E3 2016, with Sony dropping games like they are going out of fashion, God Of War (2018), Detroit: Beyond Human, Days Gone, and Batman VR, one game really stood out from their 2016 presentation and left my jaw on the ground. From the word go I knew Insomniac Games would be the ones to watch for their take on the friendly neighbourhood Web-slinger.
Marvel’s Spider-Man not only blew my expectations but it created a living, breathing city full of life and put you in the shoes of Peter Parker and gave you the ability to make New York City your playground. Equipped with an arsenal of gadgets that would make Tony Stark proud you are given the ability to protect the city and its inhabitants and do it however you see fit.
Marvel’s Spider-Man – A True Masterpiece From Opening to Close
Seeing the first slice of gameplay in the teaser trailer from E3 2016 my immediate concern was the web-swinging, this is a Spider-Man game after all, if you don’t get the core element of his character correct then you are destined for ridicule. Luckily for us within seconds this was squashed and we saw the traversal and although it was a teaser we noticed Insomniac Games were not messing around here.
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The concrete jungle was completely accessible in this game and going from one side to the next was never a dull moment. The option for fast travel was always there, but let’s be honest you can swing off any building and jump from the highest height why would you ever give that option up?
Sadly we only got to explore 1/5 boroughs of New York that being Manhattan, but with this said it wasn’t exactly like we were missing out as Insomniac made sure around every part of Manhattan there was something going down.
The opening is something is purely about quality, less is more, and has become an iconic opening of a video game, let alone a superhero video game! Within the first couple of minutes we see a spider dangling, a picture of Uncle Ben and Aunt May, another picture featuring Peter, Harry & MJ, another with Peter and May outside of the F.E.A.S.T shelter, gadgets galore, web-slingers, new suit designs, a very lived in apartment building, an inside out tech heavy Spider-Man mask, multiple Daily Bugle headline pages with Spideys rogues gallery and a police radio that reports units are converging on Fisk Tower. Close all this off with a final notice letter addressed to Peter Parker and there is just one thing left to do; ‘hold R2 to swing” and you have the makings of a masterpiece unravelling before you.
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The voice cast truly know their characters and how to play them, voice actor veteran Yuri Lowenthal in a stunning career defining performance absolutely nails both Peter’s stuttering kind-natured human side, as well as the jokey one line wonders we expect from the wall-crawler whilst taking down thugs and does it in such a positive light that you know he has brought his A-game to this character.
The range of acting in this game is something to get behind, as there were moments of real emotion in how important Spider-Man truly is, not just in game form but in-fact the world, especially in NYC, he is a community pillar and I believe Insomniac Games really nailed that vision of him. Given his history and lore they have gifted us so much but not everything, a lot is yet to be added to this franchise with the second game just a month away.
Insomniac Games truly delivered a fantastically woven story with its core game, but on top of that they then went on to release DLC titled ‘The City That Never Sleeps’ which gave us 3 new villains and an expansion on the stories of the established characters, as well as new stories and threads left for the future.
This game did such a deep dive into a superhero and made it so heavily focused on their character and the world around them that truly showed Insomniac Games value the character and secondly the idea of doing them anything less than 100% was unacceptable. Truly a masterpiece from start to finish and knowing the second outing is just around the corner I am extremely excited to get my hands on it and visit the new areas of the Big Apple whilst also being introduced to the newest characters and villains that NYC can produce.
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