Hands-on with Marvel’s Spider-Man – in pictures

Hands-on with Marvel’s Spider-Man – in pictures

Marvel’s Spider-Man has been one of the PlayStation 4’s most anticipated exclusives since it was revealed in the summer of 2016. Fans’ enthusiasm has been balanced by some cautious optimism, however, as Peter Parker’s previous handful of interactive outings have been less than stellar. But after spending some time beneath the spandex, Marvel’s Spider-Man is shaping up to be a polished, fan-pleasing entry that could possibly stand next to the Batman: Arkham series as one of the medium’s best superhero games. Here are our first impressions.

Seasoned Spidey

Origin stories are all well and good in the cinema but when it’s your turn to take control, the last thing you want to do is spend half the game learning the ropes. Thankfully, Spider-Man puts you in charge of a web-crawler who’s already comfortable with his crime-fighting powers. Picking up several years after Peter Parker was famously infected by that radioactive arachnid, we experienced this first-hand during a 20-minute demo of the game that immediately saw us treating New York City’s skyline like our personal playground.

Swinging good time

Within seconds of picking up the DualShock 4, we were swinging through Marvel’s NYC with acrobatic style to spare. Developer Insomniac Games is no stranger to crafting fast, fluid navigation mechanics but Spider-Man’s smooth controls prove the studio was just getting warmed up. Intuitive, responsive and sporting an amazing sense of momentum, the swinging mechanics possess plenty of pick-up-and-play appeal. While super-accessible though, the controls also include enough variation and nuance to satisfy and reward more skilled web-slingers.

Swing speed

During our demo we were almost immediately able to pull off all of Spidey’s moves, from swinging to specific destinations and landing on perches to running along walls and launching from ledges, but it took us a bit more time to successfully chain them all together. After a few minutes though, we started to string and combine all these actions in a fashion that felt more cinematic than sloppy. Trading our initial clumsiness for confidence, we also began picking up speed, quickly taking corners and covering several city blocks in seconds.

Kinetic combat

Spider-Man can essentially pinball around environments – and enemies – as he unleashes a variety of web-based powers and projectiles. When combined with his lightning-quick punches, kicks, aerial attacks and dodges, his webs offer an endless variety of ways to put goons in their place. We especially enjoyed sliding between a target’s legs before surprising them with an attack from the back. Clearing a crowd when you’re surrounded by objects that can be weaponised is super satisfying; prompts appear over items, such as car doors and barrels, allowing you to quickly grab and toss them at targets.

Chain reaction

Much like the motion mechanics, combat is at its criminal-crushing best once you learn to chain attacks and powers together to rival a choreographed film fight. While we nearly achieved this level of baddie-busting nirvana against groups of street thugs, we were knocked down a few pegs by The Shocker. Taking place in the tighter quarters of a bank, the boss battle required us to toss pieces of the interior’s architecture at the target, deliver up-close attacks when he was weak, and frequently stick to the ceiling to avoid his Spidey-zapping attacks.

Initial verdict

Our brief time tethered to Spidey’s webs strongly suggests Insomniac has nailed specific elements, like navigation and combat, that are integral to making players feel like the iconic Marvel superhero. If the quality of the story, depth of the character progression, and pacing of the main missions and side content can live up to the high standard set by the mechanics, then Spider-Man fans are in for a real treat when the web-head lands on 7 September.