Spider-Man pushed the envelope for superhero games. Yes, some have released before, and others came after, but what was done with Spider-Man was nothing short of absolutely stunning. This game makes you feel like Spider-Man in every conceivable way. The mechanics, story, and the whole open world are nothing short of breathtaking. 

From what I could find, the development of Marvel’s Spider-Man took four years. It started in 2014 and was released in 2018. While Insomniac had their pick of any character to work with, they chose Spider-Man. A choice that I think was extremely smart because he is the perfect character to start building a universe with. Creating an original story was also brilliant and something that they pulled off spectacularly. The animations, music, characterization, and just about every aspect of this game were nailed. 

Yes, some things didn’t land for me, and I will be getting to those bits in a while. It doesn’t matter, though, because Marvel’s Spider-Man is simply put, one of the best superhero games ever made. To create a fulfilling superhero game for me, I only ask that the gameplay makes sense for that specific hero. I want their character to come to life in a way that makes sense, and I do not want too much deviation without reason. Finally, if you’re making a custom world for your take on an established hero, I simply want that world not to feel flat. 

Let’s Leap into the Story 

The main story has Spider-Man, Peter, and Mary Jane following the tracks of Mister Negative to find out why he orchestrated a plot to take control of New York’s criminal underworld. It heats up when Mister Negative gets a whole lot of a deadly virus that ends up killing some very important characters. That is the spoiler-free version of events, and from this point forward, I am going to get into spoiler territory. 

The game starts with you capturing Wilson Fisk, he tells Spider-Man that New York City will essentially be worse off without him, and he is right. We later see men dressed in black and white seizing Fisk’s assets. As the start of the game progresses, Spider-Man and sometimes Mary Jane learn that these men, the Demons, are seeking something called Devil’s Breath. The game will let you play as Mary Jane, and I will talk more about her later. Devil’s Breath is the main plot point, but the game doesn’t hit you in the face with that right away: I love this because it creates the feeling of a bigger plot slowly, through build-up and with a lot of care. 

As the first half of the game continues, Spider-Man must work with Officer Jefferson Davis, who is killed when his event that was supposed to celebrate what Davis did was attacked by the Demons. This is also where Peter sees Martin Li transform into Mister Negative for the first time. Right after this, we get to see the ever-wonderful Silver Sable join the story after she is hired by Osborn. Her original purpose is to help the police. While all of this is going on, Peter has started to befriend Miles Morales, the son of Jefferson Davis. It is through Peter that Miles starts volunteering at F.E.A.S.T. 

At this point, I would like to pause for a second to talk about the story so far. The first chunk of the game is pretty tame and, dare I say, a little slow, something that didn’t bother me the first time I played it or on the replay I did to create this review. To me, the story feels like it was broken up into three different acts, with act two being the weakest of the three. The first act introduces us to this universe’s version of Peter Parker, and we thankfully get to avoid the rehashing of Uncle Ben dying. It also takes you through some of the bonus activities the game offers and what collectables you can find. 

I love the characterization of Peter. They had me hooked from the moment we took down Fisk. The game oozes characterization in all of the right spots, and this older version of Peter Parker is welcome, considering he is normally aged down these days. The other characters are fine and fun to see. Mary Jane is a treasure, and I love her dialogue. Miles is great too! This is my introduction to him, so I had to pick up some comics to see what he was all about. Aunt May is a highlight. I love this version of her that hits the sweet spot between young and old. Her design is great, too, and I love how busy she keeps herself. 

Now we enter the second act, and boy, does this portion of the game really slog. I don’t know if it’s because there is less fighting or too much swapping between characters, but something horrible happens to the pacing. 

As the story continues, Peter and the man he admires, Otto Octavious, continue their work. At this point, they’re researching advanced prosthetic limbs, and anyone who knows Otto knows exactly where this is going. The build up to Otto finally losing his mind and putting on the damn arms had at the edge of my seat the whole time. Osborn withdraws funding at this point, and I believe it is here where Otto truly starts to spiral. There are several reasons why this happens, and they begin to be revealed towards what I consider the third act. 

Around this time, we also learn that Devil’s Breath is a bio weapon, and although it didn’t start out that way, that is how it works in its current state. At first, it was supposed to be a cure for genetic diseases. This is where I started to put two and two together. Why would Osborn be working on this if his wife had already died? He didn’t seem like the type to do something like this out of the kindness of his heart. He must be working on it for Harry, and wow, I was so glad I was right. 

Li ends up stealing the only sample of Devil’s Breath, and this is where things get crazy. He wants Osborn to surrender to him, and luckily, Spider-Man and Mary Jane stop him, and he is sent to the Raft, a maximum security prison. Devil’s Breath is secured, and for the moment, the characters can relax. 

After all of that, we are going to get back to Otto, but there are a few things that I’ll take a second to talk about here. 

Mary Jane 

Mary Jane is one of my favorite comic book characters from Marvel; she is right up there with Silk and a few other characters from the Spider-Man side of comics. I was super excited the first time I got to play as her, and that excitement quickly faded when I realized that she was being used as a stealth character and nothing more. Her parts of the game are relatively inoffensive and tend to go by quickly as long as you’re good at stealth, but they happen more and more as the game goes on, and sometimes it feels like the swapping between Spider-Man and Mary Jane becomes a chore. Her gameplay gets significantly better during the worst parts of this game, which I find funny. 

It all starts when Li is trying to get Osborn to the train station. The part of the game has Mary Jane stealth around for a bit while Spider-Man takes out anyone you press square on. You can use the lures that Spider-Man gave her to distract enemies to make all of this possible. This was fun for a few minutes before I started to get tired of it. 

Mary Jane, as a character in this game, is fine, like she has a few good points too! She points out to Peter that she doesn’t want to be the one who is always saved and that she is capable. She is basically Spider-Man’s tech person, and I love that for her because she still gets to be a journalist. Plus, she and Miles get to have some fun side conversations, which I loved. 

Where she falls apart is in the gameplay that she is given. Now, she does get better right after she gets the stun gun and can take people out. I also understand that they didn’t have her doing that from the get-go because they had to build her up to this point. I just felt like we were changing characters too much, or at least in too short a period. 

Miles Morales 

If there was ever a way to introduce another webhead, this was the way to do it. I love this character a lot in this game, and he only gets better in his spin-off off but I am not going to dive into that here. But what is setting Miles apart in this game? Nothing. 

Miles does not get bitten by a spider until the end of the game, and we don’t get to see him use his powers in this game until the end, which is just a cinematic. So why do I love this character so much, and what made his introduction so perfect? 

Miles is in the story just enough for us to get to see the differences between him and Peter. Miles has his way of doing things, he is smart, and is a big Spider-Man fan. But he is also compassionate, but not in the same way it seems Peter is. Mind you, Miles is 15 or so in this game. He deals with grief in a way that is mature, and by the end of the game, we can see that he clearly trusts Peter as the new primary male role model in his life. 

Miles doesn’t overshadow Peter, but he does enrich his story. Peter grows through having Miles in his life, and while this is seen a little in this game, it grows in the others. So the setup for Miles was fantastic and frankly, some of the best setup for a character I have seen in a video game in a long time. 

His gameplay is boring, though, and that is because the gameplay itself is a copy of Mary Jane, except he has a hacking device. The best moment of his gameplay is when he is trying to hide from and escape the Rhino. That whole sequence was fun and enchanting, and honestly?  A little tense as well. I loved it. 

The Final and Best Act 

For me, the final act starts when Otto starts obsessing over the robotic limbs he and Peter had been working on throughout the game. These limbs take the shape of four tentacle-looking arms that are attached to his back. Otto can control them using a neural interface. Peter quickly finds problems with this interface, but Otto doesn’t listen to him because he is suffering from a neuromuscular disease that is going to “make his body useless,” as Otto puts it. 

Otto’s anger over Osborn, in tandem with the faulty neural interface, makes him go insane. It is a sight to behold. Throughout his spiraling, he will call Peter and ramble about how he feels about his project. Looking back, it seems more like Otto is rambling about the delusions he is experiencing as he falls deeper into his rage. 

We also learn that a breakout has happened at the Raft. Li, Electro, Vulture, Rhino, and Scorpion have broken out. It was Otto who planned this and made it all come to life. The fight on the rooftop, where Spider-Man is clearly outnumbered and outmatched, is a sight to behold and nothing short of brilliant. Here we get to see Doctor Octopus and his full form, and he will prove to be Spider-Man’s greatest challenge yet. He warns Spider-Man not to interfere before releasing the Devil’s Breath in Times Square. Aunt May is infected, and New York dissolves into total chaos. Osborn declares martial law and blames Spider-Man. We don’t get to see his full hatred for Spider-Man in this game, but it is clearly growing. 

As this act continues, you slowly but surely take back the city. One by one, you take down Electro, Vulture, Rhino, and Scorpion. As Mary Jane, you infiltrate Osborn’s penthouse in her best bit of gameplay in the whole game. This is where we also get confirmation that Devil’s Breath was originally made to cure Harry. We also learn that Li was a test subject for the cure, and that is where he got his abilities. This is where his parents die, and his hatred for Osborn is born. Around this time, we fight Li in a pretty fun boss fight. I will cover those more in a second, and beat him, but Octavius comes and steals the antidote for Devil’s Breath. Miles is bitten around this time. 

After that fight, Peter is wounded but determined not to give up. He builds himself a new armored suit, and we go and face off against Octavius on top of Oscorp Tower in one of the most thematic fights I have ever experienced in a superhero game. 

Once we defeat him, we take the cure back to F.E.A.S.T., and that is where we learn the hard truth. There is only enough cure to help May on the spot, or save some so others can get it too. Spider-Man is forced to choose, and this is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the whole game. Beautifully written and executed with a degree of excellence that made these Spider-Man games a must buy for me going forward. May tells Spider-Man to remove his mask; she knew he was Peter the whole time. She makes sure Peter knows that she is proud of him.

By the time the story mode concludes, we learn that three months later, New York returned to normal, and Peter and Mary are finally back together. Miles tells Peter that he gained powers like Spider-Man. Osborn resigned as mayor, and we get to see Harry in a secret lab. This is the best superhero story for a video game since Arkham Asylum.

Mechanics and Feel 

Spider-Man has a ton of moves, upgrades, suits, and gadgets, and boy, am I in love. Just going around New York fighting crime feels so right, like Spider-Man popped right out of a comic book. The gameplay I am sharing below is just a taste, and don’t mind me getting shot or crushed by a car. 

For starters, there are well over 20 suits for you to collect and unlock, and most of them come with a Suit Power. Suit Powers can be used on any suit. I adore this, and frankly, it was a brilliant gameplay choice. I didn’t want suits to just be cosmetic, but I also didn’t want to be hindered by wearing one I like. There are also suit mods that enhance the way you play, for example, I always have Gel Padding on, and it reduces incoming melee damage. 

There are 8 gadgets in the game. My favorite happens to be the Impact Web and Trip Mine. You can use these gadgets during stealth and normal combat. One of my favorite things to do is use the Trip Mine during combat by placing it on a thug. It’s hilarious. 

There are also three different skill trees to complete. Innovator, Defender, and Webslinger, and yes, you can finish these just by leveling up. At this time, I have one last skill to grab, and it will cost two skill points. I love how skills are done in this game because each of them truly does feel different. 

I love how the mechanics all work together and how each item feels like Spider-Man would use it. Gadgets can be upgraded, too, and that adds a layer of feel that I am completely obsessed with. There is a lot to work towards in this game, and so much to do even after you finish the main story. 

The combat feels fantastic, too. You do acrobatic finishers, fling people off of buildings, and just about everything else. Catch rockets, throw items, and throw thugs into their buddies. The hits of Spider-Man feel fantastic, too. There’s a lot of weight that goes into his character, and that weight can be felt during combat. 

Final Thoughts 

Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4 is truly a sight to behold. New York City comes alive in a way that still shocks me. You can interact with people on the street, look inside apartments, and while most of the insides are repeated, it’s still fun to see. I also love how alive the game feels, from the traffic in the streets to the crime in the alleys. New York was brought to life in a thrilling way that makes it a joy to swing around and relax in. 

I also really like the music in this game because it is not meant to overpower any of the scenes. Even when you’re swinging, the music in the background is just right. What did get old quickly was the combat music, but it was also easily ignorable. I wish they had 3 or so more combat tracks in rotation. 

The boss fights were amazing and extremely thematic. Each fight felt like it popped out of a comic book, and each move set was spot on. The only part of the fighting that felt like it was dragging was when you got poisoned by Scorpion. Aside from that, the fights were stellar, my favorite two fights being Rhino and Vulture. I liked Rhino because you had to use the environment to open him up for hits, and Vulture because fighting him mid-air was insanely satisfying. I also appreciate that none of the bosses had a health bar; it made the fights feel more immersive. 

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