Spider-Man PlayStation 4
I debated writing about this on my Scifi Ward site. Spider-Man exists in the Marvel Universe after all, so mixes with Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor and Thanos. On the other hand, he doesn’t do any of that in this game. He was just an average kid who was bitten by a radioactive spider and got superpowers. That could totally happen.
In the game, you play Peter Parker and Spider-Man (obviously), when he is a 23-year-old research assistant for Dr Otto Octavius. So you can pretty much guess one of the bad guys from the start. For the first two-thirds of the game, you gradually get storylines and meet characters and so on. The final third then really kicks the stakes up a gear with a load of famous Spidey baddies. The story is a lot of fun with some unexpected turns. It’s not particularly deep or will make you think about it after you have finished, but it serves its purpose. You also get to play as Mary Jane Watson and Miles Morales – but these moments are brief and surprisingly enjoyable.
The gameplay itself is great. Really, really well done. Like with the Batman series, you play a really cool superhero and it is superb. Again like Batman, there are a lot of combat options and skill trees and gadgets and they are introduced in a way that it never feels overwhelming. Fighting is solid and again is like Ba- ok, I am pretty sure the makers of Spider-Man have played the Batman games. What sets your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man apart though, is obviously his web-slinging skills.
Swinging through Manhattan is an absolute joy. Once you get the hang of it you really feel rewarded by how much fun it is. There is a fast travel option but I must have used it two or three times max. Similarly, web-based combat is a great laugh and feels natural.
A minor negative is the whole, go to an area, unlock a tower to see all the little tasks in the area and then complete them. It is a bit like Farcry and frankly, occasionally felt like work. Except that, unlike work, the tasks were mostly quite enjoyable. One such task, to take photos of well-known places, also ties you in with the Marvel Universe as you will visit Avengers Towers, Dr Strange’s Sanctorum house thingy, and the Embassy of Wakanda. Which was pretty cool.
Another minor negative was the VR experience, which was underwhelming. I know it was supposed to be a kind of add-on promo for the main game but you spend most of the time shooting at balloons on a roof. Compare this to the Star Wars X Wing VR (incredible and very whelming), which was basically doing the same thing, and it seems even worse. I think I paid for the Star Wars VR thing though, so maybe I am being unfair and it in no way detracts from the proper game.
As you can tell, I was impressed by Spider-Man and recommend it wholeheartedly. It isn’t going to be in my personal top 5 ‘best ever’ category but it lets you be Spider-Man and it does that superbly. Great fun and all I hoped it would be.
Here is an exciting trailer:
