Marvel’s Spiderman is a game where you, the player gets to step into the shoes of Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) and fight against the crimes happening in New York City. The game gives the player the experience of all aspects of Parker’s life – his personal life with Aunt May, Mary Jane and Dr. Octavius alongside his life as Spiderman – fighting Martin Li’s demons, Shocker, and the evil Tycoon Wilson Fisk among others. The game is played entirely in third-person, which means you get to see Spidey’s back the entire game. The gameplay is structured as a series of missions that lets the player advance in the storyline of the game. However, the player also has the opportunity to swing around the city and engage in multiple side objectives which unlock new moves, collectibles, and advanced power ups. The main objective is to uncover the root of the vast network of crimes happening in the city and take down the network, piece by piece. The game is set in New York City, and you are free to roam around the entire island of Manhattan. They even the buildings of New York University, with Washington Square Park and everything! (only that it’s called Empire State University in the game).

Roaming the city

The mechanics and the overall theme of the game makes one very feel “heroic”. The creators of Spiderman have created the perfect web-swinging mechanic. One could swing around for hours, just watching Spiderman dive and jump across the city. The battle mechanics have never been this good in any Spiderman game. Players can engage in deadly hand-to-hand combat, and also have the experience of using spidey’s various skills, like Spider-Sense to dodge. Throwing webs at goons and tossing them at each other allow for more diverse combat. The game also provides very good audio and haptic feedbackThe best feature, however is the fact that you can use different kind of webs to achieve different goals. For example, while an electric web would temporarily stun your enemies, a web-bomb and web everyone in vicinity. Every player can have a unique experience playing this game. While some may choose to advance quickly and complete all missions, others may take their time to explore New York City as Spiderman while taking down thugs, clicking pictures of monuments, finding Peter’s old backpacks and taking pictures of historic buildings. While it isn’t explicitly stated, as a “good” superhero, you aren’t allowed to destroy propery or attack civilians, even if you try. If you do feel evil and toss a fire hydrant at a random dude on the street, he is quite likely to yell at you, but the mechanics of the game do not show him as being hurt from the attack and the object (fire hydrant) disappears. Players can also change Spiderman’s appearance by crafting different suits with tokens found around the city. Each suit has its own special power and a unique design.

The various suits

The game is rightly created for consoles. A PS4 controller has two joysticks, arrow keys, 4 action keys and additional keys on the back which allow more control. I can confidently say that I felt as though I had complete control of the character on my screen. I was bounded of course by the constraints of reality (I couldn’t jump through buildings, dive into the ground, etc.). This provides a very realistic (if you consider swinging around in web shooters realistic [i do]) experience. A major factor of the game’s exceptional quality would be the graphics. I played this game with a projector, on a screen as big as the one we use in class, and the experience was completely phenomenal. I could really feel like I was Spiderman for brief moments of the gameplay because it is that engaging and that realistic. Another major reason for the likability of the game is that it is based on a character that is known by everyone. I, for one, grew up watching spiderman and dreaming about slinging around my city in web-shooters.

Some fighting gameplay

While many players play the game to experience the joy of being Spiderman, they also get to live the life of Peter Parker. The game explores the nature of his complicated relationship with Mary Jane, his love for Aunt May and his goofiness in general. Overall, Marvel’s Spiderman is a wholesome experience where you live the life of Peter Parker, part scientist, part super-hero. As a player, you get to author your own story and solve mysterious crimes that are happening all over the island of Manhattan. You’re free to explore, save citizens, find hidden items, jump off buildings and experience – even if it is for a very brief moment – what it might feel like to be the coolest Superhero, Spiderman.