special power associated with it, but say for instance if a player likes the costume they are playing in, but doesn't like the suit power associated with it or vice versa. If that's the case, the player can swap that's suit power for a different one. The game is also microtransaction and loot box free, which is a plus for any game to have these days. The sooner that we consumers can shame every game publisher and studio to abandon this predatory practice, the better.
The story for Spider-Man PS4 is surprisingly emotional. In fact, it's one of the best Spider-Man stories that has been told in quite some time. Spider-Man in the comics has been criminally mishandled by various writers over the past decade and it really shows how incompetent the writers are in the comic book industry are when a video game company can do a better job than them. Hopefully, the writers currently working on the Spider-Man comics can take a page or two from this game's playbook, but I doubt that'll happen.
The characters in Spider-Man PS4 are what really makes the plot so excellent. Nearly, every character in the game has either been touched or is about to be touched by some sort of traumatic event in their lives. Even, the villains are given tragic backstories. In fact, the two main villains are both motivated not by a desire to create havoc or by greed, but are plagued with jealousy and resentment towards the man they feel has wronged them. The characters in this game feel truly three dimensional in this regard as they all have problems and demons that they must reckon with. Peter Parker is older, but is still coming to grips with the responsibilities of being an adult. However, Peter Parker is still has a razor sharp wit when he's behind the Spider-Man mask. It's quite clear that Insomniac Games didn't really like the Mary Jane character in the comics and decided to give her a complete overhaul. Mary Jane is now a risk taking investigative reporter that aids her ex-boyfriend in his crime fighting endeavors. Insomniac manages to pull this off quite well and the relationship that Peter Parker and Mary Jane have in this game is a not so subtle message to Marvel Comics that they made a mistake to break them up in the comics. Miles Morales is another character that is a massive improvement over his comic book counterpart. If I'm being quite honest the only reason why he was created was to fulfill a diversity quota and his character was given little thought beyond that. Although, I would much rather have Miles Morales assume a new superhero identity instead of being Spider-Man, I have to give Insomniac credit for making Miles Morales a fully formed character. Once again, what does is say about the modern day come book industry when a video game company can make Miles Morales a better character in one game while Marvel Comics has struggled to do the same thing for nearly a decade?
J. Jonah Jameson also makes an appearance in this game. Once again, Insomniac breathes new life into an established character. Spider-Man PS4's Jameson has left his position as Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Bugle and is now a right wing podcast host. Clips from Jameson's podcast are played throughout the game and are absolutely hilarious. Jameson uses his podcast to shamelessly continue his attacks on Spider-Man. However, his attempts to slander Spider-Man are frequently thwarted by people that call into his his show to defend him. Jameson could've been a mere one dimensional character, but Insomniac gives him a bit of nuance as Jameson shows a genuine concern and outrage when he begins hearing reports that New Yorkers are getting their civil liberties violated by Silver Sable's mercenary group that have been hired by the city.
Spider-Man PS4 for all it's positives isn't the genre redefining game that the Arkham games were. The Arkham games (Arkham City in particular) are still the gold standard for superhero video games. The fact Spider-Man PS4 is so clearly influenced by the Arkham games proves this. If Insomniac Games tries to release a sequel to this game without trying to break the mold and improve on it's flaws they should get raked over the coals by reviewers. In the meantime, gamers will have to wait a while before the next great superhero game is released. Spider-Man PS4 is still a fun game to play nonetheless and Insomniac Games has set the stage to potentially make a truly groundbreaking game with a sequel.
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| The Big Apple has never looked so real. |
The web-swinging and movement in Spider-Man PS4 is one of the highlights of the game and and a gameplay mechanic that Insomniac Games capture perfectly. Players have the opportunity to fast travel in this game, but web-swinging is such a blast that they'll probably never do it. What makes web-swinging and wall crawling mechanics so great is that it always keeps the player in motion. If you swing into a building, Spidey will simply start running up or down the wall. This corrects a major flaw in past Spider-Man games where players would come to a screeching halt as soon as they accidentally swung into a wall. Spider-Man PS4 truly gives the player the feeling of what it would be like to be Spider-Man swinging around New York City much like the Arkham games gave players the feeling of what it would like to be Batman gliding around Gotham City. If there is one flaw with the web-swinging it's sometimes not all that accurate when you want to latch on to specific points. There really isn't any good excuse for this flaw and this is one mechanic Insomniac needs to improve for the sequel. Another criticism, is that this game slows to a crawl when you're not in motion. Once again, this is a problem that should've been corrected when this game was in development.
Combat in Spider-Man PS4 is very much connected to web-swinging as Spider-Man is at his best when he's in the air. Insomniac could've copied the Arkham combat system, but they wisely developed a different, albeit somewhat similar combat system for this game. The combat in this game is fun at first, but gets repetitive as the game goes on. Although, there's a dozen different attack combinations that are at the players disposal, the player only needs about three of them. The additional combos are great, but Insomniac doesn't really give the player a good reason to use them. If there is one good thing about the combat in Spider-Man PS4 is how it incorporates Spidey's webs. Spider-Man can web up enemies and then throw them around or web them up to the point where they get stuck to walls. Insomniac also gives the players various creative gadgets that they can use on Spider-Man's enemies. These gadgets were a great idea and is a welcome deviation from past Spider-Man games where the player had only the option to shoot their webs at enemies and little else.
Perhaps the most underrated high point of Spider-Man PS4 is how player choice is handled. Players can change Spider-Man's costume at any point during the game even if it's in the middle of combat. Spider-Man's alternate suits have a special power associated with it, but say for instance if a player likes the costume they are playing in, but doesn't like the suit power associated with it or vice versa. If that's the case, the player can swap that's suit power for a different one. The game is also microtransaction and loot box free, which is a plus for any game to have these days. The sooner that we consumers can shame every game publisher and studio to abandon this predatory practice, the better.
The story for Spider-Man PS4 is surprisingly emotional. In fact, it's one of the best Spider-Man stories that has been told in quite some time. Spider-Man in the comics has been criminally mishandled by various writers over the past decade and it really shows how incompetent the writers are in the comic book industry are when a video game company can do a better job than them. Hopefully, the writers currently working on the Spider-Man comics can take a page or two from this game's playbook, but I doubt that'll happen.
The characters in Spider-Man PS4 are what really makes the plot so excellent. Nearly, every character in the game has either been touched or is about to be touched by some sort of traumatic event in their lives. Even, the villains are given tragic backstories. In fact, the two main villains are both motivated not by a desire to create havoc or by greed, but are plagued with jealousy and resentment towards the man they feel has wronged them. The characters in this game feel truly three dimensional in this regard as they all have problems and demons that they must reckon with. Peter Parker is older, but is still coming to grips with the responsibilities of being an adult. However, Peter Parker is still has a razor sharp wit when he's behind the Spider-Man mask. It's quite clear that Insomniac Games didn't really like the Mary Jane character in the comics and decided to give her a complete overhaul. Mary Jane is now a risk taking investigative reporter that aids her ex-boyfriend in his crime fighting endeavors. Insomniac manages to pull this off quite well and the relationship that Peter Parker and Mary Jane have in this game is a not so subtle message to Marvel Comics that they made a mistake to break them up in the comics. Miles Morales is another character that is a massive improvement over his comic book counterpart. If I'm being quite honest the only reason why he was created was to fulfill a diversity quota and his character was given little thought beyond that. Although, I would much rather have Miles Morales assume a new superhero identity instead of being Spider-Man, I have to give Insomniac credit for making Miles Morales a fully formed character. Once again, what does is say about the modern day come book industry when a video game company can make Miles Morales a better character in one game while Marvel Comics has struggled to do the same thing for nearly a decade?
J. Jonah Jameson also makes an appearance in this game. Once again, Insomniac breathes new life into an established character. Spider-Man PS4's Jameson has left his position as Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Bugle and is now a right wing podcast host. Clips from Jameson's podcast are played throughout the game and are absolutely hilarious. Jameson uses his podcast to shamelessly continue his attacks on Spider-Man. However, his attempts to slander Spider-Man are frequently thwarted by people that call into his his show to defend him. Jameson could've been a mere one dimensional character, but Insomniac gives him a bit of nuance as Jameson shows a genuine concern and outrage when he begins hearing reports that New Yorkers are getting their civil liberties violated by Silver Sable's mercenary group that have been hired by the city.
Spider-Man PS4 for all it's positives isn't the genre redefining game that the Arkham games were. The Arkham games (Arkham City in particular) are still the gold standard for superhero video games. The fact Spider-Man PS4 is so clearly influenced by the Arkham games proves this. If Insomniac Games tries to release a sequel to this game without trying to break the mold and improve on it's flaws they should get raked over the coals by reviewers. In the meantime, gamers will have to wait a while before the next great superhero game is released. Spider-Man PS4 is still a fun game to play nonetheless and Insomniac Games has set the stage to potentially make a truly groundbreaking game with a sequel.
Overall Rating 3.8 Stars out of 5
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