Time to reload your web slingers and swing through New York City to grab a slice. What! A superhero needs fuel before he goes off to beat some bad guys. When I saw the E3 gameplay trailer for the latest Spider-Man earlier this year, I was floored. Out of the many awesome looking games that were set to come out this year, Spider-Man for the PS4 was the one that I had to play right then and there. Fast forward a few months later and I finally get my chance to sit down and play what I believe to be the best Spider-Man game in years.
The game starts off with Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in a time after he has worked for the Daily Bugle. Mary Jane (MJ) is his ex, but we all how long that will last before they are brought together once again. Peter volunteers at a homeless shelter called FEAST. There he works with his Aunt May and also Miles who plays a pretty big role in the game later on.
The man running this shelter is Martin Li. A good man who feels weak and seeks out a dark power that will make him strong. But at the cost of losing himself and being trapped forever in the darkness. Meanwhile, other villains are beginning a new uprising thanks to another super villain who recruits them. And it’s up to Spider-Man with the help of MJ and others to stop them.
As I first began swinging through the concrete jungle of NYC, I really felt excited. The speed for which you swing from building to building was exhilarating. You even get to free run up these large skyscrapers like a cat on crack. But speed isn’t everything and can be a bit overwhelming at first. But once you understand the controls which for me took a while then you will have a blast.
In Spider-Man (PS4) there is of course the main quest, as well as many side quests and item collecting. If you hear a distress call from the police scanners saying that there a shootout with police and they need immediate assistance, then it’s time to brawl. I would almost always stop while on my way to do a main quest to take down some thugs. Although sometimes I did end up losing and re-spawned perched at a nearby building, unable to replay that part ever again.
There are plenty of other sides as well if you’re not in a fighting mood. There are backpacks that are scattered all across the city that contain video tapes of nostalgia. I honestly never listened to any of these, but mainly just collected for suit upgrades which I will talk about shortly. There are also research labs that award you research tokens for new suits, outposts chalk full of baddies that will award you base tokens for new suits as well. There are even Black Cat statues, that will reward you a special suit once all twelve are collected.
Now as I touched on, there are various unlockable suits with new powers for Spider-Man in the game. Everything from a temporarily bullet proof suit, to an Electro style suit that’s power is to shock nearby enemies. But my personal favorite has to be the Iron Spider suit. I just love the shiny exterior and also it’s power which is eight spider arms that comes out once the L3 and R3 buttons are simultaneously pressed. This power is great for melee style combat, and makes Spidey feel more like Rhino or Kingpin with such strength.
Speaking of Rhino and Kingpin, they along with Electro, Scorpion, and Doc Oct are some of the villains you will throw down with in Spider-Man. Each boss requiring a different strategy in order to beat them. The first one you tangle with is Fisk (Kingpin) and he is tough. He is so big that Spidey’s hand to hand combat moves have no effect on him or other big brawler types throughout the game. You have to stay air-borne and use the L1 and R1 buttons pressed together to pick up something heavy your webs and fling at him to stagger him. Also shooting webs stuns him momentarily as it does with other big brutes in the game, leaving an opening for you to strike.
The musical score in the game is cool, because it reminds me of the Avengers. Seriously at least one of the songs is from the movies. Not surprising as Spider-Man did become knighted by Tony Stark when he said to him in Infinity War “you’re an Avenger now.” Even though the timeline in this Spider-Man may be different from in the Avengers movies, it is still awesome to hear familiar Marvel related themes.
Now to my gripes with the game. Buying a game called Spider-Man, I was expecting to just play as him through the whole game and not as other less powerful characters. Their are missions in the main campaign where you get to play as Peter’s friend Miles, or Mary Jane usually in sneaking style missions. And also you get to play Peter doing some lab work via mini games that are also main missions.
This at least to me, takes away from the games strengths which is playing as Spider-Man doing various things. If playing as these characters were side missions and not mandatory for advancing through the game, then I would have no complaints. But they are and I do so no Bueno.
Overall, I really enjoyed the fast paced, yet balanced gameplay. The graphics are bright and vibrant as well, beautiful to look at. The game gets really chaotic later on when most of the city is after you when Spider-Man is branded a criminal. I really enjoyed playing Spider-Man (PS4) and will play again whenever I should feel that itch.
Nerdish Rating
4 out of 5
“I’m Corey, and this is my story so far.”
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