Friendly Neighborhood “Spider-Man” Game Review

Insomniac Studios created a high quality game featuring a friendly neighborhood superhero.

Kenneth Hillen, Staff Writer|September 28, 2018

A picture of Spider-Man defending his city taken from within the game.

The most recent installment from Insomniac Studios,’ Spider-Man has the world swinging by their local retailers to purchase it. Critics are already giving the game amazing marks and sharing articles displaying their love for the game. To truly see if this Play Station four exclusive game is worth the hype and price tag of $59.99, it is best to analyze it for it’s story and gameplay.

Synopsis: 8/10

The story takes place eight years after Peter Parker became Spider-Man. The city of New York has its feelings about Spider-Man by now, being both positive and negative. A feature in the game actually allows Spider-Man to listen to radio shows talk about his involvement in the city.

The game begins with Mary Jane and Peter Parker broken up. Watching the two try to make things work again is relatable and hilarious to watch in some moments. Expect corny jokes during fight scenes and cinematic moments. These only add life and fun into this game and give it that true Spider-Man charm.

The bad parts of the story come from when it changes point of view to Mary Jane or other Spider-Man sidekicks. This aspect is boring and slows the overall pace of the game. Playing as Mary Jane in a Spider-Man game is uninteresting. These sections dragged down the overall rhythm, however, it did not derail the great message the title has to offer.

Dominic Regazzi
Spider-Man hanging from the underneath of a bridge, photo taken using a special feature in the game.

Gameplay: 9/10

The opening cinematics are truly where Insomniac Studios flexes their development and graphical skills. The graphics in this game are outstanding and include some of the best looks to a PlayStation exclusive title to date. When adventuring around New York City, Spider-Man can actually swing by the Avengers Tower, Doctor Strange’s Emporium and the Wakandan Embassy. Perching atop the empire state building as Spider-Man and looking out at the great city of New York is one of the most impressive pieces the game has to offer.

If Spider-Man wants to look into one of the many windows on a skyscraper, Insomnia has taken the time to animate the interior of the building. Little details go a long way and elevate the title from average graphics to something worth marveling at.

It needs to be stated that Spider-Man definitely derives heavy notes of combat and general traveling mechanics from “Batman: Arkham Knight.” From the way that Batman would zip from point to point with his grappling hook, feels almost the same as how Spider-man zips with his webs. Even with fighting in Arkham Knight, Batman would take on ten or more bad guys, flying from one punch to another; so does Spider-man with his quick agility and web powers.

The only downside that can break immersion in the game is during a very big boss fight, a small cut scene will happen. Instead of actually allowing the player to initiate the moves that Spider-man is making on the screen, the player will just have to press one button in a certain amount of time to finish off the boss. These moments are fairly rare, but are awfully noticeable.

Even with these tiny faults, combat in Spider-man is fresh and entertaining to play. After defeating enough enemies, the player will earn tokens and experience points to spend in the game. They can purchase different suits, new web gadgets and moves.

Overall: 9/10

Spider-Man is a very fun. Its faults have to be considered when spending the money to buy it, but it is definitely a fantastic title that deserves praise and good ratings.