Be Greater. This was the tagline for Marvel’s Spider-Man on PlayStation 4. Personally I think it’s a pretty crappy tagline but it does summarise both the character and the console pretty well. The PlayStation 4 has always portrayed itself as the gamers console and the best place to play the biggest games because it has earned itself this status of being greater than the competition. Spider-Man takes on a slightly more humble definition of this though with his idealism to always be morally greater than the challenges you face.
Spider-Man has always been my favourite superhero, which is strange because I’ve never read a Spider-Man comic (in fact the only Marvel or DC comics I’ve ever read have been either Watchmen or a handful of Batman graphic novels). But I loved the animated TV series when I was growing up, and of course the films were simply incredible…yes even the Andrew Garfield ones! I played most of the early Spider-Man games too, the classic PS1 game; the first two Sam Raimi tie in games on the PS2, and the comic book inspired Ultimate Spider-man on PS2. But with the games in particular as I went onto the seventh generation of consoles (around the time Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 came out) I just kind of stopped playing Spider-Man games. Mainly because for a little while it was just movie tie in stuff with SM3 & the two Amazing Spider-Man games. But there was also Web of Shadows and Shattered Dimensions which I never played. So when Insomniac Games’ PS4 Spider-Man game was announced I was quite excited because it looked very reminiscent of the Spider-Man 2 game (which is still widely regarded as one of the best action games of that era). But my busy work life and general lack of game time meant that it took a global pandemic for me to be able to start playing the damn thing.
Peter Parker has been Spider-Man for quite a while, in fact he’s nearly in his mid-twenties. He works as a research assistant with Dr. Otto Octavius who together are hard at work creating prosthetic limbs that work using neural implants. Peter and Mary-Jane have split up due to Peter’s overprotectiveness, and her stubbornness to put herself in harms was to ‘help’ him. Aunt May works with Martin Li who together run F.E.A.S.T., a charity that helps New York’s needy get off the streets. Harry Osborn has gone off to Europe for reasons unknown to Peter & MJ, and Norman is running a re-election campaign for mayor. Spider-Man has already put away numerous volatile individuals such as Rhino, Scorpion, Vulture, and Electro, on the RAFT prison complex.
When the game opens Spider-Man is currently in the midst of a takedown on Wilson Fisk (A.K.A. Kingpin). His success is something to be celebrated, to get such a notorious crime lord off the streets, but also something to be feared as many gangs now see an opportunity to grow their business in Fisk’s absence. This leads to the rise of a new supervillain, Mister Negative, who wants to get revenge on Norman Osborn. Mister Negative brings with him a gang of terrorists calling themselves the Demons and they tear the city apart looking for something called Devil’s Breath. Meanwhile Norman hires Sable International to aid the NYPD in battling the rise in gang crime, and the Demons, but they also have Spidey in their sights.
Spider-Man has always been my favourite superhero, which is strange because I’ve never read a Spider-Man comic (in fact the only Marvel or DC comics I’ve ever read have been either Watchmen or a handful of Batman graphic novels). But I loved the animated TV series when I was growing up, and of course the films were simply incredible…yes even the Andrew Garfield ones! I played most of the early Spider-Man games too, the classic PS1 game; the first two Sam Raimi tie in games on the PS2, and the comic book inspired Ultimate Spider-man on PS2. But with the games in particular as I went onto the seventh generation of consoles (around the time Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 came out) I just kind of stopped playing Spider-Man games. Mainly because for a little while it was just movie tie in stuff with SM3 & the two Amazing Spider-Man games. But there was also Web of Shadows and Shattered Dimensions which I never played. So when Insomniac Games’ PS4 Spider-Man game was announced I was quite excited because it looked very reminiscent of the Spider-Man 2 game (which is still widely regarded as one of the best action games of that era). But my busy work life and general lack of game time meant that it took a global pandemic for me to be able to start playing the damn thing.
Peter Parker has been Spider-Man for quite a while, in fact he’s nearly in his mid-twenties. He works as a research assistant with Dr. Otto Octavius who together are hard at work creating prosthetic limbs that work using neural implants. Peter and Mary-Jane have split up due to Peter’s overprotectiveness, and her stubbornness to put herself in harms was to ‘help’ him. Aunt May works with Martin Li who together run F.E.A.S.T., a charity that helps New York’s needy get off the streets. Harry Osborn has gone off to Europe for reasons unknown to Peter & MJ, and Norman is running a re-election campaign for mayor. Spider-Man has already put away numerous volatile individuals such as Rhino, Scorpion, Vulture, and Electro, on the RAFT prison complex.
When the game opens Spider-Man is currently in the midst of a takedown on Wilson Fisk (A.K.A. Kingpin). His success is something to be celebrated, to get such a notorious crime lord off the streets, but also something to be feared as many gangs now see an opportunity to grow their business in Fisk’s absence. This leads to the rise of a new supervillain, Mister Negative, who wants to get revenge on Norman Osborn. Mister Negative brings with him a gang of terrorists calling themselves the Demons and they tear the city apart looking for something called Devil’s Breath. Meanwhile Norman hires Sable International to aid the NYPD in battling the rise in gang crime, and the Demons, but they also have Spidey in their sights.
Spider-Man’s story is nothing short of great. It consistently goes from strength to strength and whilst Spidey fans may see many of the major plot beats and reveals coming before they arrive, the way they play out is still incredibly engaging and well done. The slow fall from grace of Octavius for example is something the game handles excellently. We all know that Octavius will become Doctor Octopus but the question becomes when or how. The fact that the game has Peter working on what will become Octavius’ iconic arms over the course of the story is a really nice touch and seeing how Octavius, Osborn, Li, and all the other characters tie together come the end is really great. I will say that the game leaves most of the significant story moments until really late which was odd. I felt as though the story was moving at a relatively steady pace for the most part and then just a lot of stuff happened in the final act and it made me wonder whether this could have been more evenly spread over the game. It’s also has a fair bit of mature content for a Spider-Man story. A fair amount of gruesome executions committed by the villains. Nothing bloody or gory, but certainly much more adult than what you would typically get in a Spider-Man story.
This version of Peter Parker is perhaps my favourite version that I’ve ever seen. Like I said earlier, I’m not really familiar with his comic book persona, but it seems to me that almost every time we get a new version of Peter Parker it improves. It’s great to return to an adult Peter again, as much as I love young Peter as that’s really what he is supposed to be, there’s something about this fresh out of College Peter that really appeals to me, probably comes from growing up on the Sam Raimi films. He gets evicted from his apartment and his relationship with MJ is a mess, so it’s great to watch him try to put all the pieces back together again.
MJ is also really great in this game. She’s a reporter at the Daily Bugle and working her way up, she’s settled but the only thing she doesn’t have that she wants is Peter. But she can’t have him the way he is, she needs him to accept her having her own life and not controlling what she does for fear of her safety. The sections where you play as MJ are stealth based, they aren’t particularly complex but these sections are usually where the big story revelations start to come out so they always pay off despite the fairly mundane gameplay.
This might border slightly into spoiler territory but Miles Morales is also in the game in a pretty significant way. You also get to play as him in stealth sections which play very similarly to MJ’s. I would say these tend to be the weakest parts of the game though as there’s very little story payoff for these sections. I’m also fairly new to Miles as a character as I haven’t read his comics run. But Into the Spider-Verse is my favourite Spidey film so when I realised he was in it I was very excited. I don’t like how he’s portrayed as much in this story as in Spider-Verse, but that may be because he is yet to get his superpowers so he is very much a character that sits on the periphery of the story for the most part.
Whilst we are still in spoiler territory I want to touch on Martin Li/Mister Negative. I’ve never encountered this character before as he’s never shown up in the films and I stopped watching the cartoons before he was ever created. But he was pretty underwhelming. He and Octavius were basically the same character in this game, being a role model Peter aspires to be like, who in their past has been mistreated by Norman Osborn, so has now decided to get their own back on Osborn by killing innocent people (what?). I mean Octavius it’s slightly more reasonable to see that connection between killing innocents and getting back at Osborn because he is literally losing his mind. But with Li it’s just a means to an end to have him as a major threat I guess? I’m not sure but I wasn’t keen on it.
This version of Peter Parker is perhaps my favourite version that I’ve ever seen. Like I said earlier, I’m not really familiar with his comic book persona, but it seems to me that almost every time we get a new version of Peter Parker it improves. It’s great to return to an adult Peter again, as much as I love young Peter as that’s really what he is supposed to be, there’s something about this fresh out of College Peter that really appeals to me, probably comes from growing up on the Sam Raimi films. He gets evicted from his apartment and his relationship with MJ is a mess, so it’s great to watch him try to put all the pieces back together again.
MJ is also really great in this game. She’s a reporter at the Daily Bugle and working her way up, she’s settled but the only thing she doesn’t have that she wants is Peter. But she can’t have him the way he is, she needs him to accept her having her own life and not controlling what she does for fear of her safety. The sections where you play as MJ are stealth based, they aren’t particularly complex but these sections are usually where the big story revelations start to come out so they always pay off despite the fairly mundane gameplay.
This might border slightly into spoiler territory but Miles Morales is also in the game in a pretty significant way. You also get to play as him in stealth sections which play very similarly to MJ’s. I would say these tend to be the weakest parts of the game though as there’s very little story payoff for these sections. I’m also fairly new to Miles as a character as I haven’t read his comics run. But Into the Spider-Verse is my favourite Spidey film so when I realised he was in it I was very excited. I don’t like how he’s portrayed as much in this story as in Spider-Verse, but that may be because he is yet to get his superpowers so he is very much a character that sits on the periphery of the story for the most part.
Whilst we are still in spoiler territory I want to touch on Martin Li/Mister Negative. I’ve never encountered this character before as he’s never shown up in the films and I stopped watching the cartoons before he was ever created. But he was pretty underwhelming. He and Octavius were basically the same character in this game, being a role model Peter aspires to be like, who in their past has been mistreated by Norman Osborn, so has now decided to get their own back on Osborn by killing innocent people (what?). I mean Octavius it’s slightly more reasonable to see that connection between killing innocents and getting back at Osborn because he is literally losing his mind. But with Li it’s just a means to an end to have him as a major threat I guess? I’m not sure but I wasn’t keen on it.
The gameplay of Spider-Man is excellent to say the least. It certainly has its problems, but for the most part the major component’s you’ll be dealing with throughout the game are close to perfect. You’ll spend most of your time traversing New York and Spidey controls fantastically. It’s very reminiscent of the PS2 Spider-Man 2 game, but given a simpler control scheme and more traversal options so you can keep your speed up. It’s hard not to feel like Spider-Man as you swing through the streets, catapult yourself over buildings, and dive at extreme speeds just before you release another web shot. These traversal moves all link in perfectly with the combat system which has taken a leaf out of the Batman Arkham games. You can punch, kick, dodge, use gadgets, and disarm foes with great ease. Timing your dodges is key to keeping a high combo counter going (as well as not getting hit). Land enough hits and you’ll fill a focus bar, this bar will allow Spidey to use a special power based on what suit he is wearing at the time. This could be the ability to generate focus energy much faster, or to have unlimited ammo on your gadgets for a short amount of time, or be invulnerable to bullets. Focus can also be used to regenerate health instead of using the focus power, so if you’ve taken a few too many hits you can start to claw your way back into the fight instead. It makes the combat encounters very tactical as a result, often needing to switch out suit powers on the fly to best suit how the battle is going. You’ll face various enemy types throughout the game, each of which require different tactics to disable, some of them are simply tougher versions of what’s already on offer whereas some of them simply require you learning how to take them on through trial and error. Boss battles are also peppered throughout the game, these often require a mix of tactics from fighting the standard enemies, but what tactics exactly are a mystery that you must work out yourself.
You can explore Manhattan of your own accord, and there are plenty of things to keep you busy during your time there. Aside from main missions you also have side missions, wave-based enemy hideouts, general crimes to foil, challenges, and a whole bunch of collectibles. The more stuff you do the more tokens you unlock; these tokens can be spent on new suits or upgrades to Spidey’s equipment. You’ll also earn XP when you progress through the game and this can be spent on upgrades for Spidey’s combat abilities, health, or traversal options. It means you can really play the way you want as you can choose what you want to upgrade and when. I have to say I'm getting a bit irritated with all the upgrade trees in gaming recently, but the way Spider-Man handles it is actually quite enjoyable.
Despite all this praise, the minute to minute gameplay of Spider-Man is extremely repetitive. Go to waypoint, beat up some thugs, go to another waypoint, beat up some more thugs, maybe interact with a mini-game of some kind, and cap it off with a cutscene. MJ and Miles have their stealth sections, but these too are very linear affairs that have to be approached in one particular, usually not very challenging way. It’s still all pretty good, but considering the game will last you around 20 hours or so it can drag on a little bit when you’re just doing the same thing over and over again.
You can explore Manhattan of your own accord, and there are plenty of things to keep you busy during your time there. Aside from main missions you also have side missions, wave-based enemy hideouts, general crimes to foil, challenges, and a whole bunch of collectibles. The more stuff you do the more tokens you unlock; these tokens can be spent on new suits or upgrades to Spidey’s equipment. You’ll also earn XP when you progress through the game and this can be spent on upgrades for Spidey’s combat abilities, health, or traversal options. It means you can really play the way you want as you can choose what you want to upgrade and when. I have to say I'm getting a bit irritated with all the upgrade trees in gaming recently, but the way Spider-Man handles it is actually quite enjoyable.
Despite all this praise, the minute to minute gameplay of Spider-Man is extremely repetitive. Go to waypoint, beat up some thugs, go to another waypoint, beat up some more thugs, maybe interact with a mini-game of some kind, and cap it off with a cutscene. MJ and Miles have their stealth sections, but these too are very linear affairs that have to be approached in one particular, usually not very challenging way. It’s still all pretty good, but considering the game will last you around 20 hours or so it can drag on a little bit when you’re just doing the same thing over and over again.
The presentation quality is also fantastic. It’s a gorgeous looking game, especially if you play on a PS4 Pro (the game has also been confirmed to have a free PS5 upgrade coming) where the frame rate is smoother and the resolution is higher. The voice actors deliver some top-quality performances, especially Yuri Lowenthal as Peter. The sound design overall is pretty top notch. The soundtrack is fantastic and very evocative of Danny Elfman’s score for the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy (which is an incredible score in itself). In fact, the entire style of the game really echoes Sam Raimi’s trilogy. It’s clear that the inspiration for much of what happens in the game comes from the tone and style of those films despite not being connected by story. The game also features a photo mode which can be used to take some stunning photographs of Spidey and New York. The lighting in particular is gorgeous in this game. One thing that was slightly disappointing which I thought might have been possible in games now is that Spidey isn’t reflected in the glass of the buildings he swings by and climbs on. It’s a minor gripe that really doesn’t affect anything, but it would have just been so cool to see the reflection of you speeding by in the buildings.
Overall Insomniac’s Spider-Man is nothing short of amazing (see what I did there?). Whilst it certainly has elements that hold it back such as the repetitive nature of the gameplay, and the slightly underwhelming characterisation of Martin Li. But when those elements are looked at in the grand scheme of what the game is they are small complaints. It is without a doubt one of the best PS4 games available, but also the best Spider-Man game period.
Overall Insomniac’s Spider-Man is nothing short of amazing (see what I did there?). Whilst it certainly has elements that hold it back such as the repetitive nature of the gameplay, and the slightly underwhelming characterisation of Martin Li. But when those elements are looked at in the grand scheme of what the game is they are small complaints. It is without a doubt one of the best PS4 games available, but also the best Spider-Man game period.
STORY: 8/10
GAMEPLAY: 10/10
PRESENTATION: 9/10
LIFESPAN: 9/10
SCORE: 10/10
For a long time, 2004's Spider-Man 2 held the title of best Spider-Man game, but I am more than happy to pass it on as 2018’s game takes the core foundation of Spider-Man 2 and expands on it in meaningful ways unlike many of the Spider-Man games that have come since.