Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 does an incredible job to capture the dual-life of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic heroes, who, while has had some good games in the past, has rarely ever had a great one.
Thankfully, Insomniac (the team behind the Ratchet & Clank games) have reimagined the beloved wall-crawler that is a celebration of everything about the blue and red spandexed-saviour.
Not being tied to any movie or existing source material, the game takes place a few years into Spider-Man’s superhero antics, where he has locked up most of the notorious villains in his roster of baddies, but there are a few refreshing changes to the usual Spider-Man universe that’ll have fans intrigued. At the risk of spoiling anything, all we can say is that Spidey-lovers can be assured that they will get more than enough Spider-Man fanfare, with familiar faces popping up all over the place.
The one thing that can make or break a Spider-Man gameis of course his web-swinging, and thankfully, movement and traversal through New York City is as slick as its ever been. In addition, some really clever contextual animations have been added, allowing you to zip through small gaps between railings and openings in the environment, and make sharp 90-degree turns around bends. These help tremendously and maintain the sense of momentum built when chasing down a rogue getaway van or flying villain.
Combat is interesting and somewhat tricky, but incredibly satisfying as a result. It takes an hour or so to get a good handle on the controls and timing, but soon after you’ll find yourself dodging bullets, throwing trash cans, webbing guns away from goons, and uppercutting thugs into the air in almost a Tony Hawk Pro Skater-combo fashion.
Of course, there are other things to keep you busy in New York. There are some smaller mini-game type segments attached to main story missions where you play as Peter Parker to provide some background and flesh out who Spider-Man really is.
As for presentation, the game looks and sounds spectacular thanks to meticulously-detailed character models, fantastic voice-acting, and the most dense and bustling open-world this side of Grand Theft Auto V.
Spider-Man delivers exactly what it promised: making you feel like the friendly neighbourhood superhero, a ton of fan-service that’ll please even the most hardcore of fans, and while all looking gorgeous in the process. It’s a must-buy from us, and a legitimate contender to Batman: Arkham City as one of the best superhero games to date.
Spider-Man is available exclusively on PS4.
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