Playing Marvel's Spider Man Remastered

 

So, arriving home after watching the new Spider Man Brand New Day movie, I was having a spider sized itch that need to be satisfied. So, naturally, I turned to the Sony's Marvel's Spider Man series of games that's been sitting on my gaming backlog for years at this point. For cherry on top, Sony was running a steam sale at 60% off on all 3 games in the series till Aug 6th, so I am planning on getting both Miles Morales and Spider Man 2 too.

I have written this with no spoilers, so if I am being vague or not using proper terms in this, it's to avoid any spoilers.

My Hardware

I am playing the game on via steam on linux on my Jailbroken ps5 with a dualsense controller connected because I already own the game on steam. I am able to play the game at 1080p high settings on my Samsung Odyssey G4 monitor.

About the Game

The original first game in the modern Marvel's Spider Man series was released in 2018 exclusively for the PS4, with the remaster releasing on both PC and PS5 with upgraded graphics. While the core story is said to be from the original comic book series, it is also said to take inspiration from other spider man related media.

The gameplay focus heavily on web slinging and spidey style combat. We can move freely thoughout the New York city. There are side missions, collectibles and power ups that make any gameplay worthwhile and hell of an experience.

The game is made by Insomniac Games. Apparently the studio was given a choice to make the game on any Marvel character and they chose to go with Spider Man. Insomniac wanted to create a separate timeline that links all Spider Man related media together in one game and that's how Marvel's spider man ended up to be.

The game originally released on PS4 with it being praised as one of the best super hero games ever made. The game became the second bestselling games in PS4 history. The game also got an expansion, The City That Never Sleeps that included 3 DLCs in 2018. These are included with the remastered version, but I haven't played them. The remastered version was first released for PS5 and then for PC in 2020.

Gameplay

Marvel's Spider Man is a fully open world game. It's set in the usual Spidey home of a fictional New York where criminals and his villains run amok. We control Spider Man in third person, who can navigate with his webs and traverse across by running and vaulting over buildings and streets. It's basically packed with the classic Spider Man experience. We also have fast travel which can be used to travel between already visited places.

During combat, we can strike, dodge and also use our web shooters. On a PS controller, square, circle and triangle buttons map to each respectively. We can also use the selected spider gadget with the R1 button. The standard spider gadget is the classic web shooter which can be used to web up enemies and stick them to walls. We can also throw things in the environment around.

My Experience

Apart from the story, I was looking for some classic web slinging action, an itch left behind from seeing the latest Spider Man movie. So, immediately after starting the game up, I was not in any hurry to rush through the story but to try out whatever I can get my hands on in the game. I took my sweet time web slinging through the city, activating all the OSCORP towers, collecting all the green backpacks and all the while fighting all the petty crimes that popped up while I did that. I also finished all the side missions before I even went and started the main mission where we unlock the ability to change suits. As soon as we start it, we get into the tutorial to unlock the ability to craft new suits and gadgets.

Suits and Gadgets

There's a plethora of suits and spidey gadgets to try out in this game. You will unlock the ability to craft and change suits as soon as we complete a main mission related to repairing our damaged suit. Some suits unlock new suit abilities. We can also craft suit upgrades which give even more power ups to our suits.

There are also Gadgets. At the start of the game, we are equipped with the standard web shooter. We get the ability to craft new gadgets as we go about the game. We can also upgrade gadgets including the standard web shooters to power them up.

To craft new suits and gadgets and also to upgrade them, we can collect tokens by doing various activities like fighting crime, taking pictures of landmarks and taking down enemy bases.

OSCORP Research Stations

After running through rest of the story we are introduced to our friend Harry's research stations. We can complete various activities to help Harry's research. I immediately rushed through all of them apart from two, which requires electric webs which required me to progress through the story and another required unlock of ground strike ability which I hadn't yet acquired.

Black Cat

Felicia, also known as Black Cat makes an appearance in the game. There is also a dedicated DLC 'The Heist' that relates to this iconic spider man character, but I haven't played it. You are tasked with hunting down and taking pictures of little toy cats to track down Felicia and you will get rewarded with a nice suit at the end.

Side Missions

There are a lot of side missions in the game. These appear as blue icons on the map and when triggered these offer some interesting bit of side stories. I especially loved one in which you need to catch pigeons which escaped from a homeless guy.

Taskmaster

Playing further into the game, we get to take tasks form taskmaster. It starts with a set of diffusing bombs and chasing drones missions, after completing a few, taskmaster opens up even more tasks that can be completed to get even more challenge tokens which can be used to unlock even cooler suits and gears.

Challenges in Octavius Industries

We can also take up some challenges in Octavius Industries lab. We have a set of challenges on identifying unknown substances and completing electrical circuits.

Ending

As we close the Act 2 of the game, it turns into what I like to call a combat marathon. You will face off against six iconic spider man enemies and also bunch of fights scattered all across New York city.

All of this culminates into an epic face off at the end which will get your blood pumping with some classic spider man action along with a touching end to the set up of the story.

Conclusion

Hands down, one of the best super hero games of all time. Filled with engaging and jaw dropping scenes like classic spider man fashion. The spectacular story feels like a bonus to an amazing gameplay experience. Nothing in this game felt repetitive or just there to fill in gameplay without any meaning. A solid 10/10 experience for anyone looking for web slinging or some spidy action.