TAG1138
2018
The hype for this game pre-release was unreal. My friends and I were hanging out the night of release in Dallas and we rushed back home to our local Gamestop just as they were closing to get our pre-order copies in time (thank you to the employees who unlocked the store after close for us)! If I recall correctly, I Platinum'd the game within a week, but I was playing nonstop. The story DLC's only added to my overall playtime as I redid everything on new game plus and on ultimate difficulty; I was obsessed.
A great return to form after several awful games in the franchise; Insomniac delivered a compelling story with phenomenal acting and writing that rivaled the best Spidey stories. Introducing Miles into the mix while Peter is still alive os a great change from the comics that opened the door for many great story moments to come. Overall the story is emotional and epic as the greatest Spider-Man stories are (with plenty left unanswered to keep intrigue alive for the sequels).
The gameplay loop is fun and exciting! The animation based swinging is a different feel than that of the raw physics based swinging of [Spider - Man 2], but the game world is expertly designed around this fact, and swinging is still a joy! Nearly every animation transitions perfectly into another and the game excuses a polish many TripleA games fail at upon launch. Combat is intense on higher difficulties and encourages improvisation. Gadgets are overpowered, but tbh I didn't care as on higher difficulties it was super fun to completey unload on enemies. Stealth is fun but very simple.
There are loads of collectibles that inform the player of this Peter's early days as Spider-Man (referencing many classic comic stories and moments that hardcore fans will get a kick out of). Side missions are also fun and it's great to see the average day-day of Spidey stopping various types of crimes while interacting with the average New Yorker. J. Jonah Jameson's Podcast is frequent and his ridiculous rage over everything that happens in the story (and some player related actions) is always hilarious.
The boss fights are surprisingly excellent with each villian having a different vibe / method of attack that fits their power set and character (the mid air battle between Electro and Vulture fight was a standout imo)!
The very ending is somewhat abrupt, but the story and characters were wrapped up well and left me wanting more.
Overall still worth playing if you're starting Insomniac's series of Spidey games as the story and gameplay starts off great and only gets better as the sequels go on. One of my favorite games ever! :)
★★★★★
A great return to form after several awful games in the franchise; Insomniac delivered a compelling story with phenomenal acting and writing that rivaled the best Spidey stories. Introducing Miles into the mix while Peter is still alive os a great change from the comics that opened the door for many great story moments to come. Overall the story is emotional and epic as the greatest Spider-Man stories are (with plenty left unanswered to keep intrigue alive for the sequels).
The gameplay loop is fun and exciting! The animation based swinging is a different feel than that of the raw physics based swinging of [Spider - Man 2], but the game world is expertly designed around this fact, and swinging is still a joy! Nearly every animation transitions perfectly into another and the game excuses a polish many TripleA games fail at upon launch. Combat is intense on higher difficulties and encourages improvisation. Gadgets are overpowered, but tbh I didn't care as on higher difficulties it was super fun to completey unload on enemies. Stealth is fun but very simple.
There are loads of collectibles that inform the player of this Peter's early days as Spider-Man (referencing many classic comic stories and moments that hardcore fans will get a kick out of). Side missions are also fun and it's great to see the average day-day of Spidey stopping various types of crimes while interacting with the average New Yorker. J. Jonah Jameson's Podcast is frequent and his ridiculous rage over everything that happens in the story (and some player related actions) is always hilarious.
The boss fights are surprisingly excellent with each villian having a different vibe / method of attack that fits their power set and character (the mid air battle between Electro and Vulture fight was a standout imo)!
The very ending is somewhat abrupt, but the story and characters were wrapped up well and left me wanting more.
Overall still worth playing if you're starting Insomniac's series of Spidey games as the story and gameplay starts off great and only gets better as the sequels go on. One of my favorite games ever! :)
★★★★★
2004
One of my all-time favorite games. I have probably put close to 150 hours into this game, beating it to near 100% on PS2, Xbox, & the Cube. Where as the first game was a simple beat-em-up, this game expands upon the world design giving the player a huge open city to explore! The web swinging mechanics here are fondly remembered, and for good reason; the more raw physics-based approach to web swinging has a steep learning curve, but it's so rewarding to learn and master that It makes the game endlessly replayable no matter what you are doing.
Considering it's a Movie Tie-in game from the early 2000s they did a fairly excellent job of re-creating the story from the film and it's themes appropriately. Voice acting is solid, and while the movie is for sure trunkcated in parts, the addition of Black Cat fits so well into the narrative and gives Peter a reason to doubt his life as Spider-Man without him fully giving up the mantle like he does in the film (which is understandable because that might make for some pretty boring gameplay). The addition of other classic Spider-Man villains, such as the returning Shocker, Rhino, and the addition of Mysterio add to the world and they don't feel shoe horned in; just another day in the life of Spider-Man while the main focus is on Doc Ock's transaformstion. Overall the pace of the game is brisk and while the story is only about 5-6 hours if you focus on it; the short length makes it such a joy to replay.
Combat is a little simplified from the first game, but the animations are really good and the punch impact sounds are CRUNCHY & satisfying! A precursor to Batman Arkham's Dodge, you can use your spider sense to dodge almost any attack at any point while doing almost any action, which adds to the flowing nature of Spider-Man's movement overall. There are hundreds of acrobatic challenges to complete and hundreds of tokens to collect which keeps the game interesting, and the EDM music provided by KMFDM is PHENOMENAL (a criminally underrated game soundtrack imo). The orchestral score is equally excellent, and played during more serious moments.
Definitely an early entry in the sandbox genre, but it's so much easier for me to get into this than the early GTA's (a game comparison many people at the time pointed out) simply for how consistent the world is designed and I feel there's a lot more interaction here than there were in the first 2 3D GTA's. It has aged, but overall, this is still an excellent game and worth playing for the swing alone, but every other aspect of the game is really well done which too few people comment on imo.
Considering it's a Movie Tie-in game from the early 2000s they did a fairly excellent job of re-creating the story from the film and it's themes appropriately. Voice acting is solid, and while the movie is for sure trunkcated in parts, the addition of Black Cat fits so well into the narrative and gives Peter a reason to doubt his life as Spider-Man without him fully giving up the mantle like he does in the film (which is understandable because that might make for some pretty boring gameplay). The addition of other classic Spider-Man villains, such as the returning Shocker, Rhino, and the addition of Mysterio add to the world and they don't feel shoe horned in; just another day in the life of Spider-Man while the main focus is on Doc Ock's transaformstion. Overall the pace of the game is brisk and while the story is only about 5-6 hours if you focus on it; the short length makes it such a joy to replay.
Combat is a little simplified from the first game, but the animations are really good and the punch impact sounds are CRUNCHY & satisfying! A precursor to Batman Arkham's Dodge, you can use your spider sense to dodge almost any attack at any point while doing almost any action, which adds to the flowing nature of Spider-Man's movement overall. There are hundreds of acrobatic challenges to complete and hundreds of tokens to collect which keeps the game interesting, and the EDM music provided by KMFDM is PHENOMENAL (a criminally underrated game soundtrack imo). The orchestral score is equally excellent, and played during more serious moments.
Definitely an early entry in the sandbox genre, but it's so much easier for me to get into this than the early GTA's (a game comparison many people at the time pointed out) simply for how consistent the world is designed and I feel there's a lot more interaction here than there were in the first 2 3D GTA's. It has aged, but overall, this is still an excellent game and worth playing for the swing alone, but every other aspect of the game is really well done which too few people comment on imo.
This review contains spoilers
Love the story, but damn the ending sucked; far too abrupt with hardly any resolution (although I do like Joe’s ambiguous fate; I just wish it was made more clear that Vito is now stuck in a life he probably doesn’t want anymore).
The gameplay was about as enjoyable same as the first game (the remake), although gunplay was very repetitive after awhile.
The attention to detail in open world design was stunning and it was a joy to drive around and listen to all the classic hits.
Overall a fun if somewhat dated experience with a great story for the most part and a lot of passion for period authenticity.
The gameplay was about as enjoyable same as the first game (the remake), although gunplay was very repetitive after awhile.
The attention to detail in open world design was stunning and it was a joy to drive around and listen to all the classic hits.
Overall a fun if somewhat dated experience with a great story for the most part and a lot of passion for period authenticity.
1998
Master Collection is eh, but replaying this game reminded me why this is the greatest series in all of gaming. Never before in gaming had the gameplay and story been intertwined in such an engaging way. Controls are dated, but easy to adjust to and the music, presentation, and voice acting is so far ahead of its time in terms of quality it’s insane! Play on the Easy or Normal difficultly for your first play-through as Hard / Extreme mode can be really cheap given the aged design, but the experience of playing this game is so worth it.
Console: 3 of 5 - A barebones port job, but the option to download the original Japanese versions along with other regional editions & the Screenplay/Master Books make this worthwhile for newcomers and fans. The games are presented as close to originally intended as possible and the devs made some fixes to MGS2 & 3 (codec delay is gone in MGS2; that bug single handedly adds multiple unskippable hours to a normal play through), so I do applaud them for going the extra mile in that aspect.
PC version: 1 of 5 - A horrid rush job with ABYSMAL optimization, no resolution options, and no keyboard support. The fact that this was released in this state is so typical of modern Konami and I’m so very scared for the Snake Eater Remake. Modders will definitely make this the definitive version of the games in time, but do not buy this game as is at full price; if you have to pick one buy one of the console versions.
PC version: 1 of 5 - A horrid rush job with ABYSMAL optimization, no resolution options, and no keyboard support. The fact that this was released in this state is so typical of modern Konami and I’m so very scared for the Snake Eater Remake. Modders will definitely make this the definitive version of the games in time, but do not buy this game as is at full price; if you have to pick one buy one of the console versions.
This review contains spoilers
Working on the trophy cleanup, but goddamn if this game isn’t marvelous! The graphics are stunning and the combat (while very similar to the first two games) is a lot more involved, difficult, and parry heavy than the first game which added to the gameplay/story tension. The story took risks and went to darker places than the OG and I commend insomniac for having some heavy themes and a few gnarly scenes. I will say, while I loved this version of Harry/Venom, I feel Harry’s half assed resurrection at the end of the story was a bit thrown in and somewhat diluted the emotional impact considering he is still in a coma with little chance of survival so I feel killing him here may have been the better story move however, I do like that it gave Miles agency in the final act! Love Peter & Miles’ arcs through the game and the side missions add to the “Friendly Neighborhood” aspect of the character well and I loved completing them just to interact with and help out cool side characters giving New York life, tangibility, and texture. Web wings and swinging are great and the option to adjust physics system and turn on fall damage made the traversal much more enticing and enjoyable imo. Idk if I had the same level of “WOW” I did playing the first game, but this is definitely a worth sequel and I’m excited to see how insomniac resolves the story threads in the final installment. If all goes well in the end, this could end up being better than Arkham.
Great emotional depth, but game is super short and alot of the choices feel surface level. Definitely worth playing through!
I remember playing this when it first came out and my entire friend group was obsessed with it; scared the shit outta me too much to ever complete it on my own time until later on. The concept at the time was cool and it clearly inspired so many horror games that came after it. The game itself is very simple in visual design and mechanics, but the ambience and (at the time) ambiguous lore kept the game fresh. A little too much RNG at times for my tastes, but I’ll always have fond memories of being enthralled at release.
2002
Beat again on PS2 w/ RetroAchievements. Still fun and nostalgic, but playing on the harder difficulties can be really cheap as you have few if any invincibility frames leading to frustrating combat encounters at points.
2010
Avoid this port as it introduces many glitches and changes that taint the overall experience and play control. Also the forced 4:3 is so stupid.
2014
Spent 2 hours grinding XP then spent it on an obscenely priced chicken by accident and gave the fuck up.
A great standalone Michonne adventure that gives some good development for her character. Not as long as other Telltale games and some of the big decisions are “eh…”, but the writing and voice acting is really solid.
Platinumd the game and have updated my thoughts. Very fun and violent as a Wolverine game should be, but the game is VERY repetitive and the reuse of environments gets old very quickly. The gameplay itself is fast and fluid if a little simple, but if you’re a fan of the character you’ll love this game (and the alternate costumes are incredible)!
Repetitive and tedious gameplay, yet the animations themselves are so fluid and varied that the movement / combat mechanics rarely become boring even if the tasks the game asks you to do are mind numbing.
The story is quite awful simply due to the often horrendous voice acting that has the depth and nuance of a school play, but nevertheless it’s entertaining in how over dramatic it is. The choice system is cool in concept, but in execution it’s totally binary with no meaningful reactions from the story or other NPCs which would’ve given the choices thematic weight (although being so poorly thought out leads to utter hilarity when making the evil decisions). Four slightly altered endings isn’t enough to inspire multiple playthroughs although I did grow up with this game so I have some nostalgia for it at the end of the day.
The Wii version of this game run somewhat well compared to the 360/PS3 versions, but slow down is more frequent here. This version has motion based controls for swinging which is simple and fun, but the gesture controls make combat a little more frustrating and QTE’s almost unbearable so use caution if playing this version (Extra costumes are unlocked in this version which is a neat bonus)!
The story is quite awful simply due to the often horrendous voice acting that has the depth and nuance of a school play, but nevertheless it’s entertaining in how over dramatic it is. The choice system is cool in concept, but in execution it’s totally binary with no meaningful reactions from the story or other NPCs which would’ve given the choices thematic weight (although being so poorly thought out leads to utter hilarity when making the evil decisions). Four slightly altered endings isn’t enough to inspire multiple playthroughs although I did grow up with this game so I have some nostalgia for it at the end of the day.
The Wii version of this game run somewhat well compared to the 360/PS3 versions, but slow down is more frequent here. This version has motion based controls for swinging which is simple and fun, but the gesture controls make combat a little more frustrating and QTE’s almost unbearable so use caution if playing this version (Extra costumes are unlocked in this version which is a neat bonus)!
Repetitive and tedious gameplay, yet the animations themselves are so fluid and varied that the movement / combat mechanics rarely become boring even if the tasks the game asks you to do are mind numbing.
The story is quite awful simply due to the often horrendous voice acting that has the depth and nuance of a school play, but nevertheless it’s entertaining in how over dramatic it is. The choice system is cool in concept, but in execution it’s totally binary with no meaningful reactions from the story or other NPCs which would’ve given the choices thematic weight (although being so poorly thought out leads to utter hilarity when making the evil decisions). Four slightly altered endings isn’t enough to inspire multiple playthroughs although I did grow up with this game so I have some nostalgia for it at the end of the day.
The 360/PS3 version of this game run fairly well on both consoles, but slow down is frequent in the second half of the game once the symbiote apocalypse begins as the game simply cannot render everything happening on screen at once leading to dismal frame rates in hectic scenes, but when it counts the game runs fine.
The story is quite awful simply due to the often horrendous voice acting that has the depth and nuance of a school play, but nevertheless it’s entertaining in how over dramatic it is. The choice system is cool in concept, but in execution it’s totally binary with no meaningful reactions from the story or other NPCs which would’ve given the choices thematic weight (although being so poorly thought out leads to utter hilarity when making the evil decisions). Four slightly altered endings isn’t enough to inspire multiple playthroughs although I did grow up with this game so I have some nostalgia for it at the end of the day.
The 360/PS3 version of this game run fairly well on both consoles, but slow down is frequent in the second half of the game once the symbiote apocalypse begins as the game simply cannot render everything happening on screen at once leading to dismal frame rates in hectic scenes, but when it counts the game runs fine.