Follows a very well-worn Spider-Man game formula. The expected mix of open-world web-slinging popularized by Treyarch and Batman: Arkham-style combat introduced by Beenox is present and accounted for. The biggest difference being that this isn't based on any movie. Of course, developer Insomniac Games have added their own personal touches to the experience in the form of things like an RPG leveling up system, upgradeable Spidey gadgets, special suit powers, and the ability to grapple towards and launch yourself from various points in the environment in what feels like a natural evolution of the movement mechanics found in their decent, but pretty underwhelming Sunset Overdrive. The most significant addition however is the inclusion of meaningful side-content for the first time in the wall-crawler's long career on home consoles.
As you progress a variety of optional tasks, challenges, and even small storylines will begin popping up across the map at regular intervals. Their quality varies wildly from legitimately entertaining (timed Taskmaster tests) to mundane (pigeon-catching), but I felt compelled to do them all regardless thanks to their relative brevity. This doesn't follow the Ubisoft structure of littering your screen with hundreds of icons to check-off. Rather, each activity type comes in handfuls to add just a few extra hours of playtime instead of keeping you busy for months on end.
What ultimately most makes this title worth picking up is its original story. Like I said earlier, this isn't some film tie-in, but also isn't set in any previously established continuity either. Insomniac have actually created their own universe complete with unique takes on the brand's history, characters, and lore. It leads to a tale that, while implementing a great deal of novel changes to deep-seated key elements, remains faithful to the true essence of who Spider-Man is with strong, surprisingly emotional writing that sets up so many exciting venues for them to go in the future. It's by far the greatest distinguishing part of the package.
The overall familiarity keeps this from being something I can truly rave about, yet at the same time stands as the reason I enjoyed it so much. I was transported back to the PS2 era over the course of this superhero adventure. Memories of playing the titles derived from the Raimi works and Ultimate came flooding back, and accompanied by the smoothest gameplay Parker has seen so far outside of the occasional glitches you'll encounter. As a result, I can do nothing than recommend that every web-head fan pick this up, even if only for the nostalgic feeling alone.
8/10
As you progress a variety of optional tasks, challenges, and even small storylines will begin popping up across the map at regular intervals. Their quality varies wildly from legitimately entertaining (timed Taskmaster tests) to mundane (pigeon-catching), but I felt compelled to do them all regardless thanks to their relative brevity. This doesn't follow the Ubisoft structure of littering your screen with hundreds of icons to check-off. Rather, each activity type comes in handfuls to add just a few extra hours of playtime instead of keeping you busy for months on end.
What ultimately most makes this title worth picking up is its original story. Like I said earlier, this isn't some film tie-in, but also isn't set in any previously established continuity either. Insomniac have actually created their own universe complete with unique takes on the brand's history, characters, and lore. It leads to a tale that, while implementing a great deal of novel changes to deep-seated key elements, remains faithful to the true essence of who Spider-Man is with strong, surprisingly emotional writing that sets up so many exciting venues for them to go in the future. It's by far the greatest distinguishing part of the package.
The overall familiarity keeps this from being something I can truly rave about, yet at the same time stands as the reason I enjoyed it so much. I was transported back to the PS2 era over the course of this superhero adventure. Memories of playing the titles derived from the Raimi works and Ultimate came flooding back, and accompanied by the smoothest gameplay Parker has seen so far outside of the occasional glitches you'll encounter. As a result, I can do nothing than recommend that every web-head fan pick this up, even if only for the nostalgic feeling alone.
8/10