Marvel’s Spider-Man

Release Date: September 7, 2018

Platform Played On: PS4

2018 Placement: Unranked

What It Is:

Insomniac got carte blanche from Marvel to make a AAA game for whatever superhero they wanted: they chose Spider-Man. And what a good choice it was. The game takes place in an open-world-ish Manhattan and the tone and fun of the game is right up Insomniac’s alley. The combat is cribbed from Rocksteady’s Arkham but feels more fluid and Spider-Man-like. They nail the web-swinging and include plenty of characters from the Spider-Rogue’s-Gallery like Kingpin, Shocker, Rhino, and more. It also has an amazing photo mode worthy of the Amazing Spider-Man.

It is, in my opinion, one of the most definitive Spider-Man experiences out there. The story includes sections for both MJ and Miles, and while the sections where you don’t play as Peter/Spider-Man tend to drag a little bit the character moments still make them worth it. And I really respect Insomniac for writing a Spider-Man story that doesn’t rely on big “twists” – it’s just a good use of all the characters involved in the universe.

Why It’s Important To Me:

I know I’m not special when I say Spider-Man was my favorite superhero growing up. He’s always been one of the more wildly popular comic book characters, even outside of people who read comics regularly. But getting to play as Spider-Man, having a game where the web-swinging really makes you feel like Spider-Man, having a story that feels authentically Spider-Man…all of it was a dream come true for my inner child that has been waiting for this game since they played Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage on the Super Nintendo.

It’s one of the few open-world games where I never used fast travel – it was too much of a joy to swing across the city from one objective to the next. The humor moments in the game were fantastic. The boss fights were good to great, and the emotional payoff of the final boss was well worth it. This game is a Spider-Man fan’s dream come true and I can’t gush about it enough.

My Strongest Memory:

There’s a lot of strong character moments that really stood out to me. There’s a sequence in the middle of the game where Peter has a text message conversation with MJ and it was perfectly executed. Peter’s relationship with Aunt May was also well done, the quiet moments where you return to the FEAST shelter and talk with her and others are fantastic.

On the other side, finding Taskmaster and fighting him made me geek out (because he’s one of my favorite villains/characters). Fighting Electro and Vulture at the same time was the combat highlight of the entire game as it was an aerial battle that just felt authentically Spider-Man. Yeah, it’s fun to be on the ground and beat up criminals and dodge attacks, but being in the air, swinging around trying to take out two supervillains at the same time was just…chef’s kiss. I’m running out of adjectives to describe my feelings about everything in this game.

Why It’s #37:

This game is exactly what I wanted out of a Spider-Man game. I got a Spider-Man PS4 Pro, I got the limited edition with statue version of the game, and I Platinumed it pretty easily. After also playing Miles Morales, I can’t wait for Spider-Man 2. Insomniac has created a definitive Spider-Man world in video games and I’m looking forward to playing more games within it.