‘Spider-Man’ spins firstrate superhero tale
Comic book icon Spider-Man is famous for his uncanny agility and his unique method of getting around. So in a game featuring the wall-crawler, swinging through the city to arrive at the scene of the crime should be as much fun as duking it out with supervillains.
“Marvel’s Spider-Man,” out this week for the PlayStation 4, gets it. It gives players the freedom to explore an impressive facsimile of New York City through web-slinging between buildings, effortlessly sprinting up the sides of skyscrapers and bounding across rooftops.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because this ground was broken in 2004’s “Spider-Man 2,” a rare wellcrafted movie tie-in that was the first game to really offer a satisfying interpretation of SpiderMan’s powers.
Emulating “Spider-Man 2” isn’t a bad idea here given the character’s history. Spidey has been the star of more than 30 video games and has appeared in several more, and that list includes more than a few duds.
While reworking a proven formula from the ground up using the PS4’s processing power would have been welcome in itself, “Marvel’s SpiderMan” weaves an excellent superhero tale around those mechanical bones. The result is an excellent first entry into Spider-Man’s mercurial gaming history from publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Insomniac Games.
The game begins with a boss battle as SpiderMan takes down the Kingpin, sending the crime lord to prison for his myriad misdeeds. But with Kingpin out of the way, a new, more dangerous criminal element begins to fill the void in New York.
As Spider-Man investigates with the help of Daily Bugle reporter (and currently “off-again” love interest) Mary Jane Watson and teenager Miles Morales, a tale begins to unfold that features betrayals, hard choices, and ultimately a showdown with Spider-Man’s biggest arch-foes. It’s a comic-book story, but it’s original, well-told and its narrative is as strong as many of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Heck, there’s even two end-credit cutscenes).
Spider-Man is well into his crime-fighting career at the game’s onset, and the player is expected to know the basic details of his widely known origin story. Free from having to rehash the tale of the boy bitten by a radioactive spider for the umpteenth time, the player is able to start swinging through the streets of New York right after the tutorial mission with the Kingpin is over.
Putting a stop to crimes, taking down enemy bases and side missions are some of the extra activities on offer. Spider-Man can even become an eco-warrior by doing a series of tasks at research labs that will have him tackling air pollution and airborne diseases — arguably bigger threats than the Vulture or the Rhino.
Completing main scenario missions and side tasks earn experience points for Spider-Man, which can be used to upgrade his movement and combat abilities. Side quests can also give tokens, which can be used to buy new costumes or upgrade gadgets.
Combat in the game is as smooth and well thought-out as the traversal mechanics, and Spider-Man has many ways to take down thugs. He can leap into a pile of baddies and start throwing haymakers. His spider-sense lets him know when attacks are coming, and his ability to dodge and counter allows him to take down many foes at once.
Of course, Spidey would be nothing without his webs. You can use these in the flow of combat to tie up adversaries, throw them or yank them skyward for an air combo. They can also be used to do stealth takedowns from above, hoisting up and incapacitating unsuspecting enemies. Everything in combat has a flow that really captures the essence of Spider-Man.
The game is not without it’s drawbacks. Side missions, particularly crimes, can get repetitive, a trap that is not uncommon to games based on an open-world environment. The New York City of “Marvel’s Spider-Man” has a laughably high crime rate, and the thrill starts to fade a bit after stopping your seventh break-in or drug deal in the past five minutes.
There are also a few stealth missions featuring Mary Jane or Miles that drag. It’s relevant to the plot to put agency in these character’s hands so SpiderMan comes around on the idea of working with a team. But in a game where the selling point is how fun it is to be the main character, these missions just get in the way of more webslinging.
In a game that goes so far in letting you do whatever a spider can, these are minor quibbles. A good Spider-Man story spun around a reimagining of successful mechanics that have worked in the past makes “Marvel’s Spider-Man” the best game to star the character, and one of the finest games around in the superhero genre.
“Marvel’s Spider-Man” is rated T for teen players and older, and retails for around $80.