Are you, like seemingly half the planet, a fan of the Marvel films? If so you need the Spider-Man game in your life fast. It's fucking amazing.
New York is under siege. Crime kingpin Wilson Fisk has been taken down by Spider-man but a power vacuum created by his absence brings all the city's goons out looking for bite of the big apple. Street gangs, petty criminals and some pretty serious superbaddies are out in force. Not only are they on the rampage but a mysterious government agency wants martial law to take effect in the city too. The only person who can stop them is Peter Parker, his girlfriend Mary Jane and a young man who's life has been changed by the crime wave called Miles Morales.
There's no origin story here. You're dropped straight into the middle of everything. Peter Parker as Spider-Man is taking on the notorious crime boss Wilson Fisk and you learn as you fight. It's a brilliant way to open the game. Once the first battle is over you have the entire island of Manhattan as your playground. It's up to you what you want to do and if you've been lucky enough to have been to Manhattan your jaw will drop at what you get to swing through. Want to climb to the top of the new World Trade Centre or the Empire State Building to survey your kingdom? Work away. Feel like swinging through the canyons of Fifth Avenue? Or the posh streets of the upper east side? Or the rainbow flag festooned Christopher street? Go for it. Want to traverse Central park from Strawberry Fields to the Guggenheim? Chinatown, Greenwich, Harlem, the East Village, Alphabet City, Hell's Kitchen, the Highline, it's all there and it's all for you.It's a stunning recreation of the best city in the world and you'll spend countless hours exploring before you do anything else.
Of course it's not just a recreation of Manhattan, it's also full of stuff to do, scumbags to fight and puzzles to solve. At any given minute you'll be taking on hordes of escaped Riker's Island prisoners or swinging through clouds of pollution to collect samples to analyse in order to solve the city's health problems. You might find yourself chasing a pigeon who's just robbed your valuable USB stick through Union square park or taking on a courtyard full of chemically enhanced bikers. There's a mindboggling amount of stuff to do. You can of course lash straight into the story but it's really worth your while exploring and building up your experience so that when the really bad guys appear later on you'll be prepared for them.
Side missions give you tokens you can use to upgrade your suit, your gadgets and your fighting skills. Taking on these missions first gives you a real feel for the city and the controls. In no time at all you'll be swinging across Times Square and feeling giddy as a baba on Christmas morning. The controls are nice and simple too btw. Swinging is just a matter of holding down R2 and moving the left analog stick. Fighting is nearly all done the the square button and getting the timing right. It's all very intuitive. Once you know what you're doing you'll feel a full on adrenaline rush as you swing the length of the city and there's a lot of satisfaction to be gained from just perching on the side of a building and stealthily capturing bad guys one by one with a shot of your web.
Great voice acting and motion capture work bring all the characters to life in the games many cut scenes (these scenes are genuinely worth watching by the way, don't skip them). Peter Parker was always one of the more likable superheroes because, powers aside, he had a backstory that was relatable to a lot of people. His story here is excellent and builds to some genuinely emotional moments between himself, Mary Jane, Miles and of course Aunt May. It's a rare game that will give you the feels but this one does in spades. It's that backbone of emotion that will keep you playing the game long after you've grown used to the graphics. It's a video game story where you'll really care about how it all ends. Plus not only do you get to play as Peter but there's a couple of missions where you get to play as MJ and Miles too. These missions give you an insight into how these characters think with a lot more depth than the movies have so far. Fans of Mary Jane will especially enjoy her character.
The bad guys are all present and correct of course. The Rhino, Electro, Shocker, Kingpin, Vulture, Scorpion, Norman Osborne and a couple of others who's appearance I don't want to ruin. Daily Bugle editor and Spider-Man hater J.Jonah Jameson appears in podcasts you hear throughout the game shouting invective and general Spider hate. His rants provide the game with some hilarious moments and all the podcasts are saved so can be listened to over and over. The fights between Spidey and the bad guys are tough but the difficulty is pitched just right so that you learn from your mistakes and you'll generally get through everything just before you start pulling your hair out. The same goes for the puzzles you have to solve in your work and play. Things do get harder as you move up but there's no horrible difficulty spikes that can easily ruin a game like this.
It's an excellent game and easily the most enjoyable one I've played this year. A good game should put a smile on your face and this one will in spades. Plus if you are a Marvel fan you'll have a good time spotting all the easter eggs too. There's tonnes of them in there referencing both the films and the TV series. The only downside of the game is it's only available on the PS4 but if you've been umming and ahhing about buying one it's worth it for this game alone.
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