Spider-Man PS4 First Impressions | The Spider-Man Game I Never Knew I Needed
Originally Published in September 2018
Insomniac Games’ PS4 exclusive Spider-Man is one of fall 2018’s most anticipated titles. The game has received numerous amounts of hype leading up to its launch this past Friday and has most certainly lived up to the hype with critics and fans agreeing that this is one of the best superhero games to have come out in the past few years. Initially, I was going to wait until the game went on sale but I caved in last weekend and ended up buying it, I really wanted to see what Spider-Man was all about. Did Insomniac Games really make the quintessential Spider-Man game that the fans have been begging for? Does it finally do the webhead justice after a number of mediocre movie-based games? Well after a few hours in I can confidently say yes to those questions. This is the Spider-Man game I never knew I needed.
The Story…
Is a totally new and original story. This isn’t a movie tie-in to last year’s Homecoming nor is it a rendition of a popular comic book story. Taking place in 2018, Peter Parker has donned the red & blue costume for years, he’s taken down a number of notable villains and has become an established icon of NYC. He’s living on his own, has broken up with Mary Jane, and works full time as a scientist. The game starts off with Spidey making his way to Fisk Towers to finally put an end to Wilson Fisk, or as we know him as: The Kingpin. His arrest sets the stage for criminals and other members of Spider-Man’s rouges’ gallery to appear, how and why is yet to be determined, but it seems to be a part of a much bigger plan to take over New York, and it looks like the only person who can stop it is, well, you know who!
Spider-Man PS4 seems to have taken some cues from his recent MCU movie, in the few hours I’ve played, the story feels very upbeat and at times funny, Spider-Man is still the quirky smart-ass that loves to get on his enemy’s nerves. I love this because for me personally, Spider-Man is a light-hearted character, and to have an equally light-hearted story does great benefits to his character. I’m also quite impressed with the fact that this is an original story because it showcases a different interpretation of the webhead that fans have never seen before. What also makes the story good so far is the pacing. You slowly get introduced to new characters and elements of Spidey/Peter’s life in a timely manner.
How’s The Gameplay?
The gameplay here is solid, fun, and oh so satisfying. The web-swinging has become one of the game’s most talked-about features and for good reason, Insomniac Games have perfected one of the most crucial aspects of any Spider-Man game. The game uses its physics to its advantage by making Spidey attach his webs to buildings, allowing players to have full control of direction and momentum. It’s also extremely simple, relying only on the R2 button to swing and detach. Once you first get a hand of web-swinging, it’ll be hard to stop. Nothing beats jumping off a tall skyscraper and swinging above the streets of Manhattan at break-neck speeds. Speaking of Manhattan, this might just be the best video game realization of the city that never sleeps. The city truly feels lived in, there are civilians that Spidey can interact with, crimes that can be stopped, and famous landmarks (both real and from the Marvel universe) that can be explored. So much detail has been poured into Manhattan and really makes the open-world feel less empty compared to older iterations.
Combat in Spider-Man PS4 is equally as simple. If you’ve ever played any of the Batman Arkham games then you’ve already got an idea of how Spidey fights. Combat results in stringing combos and dodging incoming attacks with your Spidey-Sense. Combat is fluid and responsive. The game adds its own unique touch to this style of combat by encouraging aerial combat or using your webs to throw objects or even thugs. Sometimes you may have to go in stealthy and the game excels here in this aspect as well. You can distract enemies to get the drop on them, and the A.I is smart enough to catch on to you if they get suspicious. The webhead also comes equipped with a wide variety of gadgets such as a varying range of web-shooters, drones, and even bombs. Spider-Man even has his own skill tree where you can spend points on new fighting moves, traversal enhancements, and more.
I also can’t forget to mention the bonus suits you get, as you can’t have a Spider-Man game and not have extra costumes to wear. By doing various activities in the city, you earn tokens that can be spent on unlocking different suits, but they serve more than just a cosmetic perspective. Each suit provides Spidey with a new ability that can be used in combat, and these abilities can be used on any other suits you’ve unlocked. I’ve got a feeling I’ll be spending a huge chunk of the game trying to unlock as many suits as I can.
Sounds Fun! So How Does Everything Look?
Like most PS4 exclusives, the graphics here are off the charts. Character models are photo-realistic and the lip-syncing is on point, especially for an open-world game. Manhattan as stated before looks almost like the real thing, shadows and lighting work as realistically as possible. The frame rate is smooth and I’ve had little to no frame rate drops in the couple of hours I’ve played. This is all good news for me personally as I’m playing on a base PS4.
That Sounds Great! But is There Anything to Be Concerned About?
Unfortunately, there are a few things I’ve disliked about my time with Spider-Man. Firstly, it does very little to shake up the open-world game genre, namely, it includes the mundane “radio towers that reveal parts of the map” trope from Ubisoft’s titles. In fact, it’s one of the very first things you must do in the game. Secondly, I’ve had the game hard crash on me a total of four times. three of which happened as soon as I started up the game, and one occurring while I was playing. At the time of writing, a few patches have been released and since then I have not witnessed any crashes. This could be alleviated by playing on a PS4 Pro maybe, but it’s still something that detracted my experience and should be noted.
Conclusion
All in all, I’m enjoying my time so far with Spider-Man. The original story is a much-needed breath of fresh air, the combat (albeit a tad similar to the Batman games) is still fun and unique in its own way. Manhattan feels like a lived-in world to explore and interact with, and the technical aspects like graphics and frame rate work exceptionally well. I’ve got a feeling that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy my time with Spider-Man, and I will aim to write a review or think piece about the game once I’ve completed it.
