This review contains spoilers
As an overall experience, I loved it! Gameplay-wise, it’s far superior to the previous two games; combat has been massively improved, the traversal system is extremely fun, satisfying and well refined and for a large majority of the game it is essentially epic set piece after epic set piece, hardly ever letting up in its desire to give you a completely balls to the wall, action packed experience. The boss battles in particular are very fun and intense.
However, as a complete package, I think I still prefer the first game. This is mainly due to the incredibly messy story. It suffers from the same problems that Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did in that it’s trying to juggle multiple stories, characters and plot threads at once and struggles to make it all feel satisfying and cohesive. In fact, there’s so much to unpack from this story that I genuinely wouldn’t have a clue where to begin. It’s almost too overwhelming to think about. But what I really think lets the story down, is the lack of emotional resonance that the first game had. None of the spectacle that the game throws at you feels earned in a way.
Having said that, I absolutely adored Miles’ character development. His story of forgiveness and redemption involving Martin Li felt earnest and wholesome. I also loved the conclusion with him fully embracing responsibility of New York as the now primary Spider-Man. Miles is the MVP without a doubt!
On the whole though, it’s a still a decent story told in the absolute most comic bookish way possible. The final third in particular reminded me a lot of Web of Shadows with how it tackles an incredibly bonkers symbiote invasion storyline.
The good thing is that’s it’s a video game first and foremost, and with video games, gameplay is king. So in that respect, this absolutely slaps!
However, as a complete package, I think I still prefer the first game. This is mainly due to the incredibly messy story. It suffers from the same problems that Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did in that it’s trying to juggle multiple stories, characters and plot threads at once and struggles to make it all feel satisfying and cohesive. In fact, there’s so much to unpack from this story that I genuinely wouldn’t have a clue where to begin. It’s almost too overwhelming to think about. But what I really think lets the story down, is the lack of emotional resonance that the first game had. None of the spectacle that the game throws at you feels earned in a way.
Having said that, I absolutely adored Miles’ character development. His story of forgiveness and redemption involving Martin Li felt earnest and wholesome. I also loved the conclusion with him fully embracing responsibility of New York as the now primary Spider-Man. Miles is the MVP without a doubt!
On the whole though, it’s a still a decent story told in the absolute most comic bookish way possible. The final third in particular reminded me a lot of Web of Shadows with how it tackles an incredibly bonkers symbiote invasion storyline.
The good thing is that’s it’s a video game first and foremost, and with video games, gameplay is king. So in that respect, this absolutely slaps!