Playing Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system back in 2018 was a rare case of a dream game coming true. Like most fans of the character, I adored the bizarrely ambitious licensed game that was Activision's Spider-Man 2, and it felt like the deluge of Spider-Man games that came in the wake of its success were always chasing that high yet never quite achieved it. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows was the game that likely came the closest, but it wasn't until Insomniac Games brought forth this big AAA take on the character that it felt like we finally had a game that made you TRULY FEEL LIKE SPIDER-MAN™
Okay, I had to get one in there, but there is truth in that oft-repeated statement. Amazing web-slinging allowing fun and fast traversal over a high-fidelity recreation of Manhattan; a free-flowing combat system that felt the most responsive out of any superhero game and fully utilized all the character's strengths; and finally a story that tapped into the things about Peter Parker that resonate the most with people. That was honestly the biggest surprise for me, and the result is a narrative that I think one can put amongst some of the greatest Spider-Man stories ever told, regardless of medium.
From the opening moments of the game, as the camera pans over Peter's messy, low-income apartment, with an overdue bill notice being slid under his door immediately before he needs to dash out the window for his first mission, you can tell the writers of this game truly understood the assignment. The rest of the game that followed is an incredible underscoring of that, from his dealing with eviction to juggling his failed relationships to being late to every important meeting he needs to attend. It works super well with a story that's traveling at a brisk pace the whole time, making YOU the player feel like you've forgotten to do something important just as Peter often does. And I will forever give credit to this game for having an entire mission dedicated to Peter, at his lowest point, digging through trash to find a lost USB drive. Not many games would showcase their main character doing something of that nature, but it's perfectly in-character for the struggles of this particular superhero.
The game's larger narrative is incredibly jam-packed, hitting all the personal highlights of what you'd want to see from a Spider-Man adventure, complete with a healthy chunk of his rogue's gallery in tow. And yet, it effortlessly handles all these plot threads in unison. The big one, however, that ultimately drives the events and forms the heart of the story, is Peter's relationship with Otto Octavius. The core of this is naturally building off what had been done in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 film, but I think it says a lot about how good the story of this game is that I think they might have even outdone its inspiration. This could be the definitive Doctor Octopus story in all Spider-Man media.
See, in a film, you only have a couple of hours to tell a story, so you need to move things along quickly. The Spider-Man 2 movie gets Doc Ock from Point A to Point B very fast, explaining his fall from respected scientist to evil supervillain as largely the result of a biochip that alters his personality. Marvel's Spider-Man retains that explanation, but given the longer form of storytelling a video game affords, spends much more time building out not only the friendship between Peter and Otto but seeds in stronger anchors to the Doctor's inevitable madness. The darker elements of his personality were always there; the interface with the tentacles merely heightened it. I also think it's a huge mark of honor to the writing that I can say that despite how well this game builds up to Doc Ock's inevitable turn, I was still fully convinced it might not happen...right up until the point you see him pull out the tentacles. Such amazing chemistry and friendship developed between him and Peter that I found myself rooting for Ocatvius to be a good guy for once.
Oh, and another aspect about this incarnation of Doctor Octopus I really loved and wanted to highlight: the origin of his iconic tentacles. It's kind of amazing how the defining aspect of this supervillain has always been such an afterthought in his creation. For me, I saw his development of these things as a cool accomplishment, but most Spider-Man stories treat the tentacles as just a tool he needs for his work before they accidentally become grafted to him. Here, Doc building these things WAS his origin story, and ties into his tragedy as a person, giving him an incredibly sympathetic backstory that truly seals the deal for this characterization of Doc Ock being best ever constructed.
Also, how the game ends was another incredibly bold choice in its writing, and I give huge props to the team at Insomniac for going through with it. It's one of those elements that the Spider-Man comics have struggled forever to deal with, never committing to it and walking it back whenever they try, but here? No, they understood that Spider-Man never gets out clean, always has to balance success with hardship, and what makes the character of Peter Parker truly special is his ability TO make that hard choice. In this case, they gave him the hardest possible choice he could ever have to make, and they didn't even blink in having him do it. No truer understanding of the character than in those final moments next to Aunt May.
All that praise heaped upon this game, and now I have to get in my one big criticism. It has to do specifically with this Remastered version, and it's the reason why I'm docking it points compared to my scoring of the original game. While I'm by no means the first person to harp on this, I absolutely HATE the change in Peter's character design. No explanation from the Insomniac team will change this opinion. The whole point of this game was to have a Peter Parker who was experienced and well-established in the role of Spider-Man, and the original look reflected that. Not only that, he looked like your average guy, which is what Peter is supposed to represent. Instead, he's replaced with a baby-faced Tom Holland lookalike that I just couldn't stand to view for more than a few seconds at a time. Seriously, there's a scene early on where he's in the diner with MJ and it looks like she's his babysitter. How am I supposed to take this seriously? Seems like such a minor complaint and maybe it is but damn does it still piss me off. Playing the Remastered version in full only solidified that.
Beyond that? A truly amazing game. If you can't tell by this review, I fucking love Spider-Man, and despite my initial worries back in the day this might be another overly cinematic snoozefest like many of Sony's offerings, this one stood out as being a genuinely fantastic video game. Much like the film Spider-Man 2 did, I hope Insomniac's Spider-Man 2 will push things to the next level in just a few short months.
Okay, I had to get one in there, but there is truth in that oft-repeated statement. Amazing web-slinging allowing fun and fast traversal over a high-fidelity recreation of Manhattan; a free-flowing combat system that felt the most responsive out of any superhero game and fully utilized all the character's strengths; and finally a story that tapped into the things about Peter Parker that resonate the most with people. That was honestly the biggest surprise for me, and the result is a narrative that I think one can put amongst some of the greatest Spider-Man stories ever told, regardless of medium.
From the opening moments of the game, as the camera pans over Peter's messy, low-income apartment, with an overdue bill notice being slid under his door immediately before he needs to dash out the window for his first mission, you can tell the writers of this game truly understood the assignment. The rest of the game that followed is an incredible underscoring of that, from his dealing with eviction to juggling his failed relationships to being late to every important meeting he needs to attend. It works super well with a story that's traveling at a brisk pace the whole time, making YOU the player feel like you've forgotten to do something important just as Peter often does. And I will forever give credit to this game for having an entire mission dedicated to Peter, at his lowest point, digging through trash to find a lost USB drive. Not many games would showcase their main character doing something of that nature, but it's perfectly in-character for the struggles of this particular superhero.
The game's larger narrative is incredibly jam-packed, hitting all the personal highlights of what you'd want to see from a Spider-Man adventure, complete with a healthy chunk of his rogue's gallery in tow. And yet, it effortlessly handles all these plot threads in unison. The big one, however, that ultimately drives the events and forms the heart of the story, is Peter's relationship with Otto Octavius. The core of this is naturally building off what had been done in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 film, but I think it says a lot about how good the story of this game is that I think they might have even outdone its inspiration. This could be the definitive Doctor Octopus story in all Spider-Man media.
See, in a film, you only have a couple of hours to tell a story, so you need to move things along quickly. The Spider-Man 2 movie gets Doc Ock from Point A to Point B very fast, explaining his fall from respected scientist to evil supervillain as largely the result of a biochip that alters his personality. Marvel's Spider-Man retains that explanation, but given the longer form of storytelling a video game affords, spends much more time building out not only the friendship between Peter and Otto but seeds in stronger anchors to the Doctor's inevitable madness. The darker elements of his personality were always there; the interface with the tentacles merely heightened it. I also think it's a huge mark of honor to the writing that I can say that despite how well this game builds up to Doc Ock's inevitable turn, I was still fully convinced it might not happen...right up until the point you see him pull out the tentacles. Such amazing chemistry and friendship developed between him and Peter that I found myself rooting for Ocatvius to be a good guy for once.
Oh, and another aspect about this incarnation of Doctor Octopus I really loved and wanted to highlight: the origin of his iconic tentacles. It's kind of amazing how the defining aspect of this supervillain has always been such an afterthought in his creation. For me, I saw his development of these things as a cool accomplishment, but most Spider-Man stories treat the tentacles as just a tool he needs for his work before they accidentally become grafted to him. Here, Doc building these things WAS his origin story, and ties into his tragedy as a person, giving him an incredibly sympathetic backstory that truly seals the deal for this characterization of Doc Ock being best ever constructed.
Also, how the game ends was another incredibly bold choice in its writing, and I give huge props to the team at Insomniac for going through with it. It's one of those elements that the Spider-Man comics have struggled forever to deal with, never committing to it and walking it back whenever they try, but here? No, they understood that Spider-Man never gets out clean, always has to balance success with hardship, and what makes the character of Peter Parker truly special is his ability TO make that hard choice. In this case, they gave him the hardest possible choice he could ever have to make, and they didn't even blink in having him do it. No truer understanding of the character than in those final moments next to Aunt May.
All that praise heaped upon this game, and now I have to get in my one big criticism. It has to do specifically with this Remastered version, and it's the reason why I'm docking it points compared to my scoring of the original game. While I'm by no means the first person to harp on this, I absolutely HATE the change in Peter's character design. No explanation from the Insomniac team will change this opinion. The whole point of this game was to have a Peter Parker who was experienced and well-established in the role of Spider-Man, and the original look reflected that. Not only that, he looked like your average guy, which is what Peter is supposed to represent. Instead, he's replaced with a baby-faced Tom Holland lookalike that I just couldn't stand to view for more than a few seconds at a time. Seriously, there's a scene early on where he's in the diner with MJ and it looks like she's his babysitter. How am I supposed to take this seriously? Seems like such a minor complaint and maybe it is but damn does it still piss me off. Playing the Remastered version in full only solidified that.
Beyond that? A truly amazing game. If you can't tell by this review, I fucking love Spider-Man, and despite my initial worries back in the day this might be another overly cinematic snoozefest like many of Sony's offerings, this one stood out as being a genuinely fantastic video game. Much like the film Spider-Man 2 did, I hope Insomniac's Spider-Man 2 will push things to the next level in just a few short months.
2 Comments
@PinkCheese "It was the symbiote suit, Miles! The symbiote made me say it!"
PinkCheese
10 months ago