Editorial | How Insomniac Games made the best Spider-Man game ever.

 

By Sam Coles:

When you think of Spider-Man in the video game space the consistency of their quality is like me before I have had coffee, not exactly the best. Not to say there are not any good Spider-Man games, we have the movie tie in for Spider-Man 2 from Treyarch and Spider-Man on PS1. However in 2018 Insomniac Games released a game simply titled, Spider-Man, and it is one of if not the best Spider-Man game ever and now I have said Spider-Man so many times it is starting to sound weird, but I digress.

Now let’s start off with the story as you will know I’m not a huge fan of Spider-Man as a character, as I tend to find his quips in most circumstances to be as pleasurable as a kick to the gonads. However in this game he is older and more mature, and to be honest some of his quips made me laugh but he is also a human and can show other emotions. I have to say this is my favourite version of Peter Parker; he knows when to shut up when the situation calls for it and shows other emotions besides smug git. Not only that the transformation of Doctor Octopus from humble scientist to villain is a terrifying one, because again they show the human side of him he wants to change the world but Normal Osborne stops him from doing so.

The gameplay is what really makes this experience as it feels like that they took elements from their previous project, Sunset Overdrive. They took the concept of constant movement and momentum from Sunset Overdrive, as you swing from building to building at the speed of sound and it feels graceful and smooth. It takes a more realistic approach (hear me out) where you can only swing a web if there are buildings and trees in the nearby vicinity, it creates a layer of believability in the world as it always looked silly in the older games where Spidey would cling to thin air.

Combat is instantly familiar if you have played any of the Batman Arkham games, where you are up against a huge group of enemies where they will attack you from all corners, where you will dodge and counter. However fitting with Spider-Man’s speed and agility it is faster compared to the Batman games, and honestly can get tricky in parts when they introduce multiple enemy types because you can’t just counter attack out of the situation. It keeps the combat fresh and honesty never found myself bored with the combat in the game, compared to the Arkham games where it started feel like routine.

Spider-Man is not just bound to his standard web shooters, you can upgrade them to do all sorts of crazy things such as electric webs to short out transformers (no not those ones), concussive blasts that sending enemies flying and totally not killing them and many more. These also come into play with suit powers, you can unlock different suits from the many eras of Spider-Man, but they are not only cosmetic as they can have gameplay differences. This is fantastic as it gives you an incentive to finish side quests, which in most open world games most players will probably do a few and not bother with them but not the case in this game as it rewards you appropriately.

The presentation is masterful, honesty when they first showed this game off back at the PS4 reveal I thought to myself “there is no way that this game is going to look this good” but I was very wrong. The detail on Spider-Man’s suit is incredible, you can see every bit of stitching on his suit I couldn’t believe it when I first booted up this game. The streets of New York look beautiful, with the excellent lighting at night as the rain beats down onto the pavements with the street lights reflecting to the orange glow of the morning as Spidey looks upon the horizon. This is Insomniac’s best looking game, it is insane all the details I would just swing around the city appreciating the beauty of it all.

Insomniac’s Spider-Man is easily one of if not the best Spider-Man game to date; it gets everything right about the characters and the world which leap from the comic panels onto the screen in the virtual world. I can’t wait for the standalone tale of Miles Morales on the PS5.