Post by Tig on May 26, 2019 10:40:14 GMT -5
I'll be quick with this . I'm not done with the game, maybe halfway through the story, but I am enjoying every second of it so much that I felt confident to go ahead with a review.
I love Spider-Man; I always have. Spidey is one of the primary reasons I became a cop so I have a special attachment to him. The movies, not so much. Tobey Maguire sucked. Anyway. So yeah, I love the web-head and had been wanting to play this game since it came out. I grabbed it on sale (it's a PS4 exclusive title) thinking I wasn't going to enjoy it like I wanted. Much of the combat is rhythm-based with a multitude of combos to remember and quicktime events thrown in. This is a nightmare for people like me with dyslexia but none of it is fatal. If you can't remember to do the jump swing (I can't), you can just pound on the strike button in timed succession, dodging every time your Spidey sense goes off, and you'll eventually wear your enemies down. It's hard at first and I actually died during the tutorial, but once you get the patterns set you're treated to a melee extravaganza that not even John Woo could have choreographed. Combat becomes a fluid torrent of kicks, spins, flips, webs flying everywhere, bodies flying everywhere, and maybe even your lunch flying everywhere because you get so dizzy. It's thrilling, it's fun, and it's highly rewarding.
That's not all there is to the game, however, as there is a well-acted plot with relevant side-missions. Different badguys from the past are called up to antagonize the hero and each mission is handled a different way. One mission is heavy on stealth (but not frustratingly so), the next involves a wild...WILD ride swinging on webs flying over the city trying to catch Shocker on the run or a helicopter that keeps shooting at you with rockets. Amidst all that are tons of collectables that cause you to want to get out and explore, just swinging from building to building hunting objects down and taking in NYC that has been recreated almost to the last detail. There are fast-travel points unlocked about a third into the game but I rarely use them. I want to run up the side of the Empire State Building and jump off. I want to swing so low down Broadway I can hear the people gasp as they look up. I want to stumble upon the next armored car robbery or collision where people are trapped in their cars. I want to play this game and keep playing it.
The immersion is so much more than just the gorgeous graphics and setting in this game. I'm reminded of why I loved Spidey so much and why the comics had such an impact on me. After a mission, a person will sometimes walk up and want to shake Spidey's hand, saying thank you. A person will jump beside him yelling at a friend "quick, take a picture". Spidey has his own social media similar to Twitter where people tag him in posts about sightings and debate whether he is a hero or a menace. There is a repetition every now and then but so much of it feels organic and unique. The plot devices of how Aunt May helps others and how Peter Parker helps her and others help Peter are so well crafted that the game puts a swell of pride in you and makes you think about helping others in real life, beyond beating up bad guys (but that's fun too).
If you have a PS4, grab this game. This is by far, hands down, no joke one of the best adventure games I've ever played in 40+ years of being a gamer. This is some of the most fun I've had in years, and I can't wait to boot up and swing into NYC again.
I love Spider-Man; I always have. Spidey is one of the primary reasons I became a cop so I have a special attachment to him. The movies, not so much. Tobey Maguire sucked. Anyway. So yeah, I love the web-head and had been wanting to play this game since it came out. I grabbed it on sale (it's a PS4 exclusive title) thinking I wasn't going to enjoy it like I wanted. Much of the combat is rhythm-based with a multitude of combos to remember and quicktime events thrown in. This is a nightmare for people like me with dyslexia but none of it is fatal. If you can't remember to do the jump swing (I can't), you can just pound on the strike button in timed succession, dodging every time your Spidey sense goes off, and you'll eventually wear your enemies down. It's hard at first and I actually died during the tutorial, but once you get the patterns set you're treated to a melee extravaganza that not even John Woo could have choreographed. Combat becomes a fluid torrent of kicks, spins, flips, webs flying everywhere, bodies flying everywhere, and maybe even your lunch flying everywhere because you get so dizzy. It's thrilling, it's fun, and it's highly rewarding.
That's not all there is to the game, however, as there is a well-acted plot with relevant side-missions. Different badguys from the past are called up to antagonize the hero and each mission is handled a different way. One mission is heavy on stealth (but not frustratingly so), the next involves a wild...WILD ride swinging on webs flying over the city trying to catch Shocker on the run or a helicopter that keeps shooting at you with rockets. Amidst all that are tons of collectables that cause you to want to get out and explore, just swinging from building to building hunting objects down and taking in NYC that has been recreated almost to the last detail. There are fast-travel points unlocked about a third into the game but I rarely use them. I want to run up the side of the Empire State Building and jump off. I want to swing so low down Broadway I can hear the people gasp as they look up. I want to stumble upon the next armored car robbery or collision where people are trapped in their cars. I want to play this game and keep playing it.
The immersion is so much more than just the gorgeous graphics and setting in this game. I'm reminded of why I loved Spidey so much and why the comics had such an impact on me. After a mission, a person will sometimes walk up and want to shake Spidey's hand, saying thank you. A person will jump beside him yelling at a friend "quick, take a picture". Spidey has his own social media similar to Twitter where people tag him in posts about sightings and debate whether he is a hero or a menace. There is a repetition every now and then but so much of it feels organic and unique. The plot devices of how Aunt May helps others and how Peter Parker helps her and others help Peter are so well crafted that the game puts a swell of pride in you and makes you think about helping others in real life, beyond beating up bad guys (but that's fun too).
If you have a PS4, grab this game. This is by far, hands down, no joke one of the best adventure games I've ever played in 40+ years of being a gamer. This is some of the most fun I've had in years, and I can't wait to boot up and swing into NYC again.
