Spider-Man, on the PS4, is a marvelous adventure that takes you into the life of Peter Parker while being Spider-Man, and how they both collide excellently.
The best thing about Spider-Man is that you instantly feel like Spider-Man. New York City is your playground, and each time you put a web onto a building to swing, you feel like Spider-Man and you probably just want to sit and cry in envy and pure joy.
Gameplay overall is a blast. Fighting is a formidable challenge, but not too difficult and does not increase it’s difficulty too much throughout the game’s narrative. Sneaking around and getting enemies from the ceiling and meticulously cutting down their numbers was always satisfying, and of course, swinging was terrific.
The main villains themselves were convincing with their motives, their story arc, and the actors’ performances. They brought emotional tension into the world of Peter Parker, intertwining his life with their plan, which brought a story that was surprising at moments but still brought typical Spider-Man tropes into it as well, which I was perfectly fine with.
The story overall brought out exciting characters that stayed true to their comic-selves, except for one character, Mary Jane Watson. Usually, Mary Jane Watson is a model type, but now she is a reporter in this game’s story. This change was not a sour point for me at all. I enjoyed her new direction a lot more than I think I would as her being a model in this game. Her playable parts were essential to dive into the story and get more clarity in certain situations, but also have a nice break from being a super-hero. The amount of time playing as MJ was not distracting to the overall story, since you only played as her each time, very briefly.
Peter Parker’s story arc is a great way to incorporate the history of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and still change it up slightly. The arc is full of up and down moments for Peter, and sometimes make you cling onto something into tense situations between you and other characters.
The secondary characters are all some that were in the trailers, and some who were not in the trailers. However, all the secondary characters all had a great story arc to themselves, making them stand out away from Peter’s shadow, which I worried about going in.
The ending of the game brought out many strong performances that were already so strong. The fight between the final boss and you is a great way to cap off their relationship and a compelling, emotional way to end this game.
The easter eggs in the game all are telling the history of Peter’s life as Spider-Man in between this eight-year gap, from his first time as Spider-Man as a 15-year old to today, being a 23-year old. The collectibles are fun to get since they tell this story, but also they help you gain experience too. So, they aren’t just for show and tell.
I love the photo mode in the game. You can take photos while in combat, traversing around the city, and anywhere you can think of basically. It is always fun to take photos while being Peter Parker, and him being a former photographer for the Daily Bugle. You can add filters that are not too distracting but still represent Spider-Man very well. My favorite filter is the Amazing Spider-Man comic cover which sits on a desk, to show the history of Spider-Man, but still have fun with it as well.
Spider-Man is probably, my favorite superhero game I’ve played. It made me feel like I was Spider-Man swinging and diving around a beautiful New York City. The characters are very compelling, along with the actors’ and actresses’ performances. The villains are interesting and bring a modern take on some of the classic ones that you encounter. The story is filled with emotional gut punches but also filled with smiling from ear-to-ear moments. I would highly recommend this game to anyone remotely interested in it.
Score: 9/10
Comments