This review contains spoilers
So close to perfection.
In terms of gameplay, I would say this is the best SM game yet, barring only Miles Morales. The web-swinging has been implemented with such love & care, and the combat is in a league of its own, despite taking cues from the Arkham games.
There are no words for how frustrated I feel at this game's story. Not because it's bad, instead far from it. My frustration stems from how close it came to greatness. All the ingredients were there, but sadly the recipe was not carried out to perfection. Interestingly, it's all the small things that add up to taint it. First, the good. All the main characters were amazing. Well cast, well written. Very impressed. The pacing is brisk and enjoyable. The story bits starring MJ & Miles serve their roles well, providing a difference in perspective, albeit with underwhelming gameplay. Cutscene presentation is top notch, most of the time. Here's my problem. Towards the end of the game, I can feel the lack of nuance in handling the story beats, and that impacted the emotional moments negatively. For example, after Aunt May's death, we are shown the antiserum station, then her funeral. Then, a 3 month time jump, MJ & Peter kissing. Credits roll. What? It's like they chopped off the tail end of the game. Nothing to show Peter coping with Aunt May's passing. Not enough to show MJ helping Peter through his grief. Nothing to show the fallout from the Sinister 6 wreaking havoc on the city. Miles revealing his powers to Peter, Peter showing Miles his powers, fade to black without a single word from Miles. Etc, etc. Like I said, I think a lot of nuance was lost, and that's a crying shame, because with a better crafted denouement, the emotional payoff could have been so much more potent and satisfying.
(As a side note, I'd like to give a shout out to Naughty Dog for being masters of this nuance I'm talking about.)
All in all, I do like this game. It takes its place right next to the Arkham series as one of the best superhero games of all time. Hoping that Insomniac will do a bang up job with the second game's story, to truly achieve the heights we all know it can.
In terms of gameplay, I would say this is the best SM game yet, barring only Miles Morales. The web-swinging has been implemented with such love & care, and the combat is in a league of its own, despite taking cues from the Arkham games.
There are no words for how frustrated I feel at this game's story. Not because it's bad, instead far from it. My frustration stems from how close it came to greatness. All the ingredients were there, but sadly the recipe was not carried out to perfection. Interestingly, it's all the small things that add up to taint it. First, the good. All the main characters were amazing. Well cast, well written. Very impressed. The pacing is brisk and enjoyable. The story bits starring MJ & Miles serve their roles well, providing a difference in perspective, albeit with underwhelming gameplay. Cutscene presentation is top notch, most of the time. Here's my problem. Towards the end of the game, I can feel the lack of nuance in handling the story beats, and that impacted the emotional moments negatively. For example, after Aunt May's death, we are shown the antiserum station, then her funeral. Then, a 3 month time jump, MJ & Peter kissing. Credits roll. What? It's like they chopped off the tail end of the game. Nothing to show Peter coping with Aunt May's passing. Not enough to show MJ helping Peter through his grief. Nothing to show the fallout from the Sinister 6 wreaking havoc on the city. Miles revealing his powers to Peter, Peter showing Miles his powers, fade to black without a single word from Miles. Etc, etc. Like I said, I think a lot of nuance was lost, and that's a crying shame, because with a better crafted denouement, the emotional payoff could have been so much more potent and satisfying.
(As a side note, I'd like to give a shout out to Naughty Dog for being masters of this nuance I'm talking about.)
All in all, I do like this game. It takes its place right next to the Arkham series as one of the best superhero games of all time. Hoping that Insomniac will do a bang up job with the second game's story, to truly achieve the heights we all know it can.