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Marvel’s Spider-Man - Our webtastic final verdict
Insomniac’s return to PlayStation exclusivity has been under the microscope with Marvel’s Spider-Man, but have they silenced critics and webbed us good and proper? We explore that very question…
With a very short “yes”, but a longer “because…”
Spider-Man is very much an evolution of a burgeoning style of game. A new genre, if you will. Much in the same way shooters are a genre, or RTS, fighting games and flight sims are also genres. The genre itself is a baseline for a style of game -- a game with expected tentpoles and gameplay beats required to fulfill -- at least basic -- expectations. Obviously the first game to have laid this foundation is Rocksteady’s seminal Batman: Arkham series, but much like every other genre out there, newcomers will arrive, build and potentially conquer and evolve the genre. And this is the case with Marvel’s Spider-Man.
What makes Spider-Man so great is in its measurement. We spoke ahead of release about the core things -- from a Spider-Man perspective -- that it needs to get right to be not just a passable action-adventure outing, but also a great Spidey experience. Thankfully Insomniac has nailed pretty much all of this, and given we wrote that piece as super-fans, and they delivered on almost all of it, it’s safe to say this new superhero videogame franchise (because it will become that) has been equally made by super-fans.
Really, in New York this could be anyone...
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Did his Spidey Sense kick in just before this guy's head dropped?
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Exchanging costume tips
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No one can tell if he's asleep or not
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Initially we offered up six things the game needed to get right, but in this write-up, we’re giving you seven things they got absolutely right. Seven legitimate reasons donning old Web-Head’s mask should be your priority this month and, largely, this year.
THE (BIG) APPLE OF MY EYE
Whether it’s being perched on the Empire State Building’s tallest spire, wall-running up Avengers Tower or riding the Subway, Marvel’s Spider-Man’s game-world is a detailed, bustling hot-bed of webslinging, crime-fighting, sight-seeing fun...
Developer Insomniac has been busy. Busy with cameras, busy with tours and tour guides, and busy with New York, New York. Well, Manhattan, specifically. They’ve also been busy boning up on Marvel’s version of New York and Manhattan. And the hard referential work has paid off -- Spider-Man’s stomping ground in the game is nothing short of amazing. Whether it’s being perched on the Empire State Building’s tallest spire, wall-running up Avengers Tower or riding the Subway, Marvel’s Spider-Man’s game-world is a detailed, bustling hot-bed of webslinging, crime-fighting, sight-seeing fun. And if you add day and night and a dynamic weather system to all of this, which gives the city different moods, then it’s not hard to want to be a part of it. A friendly part of it. The neighbourhood, that is. You know, a Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.
I look like a spider to them, but from up here, they're just ANTS!
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SUPER SMASH SPIDEY
The initial thought on the combat in this Spidey was that it would mimic the combat of the Batman: Arkham games. And while it sort of does in foundation, Insomniac has opened up the arena space, factored in Spider-Man’s “Spidey Sense”, his webslinging, web-shooting a and general agility and strength, and added various environmental tools for you to use in each conflict. They also use a Combo counter system, but it’s more forgiving because of the size of the arena space and because it’s actually more challenging stringing together complete Spidey-stylised attack combinations. However, once you get the hang of it, and upgrade him to be the full Spider-Man we know he’s capable of, combat here is both visceral and fun, and very rewarding.
TENSILE STRENGTH
A complete part of Spider-Man, but something that sort of feels often forgotten because it’s “just a part of him”, is Spidey’s web shooters. What’s also great about Marvel’s Spider-Man is that the web shooter plays a major part in almost everything you do. And it’s all believably handled -- whether for weblinging, in combat or as a means for stealth, or just generally stopping, you know, trains, trucks, cars and even missiles, Spider-Man’s webs play a major role in the game. And we’re all the better for it. Add to this the ability to upgrade his web shooters while also gaining other web-related gadgets, such as a web grenade the explodes enemy-stopping webs in a broad radius, and you have a game that wholly embraces the Spider-Man experience and the genius of Peter Parker.
Playing in your favourite Spidey outfit, with all cutscenes reflecting that
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NOSEY PARKER
You’ll work as a lab assistant to Dr Octavius, help Aunt May in her role as a manager at F.E.A.S.T. (a shelter for the homeless) and generally just try to help manage the disparate parts of his life. Even while you’re Spider-Man...
Speaking of Peter Parker -- another way in which the game elevates itself among other superhero games is in its embrace of his true identity as the hapless, broke and often heart-broken Peter Parker. You’ll work as a lab assistant to Dr Octavius, help Aunt May in her role as a manager at F.E.A.S.T. (a shelter for the homeless) and generally just try to help manage the disparate parts of his life. Even while you’re Spider-Man. Moreover, Insomniac goes one better giving players the chance to take on the roles of Mary-Jane Watson as a nosey reporter, and as Miles Morales as he comes to terms with tragedy. It’s all handled with pacing and confidence though, and these breaks in gameplay as regular, non radioactive-bitten Spider people also help us reflect on just how spectacular Spider-Man is.
Lab-Man strikes again. Or is that Spider-Scientist?
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IT’S NOT ALL (MISTER) NEGATIVE
One of the game’s main antagonists -- Mister Negative -- has been spruiked as the poster baddy in the lead up to its release, but with this being a standalone title and with Insomniac carving out their own Spider-Man arc, or videogame universe, he’s not the only villain you’ll face. Familiar faces, of course, will eventually enter your Spider periphery while others are given new origins as told through the Insomniac lens, helping craft a unique spin on Spider-Man’s storied history. Make no mistake, this is a actual beginning to a (hopefully) long-running PlayStation franchise.
A TOKEN FOR YOUR TROUBLE
While the game has a leveling and XP system alongside upgradeable skills, abilities and gadgets, you don’t just gain a “skill point” to progress your Spider-Man. Instead, Insomniac has ingeniously created a “Token System” where activities not tied to the main story such as basic crime-fighting, infiltrating enemy strongholds, time-trials (of sorts) and more serve the player different with different token awards based on meeting tiered parameters, these are then used as currency for unlocking skills, gadgets and even new suits -- of which there are many. And often new suits come with new suit powers, meaning the player is encouraged to explore all the game has to offer outside of chasing the next incredible cutscene (because they are incredible).
The original "Buddy Cop" flick: Spider and Cop
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AT A SPIDER’S PACE
Some of it is predictable, but this is comic-book gaming, we’re not playing War and Peace, so that’s okay...
Finally, Marvel’s Spider-Man takes its time. Events don’t happen in the space of 12 hours, or on a single night -- this is a measured game that knows it needs to build on cadence, on freedom and on believable baddy machinations in order to cohesively tell what is a compelling and ever-expanding narrative. Some of it is predictable, but this is comic-book gaming, we’re not playing War and Peace, so that’s okay. But how the studio has managed to craft so many different layers to what is largely an action movie with interactivity is to be applauded, and the performances, all round, are genuinely incredible. However, our hats go off to Spider-Parker voice-actor, Yuri Lowenthal, for giving us one of the best performances in a videogame this side of Kevin Conroy, Doug Cockle, Nolan North and Troy Baker. Truly remarkable.
/END
We don’t need to give you much more of a nudge on the above, except to say if you’ve got the ability to also play this on a 4K HDR screen, do it. On our 65” Samsung Curved QLED Q8C, it’s an absolute thing of beauty. The smallest details on the Spider-Man 2099 suit, which you can see on a decent screen, almost represent -- on the whole -- how much love was thrown at this project. This is must own gaming, at its best.
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