Spider-Man PS4: Combat
After a long wait and plenty of silence from Sony, Marvel, and Insomniac Games, fans of the Amazing Spider-Man were finally treated to some gameplay that shows the web-head in action. There was quite a bit to take in from the eight or so minutes of gameplay so let’s break it down so you can see what to expect from the upcoming 2018 release starting with the combat.
If you’ve been a fan of Spider-Man games for a long time, then everything should look fairly familiar. The action was reminiscent of Spider-Man 2 (the movie tie-in that released on the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube) and the Arkham series of Batman games from Rocksteady. Stealth appeared to play a large part, which has become a trend in modern Spider-Man games. Taking to beams and rafters while observing enemies from above, using traps to quickly take out foes, and striking quickly from a distance in order to knock out thugs with ease.
Spider-man can also take the fight to the ground and hold his own quite well thanks to his super-strength, extraordinary agility, and Spidey-Senses (a super power that lets him sense incoming danger and dodge it). The PS2 web-slinger game and Arkham Knight are definitely astute comparisons, but it’s very fitting to who Spider-Man is. Rapid combos that are performed with precision after proper observation presents an ebb and flow to the action.
Spider-Man PS4: World Traversal
World traversal is a big deal in Spider-Man games. During the PS2 and early PS3 era, the developers had the awesome idea to have his web work as it does in other media meaning it actually connected to things. This changed the physics of traversal in new and exciting ways, allowing you to build momentum, loop around obstacles, and really feel like a hero. This was abandoned in the more recent releases for a number of reasons but was never happily received by fans. Thankfully, according to the first gameplay reveal at least, Spider-Man is going back to respecting the physics of the comics and animated series.
Of course, the usual maneuvers return with flips, dodges, wall runs, and rapid jumps. What’s interesting is the copious amount of quick time events (QTEs) that appeared in the gameplay reveal. Spider-Man had the option of squeezing through tight places while moving quickly through the sky or even while approaching enemies. At one point in the trainer, there was a chance to immediately change course towards an enemy to create a combo situation, showing that split-second decisions are definitely a thing as well as more dynamic movement through the world.
Hopefully QTEs aren’t as present in the final game as they were in the trailer, since they tend to make a game feel more like a sequence of just tapping a button rather than you really playing.
Spider-Man PS4: Story
The story of Spider-Man is still very heavily under wraps, but we did get a small glimpse of what’s going on thanks to the mission that was being played in the demonstration. After taking out some thugs that were part of a faction called the “Demons,” Peter Parker gets a call from Wilson Fisk (AKA Kingpin) who seems to be currently incarcerated. Through a quick exchange we learn that Peter has been hunting down the leader of the enemy faction for some time. What we can gather is that there’s a lot of crime going on in the city and things are taking a turn for the worst.
Undoubtedly the story will extend to how everything is effecting those that live in the city. You can see people reacting as Spider-Man swings through the city, and it appears that it’s possible to mess up during events and drop debris or cause major damage to the city. It’s not entirely clear how this will work, but it wouldn’t be the first game a “hero” system has appeared in one of Spidey’s games.
Last year when the game was revealed Insomniac shared that we would be playing as a more seasoned Peter Parker, which will definitely come across in the story.
Spider-Man PS4: Ultimate Spider-Man
The biggest part of the reveal came after the trailer was done. The camera cut back to the audience, but just when Sony’s E3 2017 press conference was over it cut back to show something new. After watching Spidey take down a chopper, a crowd formed in the streets and everyone was taking pictures. There was one very familiar face in the crowd, though, that fans will definitely recognize. Miles Morales was taking pictures and walked away very excited. For those uninitiated in the Spidey-verse, he is Ultimate Spider-Man.
Now Insomniac wouldn’t show him for no reason, so it has us wondering just why there are two web-slingers in the game. Could we perhaps find ourselves mentoring a new hero? We’ll find out soon.
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