“Spider-Man” is some of the best work in the gaming industry right now, but there’s still plenty of room to grow.
The latest video game from Insomniac Games (Sunset Overdrive, Ratchet and Clank) allows the veteran game studio to take their own spin at a spider-tale with a large, open map, a wide array of gadgets and a story on par with anything in the Marvel Comic Universe.
Despite only being about 15 to 20 hours long, “Spider-Man” proved its worth with a fleshed out swinging system, impressive graphics and an unexpectedly delightful story that delves into both Spider-Man’s adventures and the life of Peter Parker. Voice actor Yuri Lowenthal does a phenomenal job capturing the essence of Peter Parker as the righteous and kind person we know him to be. Lowenthal also sells the Mary Jane and Pete love story with voice actress Laura Bailey. Mary Jane creates less deadly, yet high-stakes problems for Peter in his personal life that are as exciting as his more action-packed toss-ups.
The game features a very Arkham-like combat system that establishes rhythmic feel during fights. Spider-Man will be sweeping under the legs of his foes, swing kicking them off rooftops and performing satisfying, but devastating finishers on goons, all while throwing in some chuckle-worthy puns. The combat system only gets deeper when the gadgets are thrown into the mix. This is not your grandfather’s Spider-Man; apart from his signature web-shooters, Spider-Man has a high-tech arsenal that includes web-bombs, web-mines, concussive blasts, electric webs and even a Spider-drone. This makes boss battles featuring more than one villain hectic spectacles of fun. The game has such fluid animation in the combat that it’s hard not to smile watching Spider-Man bouncing around his enemies with such ease. You can also unlock your favorite Spider-suits from the series to fight crime in style.
The fluid feel of the game carries into the web-swinging. I consider the swinging the best aspect of the game due to its realistic sense of velocity and the sheer enjoyment of not using swinging as a form of transportation to get from A to B, but letting the swinging take you wherever it wants. I have invested about 15 extra hours into this game from free swinging alone and figuring out how fast I could swing or how far I could fall as I did back in my “Spider-Man 2” days.
Swinging wouldn’t be as addicting without the beautiful, almost cinematic feel to the vast playground of New York City, accompanied by a chill-worthy musical score.
The city is alive with the bustling and hustling of the metropolis — a version of New York remarkably similar to the real thing.
As web-tastic as the game is, there was a overwhelming sense of repetitiveness to the crimes that would occur across the city. After about my third stolen car chase, I had seen all of them. A recurring thing in the story was an overreliance on mind-numbing, time-consuming puzzles that are not necessarily challenging, but still felt like a massive chore to advance the story. Similarly, the segments where we played as Mary Jane or Miles were slow and messed with the game’s pacing quite a bit. The aforementioned combat system also took too long to get fully fleshed out. By the point where my combos were becoming more intricate, I had run out of enemies to beat up because of how late in the game it was.
Insomniac’s “Spider-Man” was a commendable, impressive foundation for the future of Marvel video games. “Spider-Man” makes it as fun to be Peter Parker as it is to be the webslinger himself, and it will make any Marvel or Spider-Man fan feel “amazing.” Spider-Man is 60 dollars and exclusive to PlayStation 4.