My Ranking System
⅕ Terrible: Could not in good conscience recommend this game to anyone. Usually given to games that are rendered unplayable to countless bugs or just bad design.
⅖ Bad: It may have a few redeeming qualities, but overall it’s not a fun game. Plagued with many design problems, but you may get some enjoyment out of it.
⅗ Good: Not great but not bad either. I enjoyed it, but it probably wasn’t worth the money I spent on it. If it’s on sale and I think you might like it, I’d tell you to try it.
⅘ Great: A well designed and enjoyable game. Only a few minor problems, but it is easily worth your money. Very similar to a ⅗ but with enough polish to make a difference. Strong recommendation.
5/5 Masterpiece!: A flawless game, with virtually no problems whatsoever. Probably a game they’ll be talking about for decades because of how incredible and important it is. In fact, how have you not played all the 5/5s? There’s not many out there.
“With great power, comes great responsibility.” You’ve heard the line before. But the iconic quote from Spider-Man not only rings true for the character but for his popular PlayStation video game as well. Spider-Man is an open world action video game in which you play as Peter Parker eight years into being the titular superhero. As new and old villains show up in New York, Peter struggles to balance his personal and “work” life, especially as the two begin to collide. Insomniac had a lot to accomplish with this open world superhero game, and since it was recently brought to PC in August, and I don’t own a PlayStation, I finally decided to see if everything said about it rang true.
Pros
Exploration
Exploration takes center stage as you web sling across New York as the titular character. Like a lot of the gameplay in this game, controlling Spider Man feels very smooth and your variety of moves lets you play around with the best way to get to your destination. Police towers are essential for exploration, as activating these towers show you the location of various collectibles and side quests that you can complete along with the main story. The in-game New York is the perfect size, so big that it feels like you’ll never run out of things to do or see but not too big that you feel like it takes forever to get anywhere.
Combat
Combat takes the form of a 3D beat ‘em up, but of course, with a Spider Man twist. In the same way you have many different moves to get across New York, Spider Man is equipped with many different web based gadgets that let you play around with the most effective (and sometimes the most comical) ways to take down enemies. One of my favorite moments playing was webbing up a guy onto a car in the street and watching him being carried away off screen. Nothing ever feels repetitive as the game is constantly giving you new moves to use, enemies to fight, and iconic bosses that you get to challenge throughout the campaign. Of course, fighting bad guys wouldn’t be complete without Spider-Man cracking a few quips during combat, and Insomniac delivers with some really strong ones. The game also contains quick time events during the action packed cutscenes that keep you interacting with the game rather than simply watching it. Some encounters include a stealth segment that requires the player to pick off enemies one by one. While not as fun as the standard combat seen in the game, it once again prevents the game from becoming the rinse and repeat gameplay that is seen in most open world games.
Story
You can’t have a Spider-Man story without Peter Parker, and Insomniac fully understands this idea. A good chunk of your time is dedicated to controlling Peter out of the suit as he tries to balance his personal life and his superhero life. Whether it’s figuring out his relationship with Mary Jane, helping his Aunt May and his new friend Miles Morales, or assisting Dr. Octavius in his experiments on prosthetics, the game makes you care for Peter’s friends and family, giving the plot more emotional weight. All of this is thanks to stellar writing and voice acting that does a good job at making the characters feel real and faithful to their comic book counterparts.
Cons
Minor Lack of Polish
A common problem with big open world games like Spider-Man is a lack of finishing touches on graphics and animations. This is primarily seen in the NPCs that walk around New York. I encountered NPCs moving with no walking animations multiple times and the graphical quality of the NPC can pale in comparison to the design of the main characters. While not a big deal gameplay wise, this lack of polish can easily ruin the immersion of the game.
Boring Non Spider-Man Segments
Despite being the namesake of the video game, you don’t get to control Spider-Man the whole time. The game has multiple stealth objectives where you play as either Mary Jane or Miles. Though I appreciate the developers trying to keep the game from becoming monotonous, I find that these segments really start to get annoying after the second or third time. Not only that, but they seem to get more frequent as the game progresses, furthering my frustration with the pacing.
The Verdict
Very few superhero games turn out to be really good, but Insomniac’s Spider-Man is able to remain the exception with an expansive open world, solid gameplay, and a story on par with the rest of the game. Any fan of Spider-Man certainly needs to play it, but I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys video games, especially fans of the Batman: Arkham video games. Though there are some minor problems with the pacing, the game never becomes repetitive and always remains a fun web-slinging adventure.
⅘
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