I won't be the first in line to praise the Batman Arkham series as the pinnacle of the medium or anything, but there's something to be said about how they do seem to hone in on some specific ideas. I can feel a genuine respect for Batman as a character, attention paid to how his gadgets work, interesting scenarios with his enemies and at least very competent combat.
I say all this to say that Spider-Man doesn't really have this feeling at all. I don't mean to say that it's the worst game ever, but it also feels like Insomniac lacked any spark of creativity or even the will to at least make something thrilling and fun. Not every part is bad, but the sheer amount of parts of this game that feel mediocre reflect the worst aspects of AAA development.
I haven't played one of these big budget Sony games in a while, so I was immediately taken aback by the frustrating handholding and lack of trust in the player to do anything on their own. Once I pushed past all of the obnoxious tutorializing, I did make a genuine effort to dig into the gameplay, yet I still find it pretty unrewarding. Spider-Man's combat is just plain uninteresting most of the time. His basic 4 hit combo feeling gross on it's own is one thing, so it's clear the gadgets are the emphasis, right? It seems like Insomniac thought that this was their way to add depth, but it also fails. The gadgets are all very similar to each other, some felt like they should only be used on a whim like the drone or tripwire ones which still end up being used identically to the other ones. More enemy varieties that need different gadgets to be taken down would help, but this won't mesh with the progression system (I'll get back to this). The funniest part is how missions will just tell you to use a certain gadget to fulfill a condition as if just bothering to dust off the drones for once is some kind of challenge run lmao.
Even past all of this, some of it just doesn't function very well. The dodge system isn't broken, but it also isn't polished at all. Enemy wind-ups are made fairly obvious, but the weird timing particularly on melee attacks makes just spamming dodge the ideal option. Melee enemies will often change speeds between their wind-up and attack, which can be pretty confusing and defeats the point of Spidey's agility and senses.
This emphasis on breadth of mechanics rather than depth of mechanics rears its head even more in other ways. The aforementioned progression reeks of AAA broad-appeal approach. "We can't design enemies around gadgets, because players may not care to get those gadgets. But we also want people who do want them to get them, so put activities that give you crafting points everywhere. But we also still want everyone to be able to just run into them so make it really easy to just naturally get the materials to get upgrades."
A few conflicts of interest there huh?
Getting a bit all over the place here but the point is that these activities are simultaneously unrewarding while also hurting other parts of the game. There's 30 different varieties of open world check box things to do, yet they rarely feel unique from one another. Either chase a thing or fight some guys or both, usually in the same arena every time for the same rewards. The backpacks are the closest to providing some real value, which is probably why I got all of them while also Petering out after my 5th fight with convicts or demons or sable or whatever. Credit where credit is due, the swinging makes these more fun than they should be. It was probably the area of the game with the most focus, and while it probably isn't the best Spider-Man traversal it does make taking detours something that feels quite natural and enjoyable. I also appreciate how many of the combat encounters are just naturally in the open world even though they don't make for the best arenas.
The mostly decent plot is decent but can't escape from the AAA "overload of things" in a few ways. I appreciate a lot of aspects of it, Martin Li is an interesting character and Peter's relationship with Doc Ock works quite well. Obviously the May scene at the end is great. Yet the AAA rushjob yet again permeates throughout with how choppy the pacing is. So much time is spent on Mister Negative and the demons, but it leads to a weak twist and weak conclusion as he ends up getting backseated for Doc Ock. Otto forming the Sinister 6 feels like something that happens on a whim more than anything, with like one scene before this happens. It feels like Insomniac figured we already know these characters are villains and didn't bother to explore the setup as much as they should. It ends up feeling pretty disjointed. I don't think it helps that the spectacle itself is a lot weaker than I expected. Getting back to gameplay here but the same spam web shots then press square loop for every boss feels like it undermines their uniqueness, and the flat boring arenas don't help either.
Much has been made of this game's worship of the NYPD. I don't really have anything interesting to add, but I will say that it was more eye-rolling to me than a dealbreaker. It's bad but at the same time it's nothing out of the ordinary for comics. However the odiously liberal worldview does make Spider-Man a lot less likable in that regard too. He feels less like a "neighborhood" hero than ever, just like another Batman type who flies around beating up criminals except with epic funny quips about how they should try getting real jobs. Like everything you do in this game is dealing with some sort of criminal attack and not the fun everyday stuff that comes with a more grounded hero like Spider-Man. JJJ and Silver Sable are also examples of why this portrayal is so annoying. JJJ is supposed to be some sort of right-wing crank podcast host, and Sable runs an authoritarian militia, but the game kinda operates that these people are only bad once they start hating on Spider-Man and what they do is pretty much okay otherwise. It's a shame because I really think Yuri Lowenthal's performance would've fit a more fun and grounded Spider-Man a lot more but he's constantly forced to just tell criminals that they should love jail and hate drugs. I'm not saying he hasn't been portrayed like that plenty of times but I still feel like this game chose the wrong direction.
I've written a more rambling negative review than I intended for a game I described to people as the "textbook definition of mid" but I've also expunged all of my thoughts about why this game makes me kinda sad now. I quite like Spider-Man and yet this just completely lacked his appeal for me for the most part. I really question if Insomniac ever will understand that, and even if they did, would the suits even let it happen?
The Arkham games are alright I guess.
I say all this to say that Spider-Man doesn't really have this feeling at all. I don't mean to say that it's the worst game ever, but it also feels like Insomniac lacked any spark of creativity or even the will to at least make something thrilling and fun. Not every part is bad, but the sheer amount of parts of this game that feel mediocre reflect the worst aspects of AAA development.
I haven't played one of these big budget Sony games in a while, so I was immediately taken aback by the frustrating handholding and lack of trust in the player to do anything on their own. Once I pushed past all of the obnoxious tutorializing, I did make a genuine effort to dig into the gameplay, yet I still find it pretty unrewarding. Spider-Man's combat is just plain uninteresting most of the time. His basic 4 hit combo feeling gross on it's own is one thing, so it's clear the gadgets are the emphasis, right? It seems like Insomniac thought that this was their way to add depth, but it also fails. The gadgets are all very similar to each other, some felt like they should only be used on a whim like the drone or tripwire ones which still end up being used identically to the other ones. More enemy varieties that need different gadgets to be taken down would help, but this won't mesh with the progression system (I'll get back to this). The funniest part is how missions will just tell you to use a certain gadget to fulfill a condition as if just bothering to dust off the drones for once is some kind of challenge run lmao.
Even past all of this, some of it just doesn't function very well. The dodge system isn't broken, but it also isn't polished at all. Enemy wind-ups are made fairly obvious, but the weird timing particularly on melee attacks makes just spamming dodge the ideal option. Melee enemies will often change speeds between their wind-up and attack, which can be pretty confusing and defeats the point of Spidey's agility and senses.
This emphasis on breadth of mechanics rather than depth of mechanics rears its head even more in other ways. The aforementioned progression reeks of AAA broad-appeal approach. "We can't design enemies around gadgets, because players may not care to get those gadgets. But we also want people who do want them to get them, so put activities that give you crafting points everywhere. But we also still want everyone to be able to just run into them so make it really easy to just naturally get the materials to get upgrades."
A few conflicts of interest there huh?
Getting a bit all over the place here but the point is that these activities are simultaneously unrewarding while also hurting other parts of the game. There's 30 different varieties of open world check box things to do, yet they rarely feel unique from one another. Either chase a thing or fight some guys or both, usually in the same arena every time for the same rewards. The backpacks are the closest to providing some real value, which is probably why I got all of them while also Petering out after my 5th fight with convicts or demons or sable or whatever. Credit where credit is due, the swinging makes these more fun than they should be. It was probably the area of the game with the most focus, and while it probably isn't the best Spider-Man traversal it does make taking detours something that feels quite natural and enjoyable. I also appreciate how many of the combat encounters are just naturally in the open world even though they don't make for the best arenas.
The mostly decent plot is decent but can't escape from the AAA "overload of things" in a few ways. I appreciate a lot of aspects of it, Martin Li is an interesting character and Peter's relationship with Doc Ock works quite well. Obviously the May scene at the end is great. Yet the AAA rushjob yet again permeates throughout with how choppy the pacing is. So much time is spent on Mister Negative and the demons, but it leads to a weak twist and weak conclusion as he ends up getting backseated for Doc Ock. Otto forming the Sinister 6 feels like something that happens on a whim more than anything, with like one scene before this happens. It feels like Insomniac figured we already know these characters are villains and didn't bother to explore the setup as much as they should. It ends up feeling pretty disjointed. I don't think it helps that the spectacle itself is a lot weaker than I expected. Getting back to gameplay here but the same spam web shots then press square loop for every boss feels like it undermines their uniqueness, and the flat boring arenas don't help either.
Much has been made of this game's worship of the NYPD. I don't really have anything interesting to add, but I will say that it was more eye-rolling to me than a dealbreaker. It's bad but at the same time it's nothing out of the ordinary for comics. However the odiously liberal worldview does make Spider-Man a lot less likable in that regard too. He feels less like a "neighborhood" hero than ever, just like another Batman type who flies around beating up criminals except with epic funny quips about how they should try getting real jobs. Like everything you do in this game is dealing with some sort of criminal attack and not the fun everyday stuff that comes with a more grounded hero like Spider-Man. JJJ and Silver Sable are also examples of why this portrayal is so annoying. JJJ is supposed to be some sort of right-wing crank podcast host, and Sable runs an authoritarian militia, but the game kinda operates that these people are only bad once they start hating on Spider-Man and what they do is pretty much okay otherwise. It's a shame because I really think Yuri Lowenthal's performance would've fit a more fun and grounded Spider-Man a lot more but he's constantly forced to just tell criminals that they should love jail and hate drugs. I'm not saying he hasn't been portrayed like that plenty of times but I still feel like this game chose the wrong direction.
I've written a more rambling negative review than I intended for a game I described to people as the "textbook definition of mid" but I've also expunged all of my thoughts about why this game makes me kinda sad now. I quite like Spider-Man and yet this just completely lacked his appeal for me for the most part. I really question if Insomniac ever will understand that, and even if they did, would the suits even let it happen?
The Arkham games are alright I guess.