This review is rated SF for Spoiler Free, the worst I’m going to discuss is some unlockable suits and abilities.
Pros
The city is stunning, every square block stands out with different points of interaction and heights to make sure no matter how you’re swinging you can keep moving forward. So many points of interaction across rooftops and down on the street level. There is a distinct and sharp difference in atmosphere when the city goes from day to evening, to night. It all just sits before you waiting to be explored and ripped through at top speed. The Marvel related landmarks are so carefully chosen from Avengers Tower, the Wakandan embassy, along with some other choice ones. It’s not just the big name landmarks that impress but the little ones. It’s not just New York, it’s Peter’s New York and passing these buildings only sinks you deeper into the simulation of being the bug
The suits, oh lord, the suits. My suit of choice (Mk II) is in here so I’m already on cloud nine, but the overall selection really is astounding. All of them are decently obscure seldom the MCU costumes, but unless you’ve read a few comics or watched the proper shows a lot of these can go over the average players head. It all comes back to this being a game for the fans and the selection of suits is just one more thing that proves it. They even went out of their way to make their own suits that look right out of the comics. The actual textures used for each suit look unique and made from specific material. The finish on the 2099 suit is different from the 2099 white, which is different from the Big Time suit, which is different from the Parker Industries suit…you get it.
The powers themselves are cool too, even the weird Spirit Fire technique from a suit I don’t even recognize. Each one may not be your cup of tea but at least they are all very different from one another and are fun if nothing else. I like making sure the suit power kind of matches the style and origins of the suit itself. Like Big Time, Mk III, 2099, and 2099w get the motion blur, low gravity, concussive strike, and other potentially technology-based powers. Mixing and matching initially nullified the idea of unlocking the suits for me but I started to enjoy the role play aspect but maybe that’s just me. Gadgets are also fitting, for the most part. Web bomb, standard shooter, and (my personal favorite) the trip mine are so Spider-man and add to an already fluid and fun combat.
Arkham framework aside, Insomniac did a good job of trying to separate themselves from the tried and true techniques. An aspect that assists in this is just how drastically different Batman and Spider-man fight from a visual standpoint. The animations are sporadic and flexible, and our boy Peter can take the fight to the air. Dodge isn’t a ‘get out of jail free card’ it needs to be timed rather well and your positioning needs to be taken into consideration as well. Every combat encounter gives the player full creative control, sometimes forcing them to adjust to an indoor setting but always providing many environmental pieces both static and dynamic that let us do what we want when we want.
The movement, mother of god does it feel good to rip down the city streets or rooftops as fast as you can. There really are two means of getting around the city and Insomniac made it fun. How is it possible that the best swinging Spider-man has ever had is almost overshadowed by the fact that you don’t need it at all. It’s fun to see how far you can get via rooftops and not actually swinging at all. The aiming reticle is invisible but very intuitive and will appear when you glance over a point of interaction. Even at full speed, the HUD does a good job of marking any and all points as you look over them. This is one of the most important aspects in a Spider-man game and Insomniac knew it and approached it with care and attention much like the rest of the game.
Side missions walk a fine line of being “friendly neighborhood” and “amazing/spectacular”. Citizens, cops, old side characters, and other faces are all incorporated very well into the game and solidify the concept of Spider-man taking on super-powered baddies, but having time to help Manhattanites in their everyday struggles.
Photo mode is in itself its own game. Either purposefully working to get that perfect swing shot, or randomly pausing during combat to snag something more candid. Filters, frames, focus control, stickers, the infamous selfie option. It’s all here and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw updates to it over the months.
This game takes from the best of every continuity and creates some of its own. The writing of the comics, the music of the Raimi and Marvel films, Spider-man 2′s swinging, a little Web of Shadows’ over the top combat, even Amazing Spider-man’s one good idea in the slowed time aiming reticle. Nothing was overlooked and it was all brought together in this special experience. I genuinely have a hard time coming up with ways of furthering and improving this already impressive simulation. That said, nothing is perfect.
Cons
As beautiful and boundless as the city is and seems, I think we still have a bit before we get decently crowded streets in cities like Manhattan. There are a fair number of citizens in any given area; I just feel as though they could’ve then turned some spaces like Chinatown and Times Square into densely packed locations. Again, I just think we aren’t there technologically.
Three mod slots is super meh, maybe to start with but to end with only three is a whole other thing. It would even be a good endgame unlock, complete a certain amount of activities and unlock a fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth mod slot to allow us to even further discover new gear sets and builds that would only lead to more time in the game. Who loses in this? No one that’s who!
Hand to hand combat animations aren’t very abundant. It takes a while, but eventually, you’ll notice a pattern developing once a combo on a single target starts to get going. Enemies can go from swarming and encroaching to daft and completely statue-like for no apparent reason and it can take you out of it when you want to cue up a perfect dodge but….no one is making a move.
There are some pretty important moves that the game doesn’t teach you until literally the final missions. Fortunately, I’m crazy and tested every combination of controls I could. Ain’t no reason in the world the ceiling hang is one of the last things learned when it’s a signature move come on mang.
They caught all the big moves in traversal and locomotion. Some of the little ones slipped passed them probably because developers hedged their bets on people going balls to the wall at breakneck speeds; not carefully trying to crawl around the exterior of a building to get a better look at some street-level goons. Or when you want to put yourself on a spot in a slow collected manner it can become somewhat annoying when most movements overcompensate and can throw you way past your target if you aren’t careful.
Some of the collectibles are fun and even interesting, while some were open world fodder that comes with these types of games and while I understand I feel like there were some options that they had that could’ve provided the same experience while remaining worthwhile.
The alternative missions where we aren’t Peter are nice at first, and the GCS mission is a fun twist on the precedent they set in earlier missions but overall it doesn’t feel necessary or fun really. Despite the interestingly applied attention to detail in these parts. When I walked over broken glass to hear it crunch, which startled me and made me knock a stack of boxes off the table and obviously fail the mission; I had to give a chuckle to just how well everything fell apart in that instant.
I loved a lot of the boss fights, the ones I didn’t love usually turned into an exercise in “throw the thing, hit the guy” unless I actively went out of my way to throw some stank and style into the fight.
Nerdy Nit-picks
Normi-Li probably wouldn’t be out in public like that whilst surrounded by demons. He has a reputation to uphold and should at least be Negative to semi-disguise himself.
The Negative suit shouldn’t be available so early, Peter barely understands what MrN is doing let alone how to replicate it, I feel like this could’ve been one of the suits linked specifically to the story.
Why is Peter leaving countless backpacks around Manhattan? I feel like technology could’ve played a bigger part and focussed more on Peter’s intellect and access to high-end tech thanks to his job.
Conclusion
Spider-man is not perfect but the execution and love put into this game are really second to none. As a fan, this is the game I’ve been waiting for. As a gamer, it’s one of the best open worlds (atmospherically and architecturally) coupled with a standout movement system. Combat is a frantic fury of fists that exists both on the ground and in the air, only to be further facilitated by the gear we’re given. It’s like finding a volume you never knew existed and being able to play that sonofabitch. If the rumors of the Marvel Gaming Universe are true, this is the best first step they could’ve taken. Bravo Insomniac, bravo.
BrotherMouzonGaming 