Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man is a colorful and relentlessly fun superhero game. The game’s ability to make players truly embody the role of everyone’s favorite wall crawler had me smiling from ear to ear nearly the entire time I played it. It also made me hungry for more content down the line.
Spider-Man starts eight years after Peter Parker first donned the red and blue spandex and took to the rooftops to battle the criminals of New York City. It’s incredibly refreshing for a superhero story to forego the tired and cliché origin story and drop players straight into the action. The game’s opening mission tasks Ol’ Webhead with taking down the criminal mastermind Wilson Fisk, otherwise known as the Kingpin. After an exhilarating opening mission involving chaotic fist fights, exhilarating platforming and culminating in a jaw dropping boss fight with the Kingpin himself, Spider-Man starts with a bang.
The story then follows Parker’s journey as he battles the vicious Demon gang, led by the super villain Mister Negative. The story of Spider-Man is incredibly fun, while still managing to deliver the odd emotional pay off and story twists and turns. The game also does a great job of balancing the superhero escapades of the titular character with the real life struggles of Peter Parker.
The most obvious question that any Spidey fan would ask when deciding whether to play this game is, “How is the web-swinging?” I am glad to say that the web-swinging mechanics in this game are absolutely superb, and swinging through the game’s beautiful rendition of Manhattan is an absolute blast. The web-swinging has a brilliant sense of balance and momentum, allowing players to pull off some incredible and extremely cinematic feats of acrobatics. Even after thirty hours of playing, swinging through the streets of New York always brought a smile to my face, and I found myself never using the game’s fast travel system, getting from A to B was just part of the fun.
Spider-Man borrows heavily from the Batman: Arkham series in terms of combat, using the now-classic counter system, Spidey can zip around between groups of thugs, dealing crushing blows and commanding the battlefield with his web abilities. Pulling off a sweet combo is always a treat, and using the game’s variety of gadgets to end combat in innovative ways keeps the fights fresh and engaging.
The enemy types also become more complicated as the game progresses, needing different tactics to be taken down. These enemy types don’t bring much new to the table, with enemies wielding weapons and shields having been done to death at this point. However, the game does truly shine in its boss fights, fighting members of Spider-Man’s classic rogues’ gallery always felt special and exciting, and many of these boss fights bring their own unique spin on the games combat system.
Spider-Man isn’t the only playable character in this game, with players stepping into the shoes of long time Spider-Man love interest, Mary Jane, and also the teenager (and future superhero) Miles Morales on several occasions. The character’s missions play very differently from Spidey’s missions. Due to their distinct lack of radioactive spider-powers, these characters must use stealth and smarts to navigate their missions, sneaking past enemies and utilizing distraction techniques.
The missions provided a welcome break from the super heroics of the main game at first, however they quickly became tedious and repetitive. They pop up more frequently towards the games end point, and I found myself actively delaying my progress in the main story due to my reluctance to play them. What was once a nice change of pace quickly became time wasted, time that I would much rather have spent swinging through the city or fighting bad guys. The stealth missions are, thankfully, quite short and easy and can be rushed through.
The game takes some liberties with the Spider-Man canon, but never feels like it is actively changing or removing things for the sake of it. Most of the changes to the core status-quo of the Spider-Man universe feel sensible and positive. The game is also full of Easter eggs and references to the Marvel universe. The most obvious of these are the various suits that players can unlock. The suits don’t just change how the character looks either, they also unlock new special abilities for players to use. Suits can also be upgraded along with the gadgets, subtly changing the combat and web-swinging mechanics as the game progresses. There are a few glaring omissions from the list of unlockable suits in this Spidey fan’s opinion, but that may be a personal problem.
Spider-Man contains a cast of interesting and likeable characters. J. Jonah Jameson appears frequently in the game as a radio personality. It provides some of the game’s biggest laughs as the hot headed JJJ spouts inflammatory lies and insults towards Spider-Man. Mary Jane also has a large role in the story as Peter’s ex-girlfriend, and a plucky and courageous journalist for the Daily Bugle. MJ seems like she benefits the most from Insomniac’s tweaking of the Spider-Man mythos, becoming a far more proactive and headstrong character rather than playing the role of damsel in distress. Dr. Otto Octavius also contributes heavily to the main story as Peter’s genius boss. Otto’s storyline provides some of the biggest emotional impacts and serve to humanize and develop one of Spider-Man’s most well-known characters.
Spider-Man’s rendition of NYC is absolutely beautiful, with the city seeming like a real, living, breathing place. Spidey can engage in a number of side quests and activities as he swings through the city. These include active crimes that can be thwarted, collecting backpacks that Peter stashed around the city in his younger years, taking down bases teeming with bad guys, and taking photos of famous landmarks. These activities provide a nice distraction from the main story line, while also contributing to the game’s upgrade system. Players gain tokens from side activities that can be spent on new suits and gadget improvements. My main complaint is that it did not take me long to finish these side activities. I found the amount of things to do deceptively large; however it wasn’t long before I was swinging through the city looking for things to do.
Insomniac’s Spider-Man is a tour de force of a superhero game. Players can look forward to hours of swinging through New York and battling bad guys in crisp and satisfying combat. Along with a superb main story line and several fun side activities, the game is well worth the time for any fan. Unfortunately, tedious stealth missions and a deceptive lack of play time pull the game from achieving true perfection.
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