Spider-Man PS4 Review: Gameplay Impressions, Speedrunning Tips and Appeal

Perhaps no game on the 2018 calendar faces more pressure than Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4.  

Not only is Marvel's Spider-Man one of the most recognizable characters on the planet after debuting in 1962, but this is also a Sony Interactive Entertainment exclusive crammed into the same calendar year as juggernaut flagships like God of War. 

And why stop there? Outside of assuring justice for the source material, Insomniac Games promises a reinvention of the universe, fun gameplay in a detailed open-world format and a gripping narrative fit for Hollywood.

Of course, for those who know the character himself, Spider-Man would make a quip or two and pull it off. Which is fitting—the game does just that. 

Graphics and Gameplay

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Beautiful, if not photorealistic by day and gritty at night, this is a colorful game with impressive detail even when things speed up. The character models look great, the cutscenes and animation give the best games on the market a run for their money, and the city itself is downright stunning.  

No kidding, this might be the best video game recreation of New York City yet. Not to bash superhero games, but when most gamers likely think of superb city recreations, they tend to think of those included in games like Grand Theft Auto and the infamously enormous teams sent to research the location to recreate it digitally. Many gamers may not think of superhero games, as most are not necessarily grounded in reality in the same manner. 

But here we are. 

If you stop to pay attention, even squirrels have realistic paths while they go about their business (Spider-Man would have some witty comment here, but we'll leave it be). Cars are varied and course through the city, and random bars and parties atop skyscrapers vary the landscape. This isn't a game with sprawling cities of old where windows were blacked out, as plenty of detailed interiors dot the city's many skyscrapers or otherwise. It's not all accessible, but it brings the city to life in a way few open-world games have been able to do. Spend some time at street level and you'll run into citizens who either love or hate you, with some of the former even willing to interact with you. 

To say the gameplay is equally as excellent wouldn't be a reach. 

Like with the Batman Arkham games, gamers who consider themselves button mashers can probably survive. But it's more rewarding to learn the combos and arsenal available, as it's a sheer joy to weave it all together and create the biggest combo possible. The variety of enemies and challenges necessitates the mastery of mechanics after a certain point, but never in a bad way. The Spider-Sense is there as an assist and acts as the launching point for major combos. 

Stealth is well-incorporated into gameplay as well. It can almost feel like the Splinter Cell games of old at times, but with added quips. It's one layer of a game begging players to use the surroundings to their advantage. 

But let's be honest, you're really reading for the web swinging. It's the part of a Spider-Man game fans judge the harshest. Everything else goes out the window. Story? Suits? Enjoyability? Nope, it's all about the swinging. 

Past swinging in games like the famous Playstation version were fun, but this 2018 offering uses every bit of technology available to make this arguably the best slinging in a video game to date. 

Dare we say web swinging is relaxing? It can be a joy to just cruise around and soak in the environment. There is skill necessary to really get going, of course. But the swinging feels weighty and responsive. Diving down generates more speed, as do a vast array of moves. Spider-Man will pull off stunts that help cue when to sling the next web at a building, though even without the tricks, it's intuitive when it comes to figuring out how to best navigate the skies or otherwise.

Parkour (including wall running) is fluid and a critical element of the experience as well. There isn't fall damage, and this parkour element means completely failing and coming to a stop is nearly impossible—in this game, Spider-Man has been doing this for eight years and it feels like it, which means more fun for the players at the controls. 

Story, Features and the Rest 

Hardcore Spider-Man fans or otherwise can breathe a long, well-deserved breath of air—this isn't some origin story and it isn't going the Metroid route by making you earn all your abilities from scratch. 

This is a Spider-Man well into his days as a masked superhero. He has lethal fighting skills and enough acrobatic traversal skills to make his silver-screen brothers blush. Players still unlock upgrades as they go, but this is a mature Spider-Man on the job in his neighborhood, and that's conveyed well enough right from the story's opening shot of web. 

Without rolling into spoilers, this tale is about relationships. Other superheroes have human sides that are mostly bare-bones cutouts. Spider-Man has always been a heavy dose of Peter Parker's personal life on the side, and this retelling is no exception. 

Perhaps nothing better hits on this note than what Jon Paquette, lead writer at Insomniac Games, told Newsweek's Mo Mozuch: "The experience of being Spider-Man isn't just swinging through the city, it's also the guy who doesn't wear the mask. The reason that he is so popular is because it's not just Spider-Man, it's Peter Parker. There's two parts to him."

And the game pulls it off. It's an impressive feat, to say the least. Everybody has a cemented idea of who and what Spider-Man is by now. This is a different retelling in a universe Marvel should rightfully split off into its own thing and expand upon—it's that well done. 

Sony Interactive Entertainment

As hinted, everything weaves into gameplay. This isn't like other games in which you unlock upgrades for a character and that's it. This is Peter Parker, an extraordinary mind based in sciences. The game makes you take part in these upgrades, crafting them as you go. This is involving the player in the process, not just taking him or her along for a scripted ride. 

And the depth of customization necessary is all here. Players can craft a playstyle of their choosing through skill trees and gadgets. This includes suits, of course, one of the staples of a Spider-Man game. And we won't spoil anything other than the pretty new suit on the cover with the all-too-familiar white spider, but let's just say suit aficionados are going to be quite happy with this release. 

It's rewarding enough to course through the game's story and downright intimidating map of activities, but players are also rewarded with benchmarks to fulfill and collectibles to snag, which come equipped with more bonus material and background for the universe. There's also an in-depth character glossary serving as a central hub of sorts for the story.  

That intimidating map includes side quests with cutscenes and stories of their own. Various other gameplay elements litter the map, involving different ways to think about the game and offering a few surprises in the form of cameo appearances from other familiar faces. On the map itself, all is revealed by the tried-and-true tower system you'd find in an Assassin's Creed game of old. Don't groan—this is done much better, especially after using the brilliant web slinging and traversal system to get there in the first place. 

Speedrunning Tips and Appeal

This has the feel of a natural speedrunning game. 

Like any good speedrunner candidate, the skill ceiling is high here. There is going to be a huge difference between the player who picks up the sticks and has a go at it for fun and the player who wants to set a record. 

Primarily, this difference will occur while traversing the world. There are a number of tools available to speed this up, though the chess match of sorts is figuring out how to best use them on the fly while consistently upping the character's velocity. Where one player might run into a building or lose all momentum, another might successfully land on a launch point, gaining further momentum and turning it into several other swings and zips to reduce time between destinations. Fast travel is here as well in certain spots, but navigating the city and using obstacles as an advantage will separate the best from the rest. 

Same story with the combat. Speedrunners will probably want to forgo the stealth route and build a Spidey who specializes in attacking as many enemies at once to power through the story. This means fully using the environment in combat and learning which gadgets will get the quickest takedowns. Spidey-sense is critical for all spectrums of players but especially so for speedrunners, as it will better allow the building of the focus meter, which means faster finishing moves against enemies. 

Like the red and blue on the man himself, various traditional speedrunning staples make an appearance. Cutscenes are skippable. Not dying is key, even if there aren't any repercussions other than having to start over from a recent checkpoint. The more speedrunners play, the more they will figure out which side material is essential to a fast run. Which skill trees and even routes through the city will emerge over continued runs. 

As is the case with any good speedrunning game, part of the joy stems from watching a player dissect the systems in place to craft the best possible run. With Spider-Man, it's equal parts this and sitting back to watch the sheer skill of a master web swinger as the gamer navigates a city between story beats. That the speedrun will likely be for a good cause or otherwise is simply a bonus and something one Peter Parker himself would approve. 

Conclusion

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Insomniac Games took the permission from Marvel to take its best shot and hit a perfect note. 

Spider-Man does what so many games can't these days, scoffing in the face of expectations and delivering in superhero-esque fashion. The game is sheer fun in all facets, has tons of replay value and manages to pull off not only an incredible feat with the living city itself, but also tells a fresh story in a classic universe Marvel won't want to just let be one-and-done. 

This game feels like a culmination of developers who have worked on the franchise from the onset. Instead, it's a monster debut with pick-up-and-play appeal, a love letter to lifelong fans of the universe and even a game with a speedrunning element built in thanks to the game's high skill ceiling. When it isn't making you laugh, it's stunning you with some of the feats it pulls.

Written another way, it's as versatile as Spider-Man himself, the man tasked with juggling two lives and how to properly handle it all when the circles overlap. They're constantly doing so in Insomniac Games' Spider-Man, though it's handled as smoothly as how the webhead himself would breeze through the challenge.