Game Info
Game Name: Spider-Man
Developer(s): Insomnia Games
Publisher(s): Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform(s): PS4
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): September 7, 2018
ESRB Rating: T
Spider-Man’s got enemies…
Peter Parker is living a complex life. He’s working as a scientist with Dr. Otto Octavius, he’s broken up with his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson who works at the Daily Bugle, and he moonlights as Spider-Man…the most loved/hated hero in New York City! When Kingpin is put away, a war for power in the city starts, and Spider-Man is caught in the middle. When a new gang called the Demons surfaces, Spider-Man must determine who is controlling them. Meanwhile, a young man named Miles Morales faces a life-changing event, and Dr. Octavius is hiding a secret.
Spider-Man is a PlayStation 4 exclusive action-adventure video game. The game was released by Insomnia Games to critical acclaim and became the fastest selling PlayStation 4 game of all time upon its release.
It’s kind of like Metal Gear Solid…but lamer
Spider-Man was a game that finally made me get the PS4. Generally super-hero video games are pretty poor (there have been exceptions). I really enjoyed the Spider-Man 2 video game that was released for GameCube and much of this game looked like a modern version of it (with more to do). I ended up playing Spider-Man almost straight through (something I don’t generally do now).
The game is playable and the story is compelling. The story keeps moving and has some surprising twists and turns (including an ending I didn’t really see coming). The game isn’t based on any Spider-Man universe that has been presented, so anything is possible. With lots of side quests and areas to “purge” of enemies, the game keeps you coming back.
The game’s controls feel very natural and unlike a lot of games that take forever to give up the necessary tools to have fun, it feels like you can get most of the controls open up to you relatively quickly. Swinging is effortless (I did sometimes suffer from “stuck to the wall”) and the battles become a fun flow with so much variety…but you generally end up using the same attacks every time. You get to control both Mary Jane and Miles at points and except for the last Mary Jane sequence in the Osborn penthouse, I could have had less of them.
So does this mean we’re not getting together for Christmas?
The graphics and cinematography is also about as strong as you can get. The game also lays out New York City rather accurately (though compressed), and it is fun to be a tourist and just swing around. The characters’ AI is sometimes quite predictable and you can figure out patterns for dealing with enemies. I did also have a couple glitches involving battles with characters getting stuck in walls, cars etc., but it was rather minimal.
If you have a PS4, Spider-Man is a must, and if you don’t have a PS4, you might consider getting one. The game is fun and fast though many of the bosses leave you wanting a bit more from the characters. It leaves you expecting a sequel, but I honestly don’t know what they can do with the plans since exploring NYC again would feel rather redundant and much of the fun was the real open world. The Spider-Man of this game was introduced to the Marvel Universe in the Spidergeddon story.
