Spider-Man (PS4) Review:- Quite Spectacular Indeed.

Big Boss · September 16, 2018, 09:14:21 AM

Insomniac’s friendly neighborhood, wall-crawling open-world superhero title swings its way onto the PS4 and gracefully sticks the landing.

A good Spider-Man game has been long overdue. Given Spidey’s colourful diverse cast of characters, abilities and decades’ worth of stories, it’s surprising that there haven’t really been too many videogame adaptions that have really stood out or made good use of the wealth of content at their disposal. While most fans tend to look to 2004’s videogame adaptation of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 as the benchmark of everything a Spidey game should be, it was still hindered by the licensed game curse of having to cater its scenarios and key plot points to the film it was attached to, with varying degrees of success. Still, that didn’t matter because the game’s free-roaming, web-swinging open world was unparalleled at the time. New York City was your playground, and it was up to you to zip, run, hop and jump through the city to tackle petty crimes, rescue children’s lost balloons and web-zip costumed villains right in their faces.

That was fourteen years ago, and to most it feels like Spider-Man hasn’t had much success since then. While admirable efforts were made with Shattered Dimensions, Edge of Time and Web of Shadows, the general consensus is that Spider-Man 2 was the last truly great Spider-Man game that delivered the experience of being in the hero's shoes.

It should be something of a blessing then, that 2018’s Spider-Man, developed by Insomniac Games is fantastic, amazing even. With the 15+ hours I spent playing the game up until the hard-hitting finale, I’ve felt a mixture of excitement, sadness, some frustration and a large sense of satisfaction that we finally have a proper Spider-Man game that just seems to get everything right.

The gameplay is everything you’d expect from a Spider-Man, which is to say you’ll be spending your time swinging throughout the big apple, fighting large gangs of crooks, doing errands for other characters and spending downtime playing as Peter Parker. Given that this incarnation of Spidey has been around for 8 years, there’s not as much in the way of him having to learn to juggle the responsibilities of a hero with his own personal life as was commonly the case in other Spider-Man stories. However, there are a couple of key moments in the game’s story that really put a heavy weight on Peter’s shoulders and it’s these moments that made me fall in love with the game. Yes, he’s still the quippy acrobatic ass-kicker that he’s always been (which is great) but personally, the thing that has always stood out to me about Spider-Man was his inner, personal struggles that hit harder than any super-powered villain could ever could.

Spider-Man has never played better. Swinging throughout the city just feels so smooth with a real sense of speed, with context-based tricks and traversal mechanics that differ depending on what surface you're on, the height of the building and the speed of your swing. Thankfully the game retains the much-loved mechanic of only being able to attach webs to buildings, so no swinging from the sky this time around. Leaping from the tallest building around, diving gracefully to the ground and catching yourself with a swing moments before hitting the ground never gets old, and the completely moveable camera can lead to some beautiful cinematic moments that wouldn't look out of place during the movies. The combat’s smooth and highly variable rhythmic attacking/dodging system may conjure up memories of the Arkham series, but it’s more similar to the way Spider-Man 2 played, albeit highly streamlined and refined. During fight sequences Spider-Man will have to time landing hits on foes while simultaneously keeping an eye on incoming damage with his Spider-Sense, represented by the classic white bolts around his head. What really makes the combat in this game stand out is just how many options you have at your disposal when fighting. Since Peter’s a bit of a genius it’s no surprise that he has a whole array of gadgets available to use, ranging from simple webshooters to robotic drones that can assist you, which can lead to plenty of experimentation to see what works best for the player. My personal favourite gadget is the impact web, which can knock foes clean off their feet, flying straight towards the nearest surface where they will be webbed up and incapacitated.

In addition to gadgets, a range of unlockable costumes are in the game that pull inspiration from Spider-Man’s history including his suit from the Civil War movie, 2099 and Spider-Man Noir. Each suit comes with a specific bonus ability that you can use to make traversal or combat easier, and the best part is if you hate the look of the suit but the power is too good to pass up you can assign them separately to your own liking.

The story of the game involves a Spider-Man with 8 years of experience that has already dealt with past villains such as Shocker and Rhino, in addition to having already met (and been involved with) Mary Jane, so there’s not much in the way of an origin story for Peter here, although throughout the game you will see and be involved in the creation of certain other noteworthy characters that I won’t go into any more details of because it’s best experienced without any knowledge of the game’s twists. As a Spider-Man fan myself with some degree of knowledge of the character and his stories, some of the reveals this game dropped before me took me by surprise, leaving me very excited and curious to see where they’ll lead.

The title features a photo mode, something I absolutely adore as a feature and wish more games had. With a quick tap of the options button, photo mode enables the player to modify the snapshot of the game that occurs at the moment of pause, with access to different filters and levels of zoom, a rotatable camera and stickers. The possibilities for taking screenshots are endless.

Whether you’re a hardcore Spider-Man fan, an open-world aficionado or just person hungry for more high-quality action games, Spider-Man on the PS4 is a love-letter to the character that has clearly had a lot of love put into the formula that results in a fun, action-packed experience that’s satisfied the webhead in me, in addition to providing a challenging open-world beat-em-up that rewards combat creativity and acrobatic prowess. (Seriously, I’ve spent about three or so hours just swinging around New York aimlessly, it’s just that enjoyable.) While I found a couple of the non-optional stealth sequences to be a bit of a drag that left me wanting to get back to swinging as soon as I could, and some of the story turns may be off-putting to hardcore Spider-Man purists, I can’t recommend this game enough and can confidently say that it’s a spectacular game and undoubtedly the greatest Spider-Man video-game ever made. It may lack the memorable pizza delivery missions and runaway balloons but this title manages to crawl its way to the top in just about every way imaginable.

All the photos used are my own taken within the game. Thanks for reading!

Big Boss · September 17, 2018, 01:07:53 PM

It's also worth noting that you can disable QTEs in the options

challengerX · September 17, 2018, 04:41:51 PM

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big dog · September 17, 2018, 04:55:14 PM

Really wish I had a PS4 right now.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 17, 2018, 04:59:10 PM

My biggest gripe is the season pass. I realize that certification means that the game is done months before release and that it leaves the team time to think of new ideas or mold cut-content into something usable, but a season pass gives an explicit track of these that (more or less) gives the impression that it was planned out well in advance. I think it's cool to continually add new content to a game and expand its scope after release, but when you're asking for more than half of the game's MSRP for it I'd rather have no DLC at all and have those ideas included later in a future installment.

Besides that, what's in the base game is great. Seeing how the New York-based heroes headquarters are spread across Manhattan, and I'm glad to see a fast travel system included that doesn't feel like it should be the default means of travel. Swinging is really fun, and the subway only gets touched whenever I'm short on time.

Jono · September 17, 2018, 10:38:16 PM

Played it at my friend's house on Saturday. The game is great and really is a worthy successor to Spider-Man 2.

It just blows my mind how far graphics have come ever since Spider-Man 2. The amount of detail put into New York is fantastic. It really felt like I was there in that city because of how good it looks.

Big Boss · September 18, 2018, 03:36:38 AM

Quote from: challengerX on September 17, 2018, 04:41:51 PM

Too bad it isn’t multi platform. Looks fun.

I really wish it was multiplat because a character that's been around for 50 years and enjoyed by all shouldn't be tied to one specific console. I hate seeing PS4 players lording it over others because it's just scummy, almost lowkey makes me wish Xbox would get a console exclusive superhero title to throw it back in their faces.

Big Boss · September 18, 2018, 03:37:57 AM

Quote from: Lady on September 17, 2018, 04:59:10 PM

My biggest gripe is the season pass. I realize that certification means that the game is done months before release and that it leaves the team time to think of new ideas or mold cut-content into something usable, but a season pass gives an explicit track of these that (more or less) gives the impression that it was planned out well in advance. I think it's cool to continually add new content to a game and expand its scope after release, but when you're asking for more than half of the game's MSRP for it I'd rather have no DLC at all and have those ideas included later in a future installment.

Besides that, what's in the base game is great. Seeing how the New York-based heroes headquarters are spread across Manhattan, and I'm glad to see a fast travel system included that doesn't feel like it should be the default means of travel. Swinging is really fun, and the subway only gets touched whenever I'm short on time.

Fuck, I didn't even realize there was a season pass. I haven't looked at any DLC at all...

Elai · September 18, 2018, 07:01:25 PM

I gotta say, I'm pretty let down by the game. It's not bad, it's just nothing special. I was hoping for more.

Big Boss · September 19, 2018, 05:15:53 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 18, 2018, 07:01:25 PM

I gotta say, I'm pretty let down by the game. It's not bad, it's just nothing special. I was hoping for more.

Let it all out

What were you hoping for?

Elai · September 19, 2018, 08:58:41 PM

Quote from: Son of Sparda on September 19, 2018, 05:15:53 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 18, 2018, 07:01:25 PM
I gotta say, I'm pretty let down by the game. It's not bad, it's just nothing special. I was hoping for more.

Let it all out

What were you hoping for?

I really do plan on organising my thoughts into some kind of analysis, but I think it all really boils down to lack of creativity or originality.

The game is a shameless rip off of the Arkham games. That's what a lot of people had been hoping for, and I would've been on-board with it had they successfully ripped them off. But we didn't get the heavily refined and intuitive combat you see in those games. You get only the very basic version of that, and it feels super clunky. The game grants you access to a dozen or so gadgets, none of which are intuitive in a combat situation, and during stealth, you can beat the entire game without using any of them (I know, because I did so.) In Arkham games, during stealth sections, Batman can seamlessly move between a slow crouch and a quick sprint. You can jump over boxes, hide behind walls, and generally traverse the environment in organic ways that don't take you out of the experience. In Spider-man, there's no intuitive way to silently drop down from a ledge. You have to either

a) do some kind of backflip off a ledge, which you have not control over and often alerts the guards,

or

b) just actually jump, which presents identical problems because you don't have much control over the height of the jump.

In Arkham, the environments lend themselves to your arsenal of gadgets. The same can't really be said here. In all honesty, I don't understand why Spider-man needs to have gadgets in his game in the first place, but since they're here, you might as well incorporate them into your game better, or at least refine the movement of your character so that it doesn't feel clunky to play the way Spider-man would.

All of that I could over-look if what was original (level design, story, etc.) was anything to write home about, but it's really not. Like I said, it's not bad by any means, but it's not great, and I want to see them improve in the future. There are aspects I really, really like about these parts. Peter's characterisation with specific characters (Miles, Aunt May, the citizens of New York) are exactly what they need to be. But I missed the part where Peter Parker was autistic. Yes, he uses humour (though generally only when he's Spider-man), to get under his enemy's skin, not because he's uncomfortable emotionally with the tension of a situation. This is what makes Eddie Brock's Venom such a great foil to Peter, because generally Spider-man is the one getting under people's skin, but with Venom, it's always the other way around. But nope. Autism.

The voice acting feels like a bad dub. I can't tell if it's the actual voice actors, the direction, or the dialogue, but something isn't what it needs to be. The only characters I really like are the Sinister Six, but mostly because the over-the-top nature of their designs and characterisation lends itself so well to the absurdity of comic book worlds, and thus I'm less likely to compare them to how humans would actually speak (this is also what makes Raimi's Spider-man films absolutely perfect embodiments of the medium's spirit.) Arkham Asylum did this far better, too. In that game you have this super-dense microcosm of a comic book world brought to life. So when you see giant plants taking over the facility or experience Scarecrow's Fear toxin creating impossible worlds in your mind, you don't really think anything but "Meh. This is just how it is in Gotham." It's normalised; it's believable because the world around it makes it feel believable. It lends itself entirely to the absurdity of its universe. In Spider-man (and I think comic book media in general these days) tries to sell you this lie that "Hey man, this could really happen in real life." But it creates a huge disconnect because you have ridiculous characters like the Scorpion and Vulture flying around what could really be Manhattan in any other situation. It doesn't feel right.

I have a whole list of other small things I greatly disliked about the game (human character models look disgustingly ugly, lack of cool Spidey costumes because fuck you give me money, a visual style that will age like expired milk) but I think I've almost summed up my bigger issues with the game for now. Spider-man really is one of my favourite characters and I'd hate to see him descend into mediocrity by way of undeserved praise. I've played every Spider-man game to date, and I can tell you this story isn't as interesting and original as Edge of Time, the visual style isn't as inspired as Shattered Dimensions/Ultimate Spider-man, the characters and dialogue aren't as cheesily memorable as they are in Spider-man 2000, and the combat/stealth portions are only slightly more refined then that of The Amazing Spider-man 2. It's certainly a step in the right direction, but I'd like for the game to take more risks in its first two minutes than its last two minutes.

I hope it doesn't come off like I hated the game, because I don't and I'm still enjoying playing it as we speak. I'm just disappointed. I was hoping for the Arkham Asylum treatment of this character, not the Arkham Knight.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 19, 2018, 09:07:51 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 08:58:41 PM

lack of cool Spidey costumes because fuck you give me money

They got a few of them, even if the redesigns aren't perfect (Scarlet Spider, 2099). Last Stand, Spider-Punk, and Vintage are kino

Spoiler

and I like the Parker Industries armor tbh

Here's hoping for the Sensational, Superior, Stealth, and Unlimited suits in the sequel.

Elai · September 19, 2018, 09:19:58 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:07:51 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 08:58:41 PM
lack of cool Spidey costumes because fuck you give me money
They got a few of them, even if the redesigns aren't perfect (Scarlet Spider, 2099). Last Stand, Spider-Punk, and Vintage are kino
Spoiler
and I like the Parker Industries armor tbh

Here's hoping for the Sensational, Superior, Stealth, and Unlimited suits in the sequel.

The coolest ones are the Advanced Suit, Velocity, 2099 and Scarlet Spider outfits. I'm just nitpicking at this point but I have my reason's for disliking most of them:

I absolutely hate the character model for Spider-man. His proportions seem off (his legs are the problem, I think) and his posture is poor. That's why I don't use the Scarlet Spider outfit (which happens to be my all-time favourite Spider-man outfit, FYI), because those problems are accentuated with the ankle cartridges.

The 2099 suit is fine but it's too blue and it clashes with the environment. The Advanced suit is really nice except for the proportional issues I listed earlier and the fact that the eyes seem just a bit too small for me. The Velocity suit is the one I'm using right now. I love the new-old-school concept of very narrow eyes, and the plated-armor fixes my proportion issues.

Like I said, I'm nitpicking. But I think suits are the one superfluous thing you can do to appease critics of your superhero game. That's why I wasn't as harsh on TASM2 as I could've been--there were suits to spare and they all looked great. I just can't believe they shipped a Spider-man game without the black suit. That's like Spidey development 101.

Anyways, my wish list includes:

-Classic Black Suit
-Ben Reilly Spider-man
-New Scarlet Spider (not Kaine)
-Superior Spider-man
-Spider-man Unlimited
-Cosmic Spider-man

Not to say I'd buy any of them if they were DLC, but it'd be nice to have them.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 19, 2018, 09:26:18 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:19:58 PM

I just can't believe they shipped a Spider-man game without the black suit. That's like Spidey development 101.

endgame spoilers

With the symbiote shown off in the credits stinger, it'd be a mistake to blow the load on the black suit when it'll actually play a role in 2.

Quote

Anyways, my wish list includes:

-Classic Black Suit
-Ben Reilly Spider-man
-New Scarlet Spider (not Kaine)
-Superior Spider-man
-Spider-man Unlimited
-Cosmic Spider-man

Not to say I'd buy any of them if they were DLC, but it'd be nice to have them.

Also adding Spider Arm1r and Bombastic Bagman to this.

Elai · September 19, 2018, 09:29:01 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:26:18 PM

endgame spoilers
With the symbiote shown off in the credits stinger, it'd be a mistake to blow the load on the black suit when it'll actually play a role in 2.

Spoiler

I have a whole other dissertation on why I hate this stupid sequel-baiting nonsense but I'd rather not get into it right now.

Either way, I don't think they're very concerned with continuity/consistency considering the MCU/2099/misc. costumes on available to begin with. I'd bet good money a cosmetic black suit comes with DLC that I'm not going to buy.

Quote

Also adding Spider Armor and Bombastic Bagman to this.

Classic Iron Spider, too.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 19, 2018, 09:36:30 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:29:01 PM

Either way, I don't think they're very concerned with continuity/consistency considering the MCU/2099/misc. costumes on available to begin with. I'd bet good money a cosmetic black suit comes with DLC that I'm not going to buy.

I can agree with sequel baiting (especially since they DLC for this game better be damn good to justify the price), but it wouldn't have anything to do the MCU/Comics continuity. It would be like if

Spoiler

Anti-Ock

was unlockable at any point. If it plays a role in the story, then it shouldn't be treated like another alternate suit.

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:29:01 PM

Classic Iron Spider, too.

I wish they would have had it in instead of the MCU version. It looks awkward in game, probably some combination of Pete's proportions and the plating depth.

Elai · September 19, 2018, 09:43:45 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:36:30 PM

I can agree with sequel baiting (especially since they DLC for this game better be damn good to justify the price), but it wouldn't have anything to do the MCU/Comics continuity. It would be like if
Spoiler
Anti-Ock
was unlockable at any point. If it plays a role in the story, then it shouldn't be treated like another alternate suit.

I see what you're saying, but I raise you the fact that TASM1 had an alternate black suit in the style of TASM1's version even though the black suit was supposed to have some kind of presence in the third film. My point about continuity is that regardless of what suit you're wearing in this game, the sequels will assume you only played with the Advanced suit for the majority of the game, so giving players access to the black suit doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.

Quote

I wish they would have had it in instead of the MCU version. It looks awkward in game, probably some combination of Pete's proportions and the plating depth.

Yup. I don't know why they needed the Stark suit, the homemade suit, AND the MCU Iron Spider suit. So overkill.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 19, 2018, 09:52:49 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:43:45 PM

I see what you're saying, but I raise you the fact that TASM1 had an alternate black suit in the style of TASM1's version even though the black suit was supposed to have some kind of presence in the third film. My point about continuity is that regardless of what suit you're wearing in this game, the sequels will assume you only played with the Advanced suit for the majority of the game, so giving players access to the black suit doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.

TASM1 is a licensed game and bases itself on the property it's made to advertise, which is a 2012 film; TASM3 would have released roughly four years later, which is way outside the scope for a licensed game to worry about. MSM has its own internal continuity that is created by the developer. Insomniac has the freedom to create the story themselves, and can therefore plan these things out a bit more. Sequel baiting sucks, but they can only really do it because they control the narrative development.

Quote

Yup. I don't know why they needed the Stark suit, the homemade suit, AND the MCU Iron Spider suit. So overkill.

Agreed. Was a bit disappointed that you can't change the Big Time color tbh.

Elai · September 19, 2018, 09:56:31 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:52:49 PM

TASM1 is a licensed game and bases itself on the property it's made to advertise, which is a 2012 film; TASM3 would have released roughly four years later, which is way outside the scope for a licensed game to worry about. MSM has its own internal continuity that is created by the developer. Insomniac has the freedom to create the story themselves, and can therefore plan these things out a bit more. Sequel baiting sucks, but they can only really do it because they control the narrative development.

Fair enough, if that's their reasoning. I don't agree with it and think it's a stupid reason to not include a hallmark of the character (especially since they'll probably come up with their own design based on the Advanced suit ala the Raimi films), but I still bet we'll get the classic black suit with DLC.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 19, 2018, 10:15:59 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:56:31 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:52:49 PM
TASM1 is a licensed game and bases itself on the property it's made to advertise, which is a 2012 film; TASM3 would have released roughly four years later, which is way outside the scope for a licensed game to worry about. MSM has its own internal continuity that is created by the developer. Insomniac has the freedom to create the story themselves, and can therefore plan these things out a bit more. Sequel baiting sucks, but they can only really do it because they control the narrative development.

Fair enough, if that's their reasoning. I don't agree with it and think it's a stupid reason to not include a hallmark of the character (especially since they'll probably come up with their own design based on the Advanced suit ala the Raimi films), but I still bet we'll get the classic black suit with DLC.

If I had to guess at the design, it'll be a black suit with the white bits of the Advanced Suit remaining.

like this

Elai · September 19, 2018, 10:45:46 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 10:15:59 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:56:31 PM
Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:52:49 PM
TASM1 is a licensed game and bases itself on the property it's made to advertise, which is a 2012 film; TASM3 would have released roughly four years later, which is way outside the scope for a licensed game to worry about. MSM has its own internal continuity that is created by the developer. Insomniac has the freedom to create the story themselves, and can therefore plan these things out a bit more. Sequel baiting sucks, but they can only really do it because they control the narrative development.

Fair enough, if that's their reasoning. I don't agree with it and think it's a stupid reason to not include a hallmark of the character (especially since they'll probably come up with their own design based on the Advanced suit ala the Raimi films), but I still bet we'll get the classic black suit with DLC.
If I had to guess at the design, it'll be a black suit with the white bits of the Advanced Suit remaining.
like this

Essentially, yeah. That's what I'd expect the canon suit to look like. I still want my classic look, though. Nothing compares.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 19, 2018, 10:47:38 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 10:45:46 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 10:15:59 PM
Quote from: Eli on September 19, 2018, 09:56:31 PM
Quote from: Lady on September 19, 2018, 09:52:49 PM
TASM1 is a licensed game and bases itself on the property it's made to advertise, which is a 2012 film; TASM3 would have released roughly four years later, which is way outside the scope for a licensed game to worry about. MSM has its own internal continuity that is created by the developer. Insomniac has the freedom to create the story themselves, and can therefore plan these things out a bit more. Sequel baiting sucks, but they can only really do it because they control the narrative development.

Fair enough, if that's their reasoning. I don't agree with it and think it's a stupid reason to not include a hallmark of the character (especially since they'll probably come up with their own design based on the Advanced suit ala the Raimi films), but I still bet we'll get the classic black suit with DLC.
If I had to guess at the design, it'll be a black suit with the white bits of the Advanced Suit remaining.
like this

Essentially, yeah. That's what I'd expect the canon suit to look like. I still want my classic look, though. Nothing compares.

Can agree to that. Bigger eyes + rib-legs.

challengerX · September 20, 2018, 01:46:55 AM

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Dietrich Six · September 20, 2018, 10:16:18 AM

Punished spider

maverick · September 20, 2018, 02:50:12 PM

I give the story a 9/10, gameplay 7/10. Overall: 8/10 I guess.

I agree with some of Eli’s points. The story was pretty solid aside from the “prisoner/militia city” part which was pretty obviously stolen from Arkham. I also feel like it will be harder to raise the stakes is future installments.

The combat left a lot to be desired although I never really mastered it. Gadgets were completely useless and I never used them unless it was some bonus objective.

Boss fights were way too easy and simpler than most thug encounters. I don’t know if I died once to any of them on medium difficulty.

I didn’t like the circuit challenges or Mary Jane missions and Miles Morales didn’t need to be in the game. QTEs were infrequent enough that they didn’t really matter.

The side missions were all pretty lame that I played but there might be some better ones that I overlooked. I pretty much stuck to the main story after I realized they were all “catch the pigeons/cure the fish/find the cats through a telescope”.

I also kind of wish there were more diverse random encounters. I’m not asking for a bunch of floating balloons and sinking boats but it just seemed like they were all “beat up the robbers”.

This sounds negative but everybody and their mother has already explained what’s good about the game. I think there could be some major improvements to compare to the Arkham games personally. I’m working on my second play through on hard mode so I might be able to refine my analysis a bit.

Elai · September 20, 2018, 03:43:46 PM

Quote from: maverick on September 20, 2018, 02:50:12 PM

I also kind of wish there were more diverse random encounters. I’m not asking for a bunch of floating balloons and sinking boats but it just seemed like they were all “beat up the robbers”.

Totally agree with this as well. In Ultimate Spider-man, random crimes would sometimes include small-time villains like Shocker; you could run into Johnny Storm and he'd challenge you to races across the city. Even in Arkham Knight, which is inarguably the weakest entry in the series, spontaneous events added so much to the world. Man-Bat would randomly appear throughout the city to scare the shit out of you; Azrael would signal you from a rooftop with a Bat symbol in flames. The only thing I've come across so far that even slightly approaches this is the Taskmaster boss fights where he'll randomly attack you while you're swinging around. They need to build on this, though. Why can't I find Daredevil doing his own thing in Hell's Kitchen at night? Why don't I see Iron Man flying towards Avenger's Tower? What about a Moonknight cameo? The Arkham games went all-in on popularising the extended Batman mythos, and Spider-man's world is arguably way more interesting and diverse.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 20, 2018, 07:56:52 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 20, 2018, 03:43:46 PM

Quote from: maverick on September 20, 2018, 02:50:12 PM
I also kind of wish there were more diverse random encounters. I’m not asking for a bunch of floating balloons and sinking boats but it just seemed like they were all “beat up the robbers”.

Totally agree with this as well. In Ultimate Spider-man, random crimes would sometimes include small-time villains like Shocker; you could run into Johnny Storm and he'd challenge you to races across the city. Even in Arkham Knight, which is inarguably the weakest entry in the series, spontaneous events added so much to the world. Man-Bat would randomly appear throughout the city to scare the shit out of you; Azrael would signal you from a rooftop with a Bat symbol in flames. The only thing I've come across so far that even slightly approaches this is the Taskmaster boss fights where he'll randomly attack you while you're swinging around. They need to build on this, though. Why can't I find Daredevil doing his own thing in Hell's Kitchen at night? Why don't I see Iron Man flying towards Avenger's Tower? What about a Moonknight cameo? The Arkham games went all-in on popularising the extended Batman mythos, and Spider-man's world is arguably way more interesting and diverse.

I think a crutch of the story relies on the fact that none of the other heroes are present; Spidey mentions that the Avengers are dealing with something on the west coast, Nelson & Murdock is closed, etc. If the other heroes were there, the stakes drop a lot: Spider-Man doesn't have to tackle the Sinister Six, street-warfare, and general chaos by himself if a dozen other characters can take the load off of him. There wasn't much in the game that ONLY Spidey could handle, which means they don't have much choice but to hand-wave other characters away. At least the meat of the story doesn't take place over a long period of time, so you can "excuse" why nobody else shows up to fix things.
A lot of that is because of the scale of the story, though; while this has been an issue in the comics as well, they've been able to work this shift in pressures and challenge well in the past. Going forward, I would expect the conflict to become more dense, or larger in forces. You could have Daredevil appear and explain that (alongside street-level crime) he's currently chasing X member of his rogues' gallery, accomplishing two things; one, adds the possibility of more content (fighting alongside DD/ against one of his villains) and raising the stakes (the conflict is beyond what only Spidey could handle).

Not really defending what they have (because it's a pretty weak reason overall), but I do think content should be able to expand towards what AK had now that they've established the game's universe.

Spoiler

I do fully expect Taskmaster to return next game, and hopefully there will be Wraith missions as well. Since there's a bit of Ultimate influence as well, Aaron Davis Prowler as Kid Arachnid's villain as well. Unfortunately, I think Goblin's mask is going to be an altered form of the helmet on Osborn's desk during the MJ mission; hopefully some good Venom/symbiote missions should balance that out.

Elai · September 20, 2018, 09:31:40 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 20, 2018, 07:56:52 PM

Quote from: Eli on September 20, 2018, 03:43:46 PM
Quote from: maverick on September 20, 2018, 02:50:12 PM
I also kind of wish there were more diverse random encounters. I’m not asking for a bunch of floating balloons and sinking boats but it just seemed like they were all “beat up the robbers”.

Totally agree with this as well. In Ultimate Spider-man, random crimes would sometimes include small-time villains like Shocker; you could run into Johnny Storm and he'd challenge you to races across the city. Even in Arkham Knight, which is inarguably the weakest entry in the series, spontaneous events added so much to the world. Man-Bat would randomly appear throughout the city to scare the shit out of you; Azrael would signal you from a rooftop with a Bat symbol in flames. The only thing I've come across so far that even slightly approaches this is the Taskmaster boss fights where he'll randomly attack you while you're swinging around. They need to build on this, though. Why can't I find Daredevil doing his own thing in Hell's Kitchen at night? Why don't I see Iron Man flying towards Avenger's Tower? What about a Moonknight cameo? The Arkham games went all-in on popularising the extended Batman mythos, and Spider-man's world is arguably way more interesting and diverse.
I think a crutch of the story relies on the fact that none of the other heroes are present; Spidey mentions that the Avengers are dealing with something on the west coast, Nelson & Murdock is closed, etc. If the other heroes were there, the stakes drop a lot: Spider-Man doesn't have to tackle the Sinister Six, street-warfare, and general chaos by himself if a dozen other characters can take the load off of him. There wasn't much in the game that ONLY Spidey could handle, which means they don't have much choice but to hand-wave other characters away. At least the meat of the story doesn't take place over a long period of time, so you can "excuse" why nobody else shows up to fix things.
A lot of that is because of the scale of the story, though; while this has been an issue in the comics as well, they've been able to work this shift in pressures and challenge well in the past. Going forward, I would expect the conflict to become more dense, or larger in forces. You could have Daredevil appear and explain that (alongside street-level crime) he's currently chasing X member of his rogues' gallery, accomplishing two things; one, adds the possibility of more content (fighting alongside DD/ against one of his villains) and raising the stakes (the conflict is beyond what only Spidey could handle).

Not really defending what they have (because it's a pretty weak reason overall), but I do think content should be able to expand towards what AK had now that they've established the game's universe.
Spoiler
I do fully expect Taskmaster to return next game, and hopefully there will be Wraith missions as well. Since there's a bit of Ultimate influence as well, Aaron Davis Prowler as Kid Arachnid's villain as well. Unfortunately, I think Goblin's mask is going to be an altered form of the helmet on Osborn's desk during the MJ mission; hopefully some good Venom/symbiote missions should balance that out.

That really is a super lame excuse. No one said anything when New York got covered in deadly gas in Spider-man 2000. The Punisher, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, and Captain America were all there for that. It'd be easy to just assume they were doing their own thing to help out. Same thing goes for Web of Shadows. Also neither Daredevil, The Punisher or Moon Knight could realistically tackle any of the Sinister Six. Maybe Moon Knight.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · September 21, 2018, 07:31:20 AM

Quote from: Eli on September 20, 2018, 09:31:40 PM

Quote from: Lady on September 20, 2018, 07:56:52 PM
Quote from: Eli on September 20, 2018, 03:43:46 PM
Quote from: maverick on September 20, 2018, 02:50:12 PM
I also kind of wish there were more diverse random encounters. I’m not asking for a bunch of floating balloons and sinking boats but it just seemed like they were all “beat up the robbers”.

Totally agree with this as well. In Ultimate Spider-man, random crimes would sometimes include small-time villains like Shocker; you could run into Johnny Storm and he'd challenge you to races across the city. Even in Arkham Knight, which is inarguably the weakest entry in the series, spontaneous events added so much to the world. Man-Bat would randomly appear throughout the city to scare the shit out of you; Azrael would signal you from a rooftop with a Bat symbol in flames. The only thing I've come across so far that even slightly approaches this is the Taskmaster boss fights where he'll randomly attack you while you're swinging around. They need to build on this, though. Why can't I find Daredevil doing his own thing in Hell's Kitchen at night? Why don't I see Iron Man flying towards Avenger's Tower? What about a Moonknight cameo? The Arkham games went all-in on popularising the extended Batman mythos, and Spider-man's world is arguably way more interesting and diverse.
I think a crutch of the story relies on the fact that none of the other heroes are present; Spidey mentions that the Avengers are dealing with something on the west coast, Nelson & Murdock is closed, etc. If the other heroes were there, the stakes drop a lot: Spider-Man doesn't have to tackle the Sinister Six, street-warfare, and general chaos by himself if a dozen other characters can take the load off of him. There wasn't much in the game that ONLY Spidey could handle, which means they don't have much choice but to hand-wave other characters away. At least the meat of the story doesn't take place over a long period of time, so you can "excuse" why nobody else shows up to fix things.
A lot of that is because of the scale of the story, though; while this has been an issue in the comics as well, they've been able to work this shift in pressures and challenge well in the past. Going forward, I would expect the conflict to become more dense, or larger in forces. You could have Daredevil appear and explain that (alongside street-level crime) he's currently chasing X member of his rogues' gallery, accomplishing two things; one, adds the possibility of more content (fighting alongside DD/ against one of his villains) and raising the stakes (the conflict is beyond what only Spidey could handle).

Not really defending what they have (because it's a pretty weak reason overall), but I do think content should be able to expand towards what AK had now that they've established the game's universe.
Spoiler
I do fully expect Taskmaster to return next game, and hopefully there will be Wraith missions as well. Since there's a bit of Ultimate influence as well, Aaron Davis Prowler as Kid Arachnid's villain as well. Unfortunately, I think Goblin's mask is going to be an altered form of the helmet on Osborn's desk during the MJ mission; hopefully some good Venom/symbiote missions should balance that out.

That really is a super lame excuse. No one said anything when New York got covered in deadly gas in Spider-man 2000. The Punisher, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, and Captain America were all there for that. It'd be easy to just assume they were doing their own thing to help out. Same thing goes for Web of Shadows. Also neither Daredevil, The Punisher or Moon Knight could realistically tackle any of the Sinister Six. Maybe Moon Knight.

I do think people ask more questions about that kind of stuff nowadays (example being the city destruction in Man of Steel), but I still agree. The story only doesn't fit in other heroes because they made it to not work with other heroes. You can try to explain in-story why nobody was there, but at the end of the day it doesn't seem hard to work other heroes into the side like they did with a couple villains in this game. It's not something I'm going to really bring the game for (the story isn't anything special in the first place), but I will expect them to do better in the future.

And my Sinister Six remark wasn't that I don't think other specific characters could (like Wolverine would lose to Mysterio), but that just about any member of the Avengers could tackle one of the SS. I can see why they had to write them out for that part to work, but they could have done more concerning side-content to bring other street-level heroes in like the Defenders.

And I definitely think Moon Knight could handle a one-on-one with a member of the Sinister Six.

Elai · September 23, 2018, 12:02:43 PM

Yeah, these side missions really blew ass. Tombstone's was the coolest (even though he isn't voiced by Keith David like he should be), and just when I thought maybe there'd be a cool Chameleon/Mysterio cameo in the fake-Spidey mission, it's some Karate Kid in his pajamas.