Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 Review
Spider-Man is a franchise that has a rich history. The buoyant web-slinger first hit the scenes in the form of comic books. Then for decades, cartoons were made and Spider-Man was huge. Later down that era, video games started being created. The PS1 Spider-Man games in the 90s that were based off the cartoon were the most memorable games for me. Unfortunately, after that era, I don’t think the Spider-Man games really got the treatment it deserved.
The Spider-Man film debuted in 2002. They were a huge success and done very well in my opinion. It was when turning comic book and cartoons into more mature and realistic films were a huge success. Games came out based off of those films, and my god there were some awful superhero games. The Spider-Man games on the PS2 were not bad games at all. They weren't great games though. They were games that in some ways were missed opportunities. Games that were cool to swing around as Pete, but always had a rather shallow, tacked on story, and for me overall were not that memorable.
I’ve been eagerly waiting for a truly great Spidey game, a game that doesn't just feel like the cheap video game version of the Marvel franchise, but actually feels like a true entry to the franchise. Insomniac have a great track record of making great games. Spyro and Ratchet and Clank being the huge standouts.
So has Insomniac created a truly worthy Spider-Man game?
The Spider-Man film debuted in 2002. They were a huge success and done very well in my opinion. It was when turning comic book and cartoons into more mature and realistic films were a huge success. Games came out based off of those films, and my god there were some awful superhero games. The Spider-Man games on the PS2 were not bad games at all. They weren't great games though. They were games that in some ways were missed opportunities. Games that were cool to swing around as Pete, but always had a rather shallow, tacked on story, and for me overall were not that memorable.
I’ve been eagerly waiting for a truly great Spidey game, a game that doesn't just feel like the cheap video game version of the Marvel franchise, but actually feels like a true entry to the franchise. Insomniac have a great track record of making great games. Spyro and Ratchet and Clank being the huge standouts.
So has Insomniac created a truly worthy Spider-Man game?
Story
I’m going to start off by talking about the story, and I am just going to cut to the chase with this. It’s absolutely fantastic. Not only is the story something that is truly worthy as a genuine entry to the Spider-Man universe, it at times goes beyond just being that. There are moments that really feel only possible in a video game. The pacing of the story and how far it goes is something that just wouldn't be possible in a 2-hour film, and wouldn't have the same kind of impact in a comic.
The story doesn't take place at the beginning and actually is set quite far ahead to where the last major game and films were. Rather than telling the same story that has already been told a million times, the stage has been set for a new challenge for Peter, with several references of what happened before in Marvel’s universe. It does a service for Spider-Man fans and makes you feel like you are in Marvel’s NYC. Things are slightly different in this universe. Norman Osborn is the mayor of New York, but still a corporate schmuck. Jamison has his own podcast that you can listen to, who is now a conspiracy theorist who talks about problems in the city. It feels like a cool evolution of his character that made newspapers.
There’s a completely original and new villain to face, with his agendas and power being a mystery, until the story closes in, in dramatic fashion. Then there are familiar villains from the comics that dabble in and out of the story. There is one main villain that has been seen in countless Spider-Man’s. However, even this villain has their own unique agenda and original plot. You also feel more involved in the creation of this villain because of Peter’s relationship with the character, and the segments you actually play, and because of this, I cared much more about this villain in this game, than I did in the films or cartoons.
I’m going to start off by talking about the story, and I am just going to cut to the chase with this. It’s absolutely fantastic. Not only is the story something that is truly worthy as a genuine entry to the Spider-Man universe, it at times goes beyond just being that. There are moments that really feel only possible in a video game. The pacing of the story and how far it goes is something that just wouldn't be possible in a 2-hour film, and wouldn't have the same kind of impact in a comic.
The story doesn't take place at the beginning and actually is set quite far ahead to where the last major game and films were. Rather than telling the same story that has already been told a million times, the stage has been set for a new challenge for Peter, with several references of what happened before in Marvel’s universe. It does a service for Spider-Man fans and makes you feel like you are in Marvel’s NYC. Things are slightly different in this universe. Norman Osborn is the mayor of New York, but still a corporate schmuck. Jamison has his own podcast that you can listen to, who is now a conspiracy theorist who talks about problems in the city. It feels like a cool evolution of his character that made newspapers.
There’s a completely original and new villain to face, with his agendas and power being a mystery, until the story closes in, in dramatic fashion. Then there are familiar villains from the comics that dabble in and out of the story. There is one main villain that has been seen in countless Spider-Man’s. However, even this villain has their own unique agenda and original plot. You also feel more involved in the creation of this villain because of Peter’s relationship with the character, and the segments you actually play, and because of this, I cared much more about this villain in this game, than I did in the films or cartoons.
Peter Parker and Spider-Man has a similar kind of tongue and cheek humor as Ratchet from Insomniac’s Ratchet and Clank, and it suits Spider-Man so well. In fact, this game’s style and story has Sony and Insomaic DNA all over it. The style of the cutscenes, the walking around interacting with objects to add more substance to the story, the visuals, it all just feels like a typical Sony story game, in a great way. It’s the kind of direction and love that the Spider-Man video games have needed for so long.
There’s tons of moments that pack emotion, tons of quite shocking darker moments that I did not expect from this, and then a lighthearted overtone to Spider-Man.
Pete and MJ have already gone through the cycle of liking each other, and then being together and now are at a complicated situation. Peter Parker is confident, lighthearted and almost cocky at times, which for me makes sense if the story is much later down the line. However, when it comes to MJ, he’s still that nervous nerd, and his deeper emotions show because of her. It’s a part of the story that I really liked that was squashed between all of the madness of the main action.
There’s real genuine depth to Mary Jane for the first time. No longer is she just that girl that Peter Parker loves. She is a character that can hold her own, she’s smart, has real personality and humor, and plays a role in helping spidey. Rather than just being the girl that gets kidnapped and saved a million times.
In the movement of making female characters have bigger roles, it works so well here. She truly is an interesting and believable character now. Making MJ a bigger character is something that makes so much sense here, as she was previously a shallow character, and I absolutely love the new MJ.
The story isn't perfect, however, and the one disappointment I have is how little of a role many of the Super Villains actually have. There is two major antagonists that are the main plot of the story. Other villains sort of just check in for a quick fight and then fly back out of the story. It’s a missed opportunity but something that I imagine could be set up as sequels or DLC.
There’s tons of moments that pack emotion, tons of quite shocking darker moments that I did not expect from this, and then a lighthearted overtone to Spider-Man.
Pete and MJ have already gone through the cycle of liking each other, and then being together and now are at a complicated situation. Peter Parker is confident, lighthearted and almost cocky at times, which for me makes sense if the story is much later down the line. However, when it comes to MJ, he’s still that nervous nerd, and his deeper emotions show because of her. It’s a part of the story that I really liked that was squashed between all of the madness of the main action.
There’s real genuine depth to Mary Jane for the first time. No longer is she just that girl that Peter Parker loves. She is a character that can hold her own, she’s smart, has real personality and humor, and plays a role in helping spidey. Rather than just being the girl that gets kidnapped and saved a million times.
In the movement of making female characters have bigger roles, it works so well here. She truly is an interesting and believable character now. Making MJ a bigger character is something that makes so much sense here, as she was previously a shallow character, and I absolutely love the new MJ.
The story isn't perfect, however, and the one disappointment I have is how little of a role many of the Super Villains actually have. There is two major antagonists that are the main plot of the story. Other villains sort of just check in for a quick fight and then fly back out of the story. It’s a missed opportunity but something that I imagine could be set up as sequels or DLC.
Gameplay
The most important thing to nail in a Spider-Man game is to actually ‘feel’ like Spider-Man. The gameplay absolutely nails that. The combat is fantastic. It’s fast-paced, responsive and the animations are top notch. The combat thanks to the fluid controls and animations, feel true to Spider-Man. It’s so natural to be able flip over people, slide under them and then land a somersault kick that sends people flying. Objects and webbed up enemies can be thrown at a crowd of enemies. Gadgets spidey abilities can be used to stun or defeat enemies. There’s a decent variety.
Something that they really got right was how the moves feel believable whilst still being over the top and true to Spider-Man. The animations feel extremely real, and for the first time playing a Spider-Man game, the combat doesn't look like a typical video game Spider-Man fight. New moves can be unlocked from earning skill points from leveling up, much like in other Sony games like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. The skill tree does not add a huge amount of depth to the combat, but it does slightly expand on his moves. Abilities can be unlocked through purchasing cool new suits. There are tons of suits that really customise the look of Spider-Man and it’s really nice touch.
The most important thing to nail in a Spider-Man game is to actually ‘feel’ like Spider-Man. The gameplay absolutely nails that. The combat is fantastic. It’s fast-paced, responsive and the animations are top notch. The combat thanks to the fluid controls and animations, feel true to Spider-Man. It’s so natural to be able flip over people, slide under them and then land a somersault kick that sends people flying. Objects and webbed up enemies can be thrown at a crowd of enemies. Gadgets spidey abilities can be used to stun or defeat enemies. There’s a decent variety.
Something that they really got right was how the moves feel believable whilst still being over the top and true to Spider-Man. The animations feel extremely real, and for the first time playing a Spider-Man game, the combat doesn't look like a typical video game Spider-Man fight. New moves can be unlocked from earning skill points from leveling up, much like in other Sony games like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. The skill tree does not add a huge amount of depth to the combat, but it does slightly expand on his moves. Abilities can be unlocked through purchasing cool new suits. There are tons of suits that really customise the look of Spider-Man and it’s really nice touch.
I do have a minor complaint that the actual basic melee combat is slightly shallow at times. Granted this is an action game, not a fighting game, but I do wish there were more basic hand to hand combos. It does start to get repetitive unless you are using his gadgets to perform moves.
I also think that the boss battles are quite shallow and lack any real challenge. At first, they were fun as you learn to time your dodges until the boss gets tired and leaves an opening for an attack. Soon though, you start to realise that this is the pattern for every single boss battle. It’s especially disappointing during the final boss battle. In the story, Peter works out his weakness and yet gameplay wise, it makes no difference, you’re still just doing the same thing to defeat a boss. I still right now don’t know what was his weakness.
I also think that the boss battles are quite shallow and lack any real challenge. At first, they were fun as you learn to time your dodges until the boss gets tired and leaves an opening for an attack. Soon though, you start to realise that this is the pattern for every single boss battle. It’s especially disappointing during the final boss battle. In the story, Peter works out his weakness and yet gameplay wise, it makes no difference, you’re still just doing the same thing to defeat a boss. I still right now don’t know what was his weakness.
Swinging around NYC feels extremely fluid and is really fun. At first, it felt awkward as I was swinging into buildings and falling to the floor with zero consequence. The animations were very awkward when you don’t land the right swings. This is due to the fact that there is no consequence to getting it wrong. You just awkwardly snap to buildings as it crawls or runs up buildings. Once you get the hang of the swinging, it becomes easy to get it right and that’s when you realise how great the traversal is, it feels so fluid and natural.
Side Content
This is where the game does start to show fatigue. On the most part, the story missions are excellent, bar some of the stealth missions which can drag. Outside of that, unfortunately, the game does start to fall short in this area. Outside of the story content, the game does start to feel quite shallow and tedious. There are tons of tasks scattered around NYC, but like many open world games, they feel like a boring checklist of chores to do and feel like they’re there just to compensate for being open world.
Catch some pigeons, collect backpacks, stop some crimes, it starts to get pretty old pretty fast. I think for me the problem is that they went overkill on these tasks. A game that I really like, and I think shares some similarities with, is PS4’s Infamous Second Son. The side activities do seem fairly inspired from that game, but they didn't go overboard on that. I think they had just about enough there where it didn't feel like a grind. At first, collecting backpacks and stopping crime was a fun little side activity to do. Then I realised that you need to do side activities over and over again across NYC districts in order to gain tokens to unlock new abilities and suits. It’s even more of a grind to go for the 100%. I would of preferred if there was less quantity of things like backpack collectibles, and more variety of side activities to do.
The side missions are ok, most are fairly forgettable but some are pretty creative side missions with a fun story to go with it. I also quite enjoyed the research station missions and they also were a little more creative.
Another thing I did enjoy was the puzzle mini-games you do from working on science projects as Peter in the lab. They were fairly basic, but provided enough challenge to be enjoyable, and were not too much of a headache where it wasn't fun.
Some of side content was good, but most of it was a chore which did add an element of repetitiveness and staleness to the game at times.
Presentation
Something that goes a long way in capturing the authenticity of a licensed franchise is nailing the presentation. Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 does just that. The visuals are spectacular, the voice acting is excellent and the animations are extremely high caliber. Not only in combat, but outside of the combat, the characters facial expressions are good, and as well as the good music, really make it feel like a blockbuster playable Spider-Man movie.
Side Content
This is where the game does start to show fatigue. On the most part, the story missions are excellent, bar some of the stealth missions which can drag. Outside of that, unfortunately, the game does start to fall short in this area. Outside of the story content, the game does start to feel quite shallow and tedious. There are tons of tasks scattered around NYC, but like many open world games, they feel like a boring checklist of chores to do and feel like they’re there just to compensate for being open world.
Catch some pigeons, collect backpacks, stop some crimes, it starts to get pretty old pretty fast. I think for me the problem is that they went overkill on these tasks. A game that I really like, and I think shares some similarities with, is PS4’s Infamous Second Son. The side activities do seem fairly inspired from that game, but they didn't go overboard on that. I think they had just about enough there where it didn't feel like a grind. At first, collecting backpacks and stopping crime was a fun little side activity to do. Then I realised that you need to do side activities over and over again across NYC districts in order to gain tokens to unlock new abilities and suits. It’s even more of a grind to go for the 100%. I would of preferred if there was less quantity of things like backpack collectibles, and more variety of side activities to do.
The side missions are ok, most are fairly forgettable but some are pretty creative side missions with a fun story to go with it. I also quite enjoyed the research station missions and they also were a little more creative.
Another thing I did enjoy was the puzzle mini-games you do from working on science projects as Peter in the lab. They were fairly basic, but provided enough challenge to be enjoyable, and were not too much of a headache where it wasn't fun.
Some of side content was good, but most of it was a chore which did add an element of repetitiveness and staleness to the game at times.
Presentation
Something that goes a long way in capturing the authenticity of a licensed franchise is nailing the presentation. Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 does just that. The visuals are spectacular, the voice acting is excellent and the animations are extremely high caliber. Not only in combat, but outside of the combat, the characters facial expressions are good, and as well as the good music, really make it feel like a blockbuster playable Spider-Man movie.
The cutscenes as well really do the license justice. The cosmetic looks to each suit are awesome too. Then the icing on the cake is the photo mode. This is something that really does add extra flair to the game and isn’t a feature that was quickly tacked on either. There is a lot to play with in photo mode and you can get really creative with the feature. It makes changing suits and traversing around the city under different times of day and weather really fun. The game’s time of day is not dynamic, and changes depending on where you are in the story (can be changed after completing the story), much like in Infamous Second Son. Overall the presentation of this game absolutely does the Spider-Man license justice.
Conclusion
Insomniac's first attempt at making a Spider-Man game is a success for sure. Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 isn’t a perfect game, but the things it gets right, it’s bang on the money. Sure most of the side activities are incredibly shallow, and the combat could have more depth. But the incredible and emotional moments in the story, the phenomenal animations and presentation, and the overall design of the combat make this a truly fantastic game. The story overall hits notes that I haven't seen in Spider-Man before, and it is undoubtedly by far the best Spider-Man game ever made.
I was formerly a big Spider-Man fan but lost interest. The cartoons are dated, and the only new AAA Spider-Man content was from 2-hour films which over the years grew tiresome, especially with the failure of the “Amazing Spider-Man” films. The games have basically become obsolete with so many failed Activision games. Marvel approaching Sony to make a great story driven Spider-Man video game, to reignite interest in the franchise for many, was the greatest move Marvel have done. You can damn well bet I am going to watch the new Spider-Man films, and my interest for Spider-Man is back. The Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man is back in business.
Conclusion
Insomniac's first attempt at making a Spider-Man game is a success for sure. Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 isn’t a perfect game, but the things it gets right, it’s bang on the money. Sure most of the side activities are incredibly shallow, and the combat could have more depth. But the incredible and emotional moments in the story, the phenomenal animations and presentation, and the overall design of the combat make this a truly fantastic game. The story overall hits notes that I haven't seen in Spider-Man before, and it is undoubtedly by far the best Spider-Man game ever made.
I was formerly a big Spider-Man fan but lost interest. The cartoons are dated, and the only new AAA Spider-Man content was from 2-hour films which over the years grew tiresome, especially with the failure of the “Amazing Spider-Man” films. The games have basically become obsolete with so many failed Activision games. Marvel approaching Sony to make a great story driven Spider-Man video game, to reignite interest in the franchise for many, was the greatest move Marvel have done. You can damn well bet I am going to watch the new Spider-Man films, and my interest for Spider-Man is back. The Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man is back in business.