Released: 7th September 2018
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Certificate: 16
Formats: PS4
There have been many efforts to convert Spider-Man to video game form over the decades, but as of 2018 the latest title has taken the trophy of the very best release ever developed. Spider-Man PS4 is simply a fantastic game that demonstrates the high talent of its developer and takes the character to enormous heights.
Rather than another origins story, Spider-Man drops us in with an older Peter Parker (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) who has several years of experience battling crime; working closely with police captain Yuri Wantanabe, the webslinger leaps into action when a legion of organised criminals known as the Demons start wreaking havoc. Led by Mr Negative, this nefarious crew has a plan targeting the city mayor Norman Osborn and everyone else living there. Escalation ensues as Spider-Man initially investigates the villain’s plans and by the end, New York City is in dire straits. What’s so impressive about Spider-Man’s story is that it juggles so many different characters and rogues at once, while never complicating its main story or forgetting its leading man. Spider-Man himself strikes a perfect balance between joking around in battle and caring for others when he’s not in the suit; you’ll be rooting for him just as much as any other rendition of the character. Laura Bailey as Mary-Jane Watson and Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales are particularly great, as the game allows you to play as both of them are specific points. Even the side quests have their own memorable moments, often involving the citizens of New York and making them feel like real people. Without spoiling anything, the great writing will keep you engaged. The facial animations are also incredibly emotive and the suits you wear in game transfer into the cut-scenes, making for a consistent immersion. What Spider-Man does is tell an original and engaging tale that’s more than capable of standing alongside its movie counterparts. Hell, you could stick on the Tobey Maguire suit from the Raimi trilogy and pretend its Spider-Man 4 if you wanted.
Following in the footsteps of both previous entries and the Batman: Arkham franchise, Spider-Man sets the player loose in a massive and varied recreation of New York City. I loved how the game begins with Spider-Man leaping straight into a seamless tutorial as he makes his way to the opening mission. Once you’ve finished this, you have the run of the place and there’s a lot to see and do. I spent the first few hours of the game soaring through the skyscrapers, activating all the police towers (which fall in line with other open-world games) for random crimes and filling in a list of collectables across the city districts. By giving full freedom so early, the game’s excellent swinging system is learned naturally over time. Depending on what stage of the story you’re on, there will be specific activities and side missions for you to tackle, allowing the city to evolve not just on an aesthetic level but also design. After turning on the aforementioned towers, the game layers various research stations for various scientific challenges, time trials from the elusive Taskmaster and finally gang hideouts which sees Spider-Man taking on waves of foes with their own specific goals. The latter is a great way to practice the game’s combat system and these side jobs give various tokens which can be spent on the obscene number of unlockable suits. On top of all these, we have several smaller activities that offer their own rewards. You could be searching for signs of Black Cat on a rooftop one moment and taking on some simple scientific puzzles the next. There’s certainly some Ratchet and Clank DNA found in Insomniac’s latest AAA project. The difficulty curve steadily increases as Spider-Man tackles greater challenges, while also upgrading and enhancing his own abilities. Spider-Man boasts an incredibly long main quest with plenty of side-content to keep you busy, plus there’s also The City that Never Sleeps DLC bundle that further expands on characters that get minor roles in the base game.
Spider-Man’s combination of traversal, combat and light puzzles is an excellent blend that perfectly fits the hero and his exploits. Previously, it was the Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in that boasted the best mode of transport, but that title has no been surpassed. It feels absolutely fantastic to swing around the city in this game, with an incredible range of moves at your disposal. Spider-Man can gather momentum quickly, freefall for extra speed, transfer round corners by holding circle and wall-run to scale buildings with ease. You can even hold the triggers to have him land and perch on a specific point. The control is near-flawless and even though the game has a fast-travel system with Spidey taking the subway, I found myself barely using it throughout. The same also holds true for the combat, which also boasts a giant move-set. You’ll be taking on dozens of bad guys at a time, zipping between them to deal damage, while using Peter’s spider sense to dodge attacks at just the right time. Combat is best done in the air, as Spider-Man’s punches do more damage to thugs, though later in the game you’ll have to look out for enemies who can juke out or counter this tactic. Specific enemies such as those carrying melee weapons or shields need a swift uppercut or an attack from behind. Or perhaps you may choose to use one of many suit abilities; whether it’s a burst of electricity to stun the criminals or the iron spider arms extending, there’s a ton of room for experimentation you deeper you go. He also has a range of gadgets at his disposal, from the base web shooters that can slow down enemies, all the way to an automated spider drone that can harass Suffice it to say, there’s a huge array of choices to make in combat; combine this with Spidey’s wider, more extravagant movement and you’ve got a combat system that never stops being thrilling. The only dated elements of the gameplay are the quick-time events, which are used sparingly and the stealth sections featuring MJ and Miles. Sometimes the game will transition to one of these two sneaking around a restricted area, luring guards and working their way through, with instant fail states if discovered. While these moments do rely on an obsolete form of stealth design, they never last more than fifteen minutes at a time and often feature some memorable sights to make things interesting. These sections also work to expand these characters and make them feel like a stronger part of Spider-Man’s fight against criminals.
Spider-Man’s rendition of Manhattan looks visually spectacular, boasting both superb detail and substantial authenticity, even more so if you’re playing on a PS4 Pro. With the incredibly fun swinging gameplay in place, you’ll find yourself in awe of how great it looks and this kind of free-flowing exploration is fully encouraged. Early in the game you can take a full personal tour of the city, taking pictures of the major landmarks, all rendered exquisitely with no loading screens on the main map. Further details are added with the various collectable backpacks, which feature call-backs to other parts of Peter’s life and even other Marvel properties. When the game does need to load another instance, such as a gang hideout or building, it’s quick and smooth, ensuring you’re not taken out of the experience. Despite the huge breadth of activity going on on-screen, the game never suffers any frame-rate issues and while you may run across an open-world glitch or two, the painting rarely waivers in its ability to dazzle. Combat feels punchy and satisfying, with a wide range of audio effects for melee moves, gadgets and enemies that clue the player in to incoming danger. When the action kicks into high gear, it looks just as impressive as its Hollywood contemporaries with some devastating destruction on show. Rapidly scaling the tallest buildings and gazing out on the city never ceases to be breath-taking and the way citizens react to Spidey, mixed with the hundreds of NPCs on-screen makes for an unparalleled immersion. Every time you take to the air, there’s an uplifting theme that kicks in, further enhancing the action. The music itself, which also takes inspiration from the best superhero films, is an excellent complement, adapting to both the time of day and the situations our hero finds himself in. The extensive voice cast on show is just on strong, with brilliant performances for all the main characters; the only real issue I found was that Spider-Man’s quips can repeat a little, particularly when you’re tackling multiple city crimes back to back. Without giving anything away, the villains you’ll encounter in the final act of the game are all pitch-perfect representations of their comic book counter-parts. All-in-all an unbelievably impressive technical effort.
Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man is, simply put, the finest interactive superhero experience ever created. It’s absolutely masterful at pulling the player into New York City and making you feel like this character, with a huge range of gameplay options and mission content to boot. Some elements may be a little dated, but none of them impact the fantastic experience on display. Whether or not you’ve followed the character closely, if you own a PS4, you need to play this game.
Rating: 9/10 (Brilliant)
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