Spider-Man vs Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Which Should You Buy?
Story
With Spider-Man releasing on PS4 earlier this month courtesy of the talented folk at Insomniac Games, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider hitting Xbox One, PS4, and PC a mere week later, many players right now may be deliberating which of these two blockbuster titles from September they should buy. To help you out, we’re running through the story, gameplay, and replayability factors of each of these games so you can make a more informed decision.
With both Spider-Man and Shadow of the Tomb Raider being single-player titles, the story is pretty darn important. After all, nobody wants to pour hours into a game with a terrible story that makes all of your actions feel pointless, or is just so corny it actually pains you to watch the cutscenes. Fortunately, neither Shadow of the Tomb Raider, nor Spider-Man have stories that are so outrageously bad you’ll want to stop playing, but there are some things you should be aware of.
Spider-Man’s release on PS4 may not be the first video game adaptation of the neighborhood superhero, but the narrative that drove all of the web-slinging action forward was an entirely new, original story. This meant that whether you were a hardcore Spidey fan or not, there wasn’t anything you felt you were missing out from. Everyone starts off getting to know this Spider-Man and the world he lives in from the same point – many years into his tenure as the superhero – and while there are nods and references dedicated fans will pick up on that newcomers may not, there’s nothing so significant to the story that it’s detrimental to the experience for newcomers. It may be a bit cliche at times, but it’s a superhero video game, and isn’t that all what superheroes are all about?
As for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, this final chapter of the rebooted trilogy finally sees Lara completing her transition from nervy architect, to the hardened bad-ass tomb raider that fans got to know in earlier titles. It’s satisfying to finally see Lara taking these final steps, as she goes about saving the world from a Mayan apocalypse, taking down Trinity goons who are on the same path, and helping out citizens as she goes. For the most part, it’s enjoyable enough and serves as a meaning to drive your exploration and tomb raiding experience forward, but it does have some shortcomings.
For one, Lara’s motives, particularly during the opening hour or two of Shadow of the Tomb Raider can feel muddled, and it almost makes her come across as selfish. While it’s always nice to see a slightly different side to our protagonists, it’s one that seems like a decision that was made in order to have Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s story make sense. And that’s because pretty much everything that’s going on in the game is because of something Lara did.
It’s difficult to empathize with a character who got themselves, and billions of others into a mess because of their own aspirations and desires, and as a result, you may feel less inclined to carry on your adventure in Shadow of the Tomb Raider than you would in Spider-Man.
As a result, though neither story is inherently bad, we’re going to give this round to Spider-Man for an enjoyable, action-packed story that made us feel like the neighborhood superhero himself.
Winner: Spider-Man
Spider-Man vs Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Which Should You Buy?
Gameplay
When it comes to gameplay, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Spider-Man are pretty darn different.
For Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it’s very much a continuation of the gameplay we’ve seen in the previous installments in the reboot. You’ll go about, traversing stunning environments, solving ancient puzzles or navigating dangerous booby-trapped rooms in order to uncover and solve an ancient mystery. And for the most part, we don’t really have any complaints. Climbing and scrambling up walls feels satisfying, QTE events are used to good effect to up the ante in particularly tense moments, and the stealth combat feels incredibly satisfying when you’ve just taken down a group of Trinity soldiers.
If you get caught by enemies, however, things suddenly go downhill. General gunplay in Shadow of the Tomb Raider feels a little clunky and awkward. It’s difficult to quickly aim at an enemy and pop them in the head with a quick round from your pistol. Far more difficult than it really should feel in 2018, five years after the first game in this reboot, and yet it feels the exact same. Though it’s possible you’ll never really have to deal with this gunplay all that much in Shadow of the Tomb Raider if you’re good enough at the stealth, the fact that it doesn’t feel competent when you need to use it makes Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s gameplay feel a little behind the curve in 2018, though not so bad that it renders the game unplayable.
In Spider-Man, meanwhile, the gameplay largely focuses around how good it feels to traverse the bustling city of Manhattan as Spidey himself. Point launching from the edge of a building, freefalling a hundred feet or so, before swinging your way through Times Square meters away from the floor is exhilarating, and the way Insomniac Games has weaved traversal into every element of the experience means that just about everything you do feels so satisfying and… fun! Heck, going about picking up all of the collectibles in an open-world game was actually fun. How often do you hear that?
Many have argued that Spider-Man’s combat feels very similar to that of the Batman Arkham series, and while it certainly has the same core foundation, Insomniac Games has put its own spin on things to make it feel right for Spider-Man. You’ll be springing into walls and rebounding off them to tackle groups of enemies, webbing them up quickly before uppercutting them into the air, or swinging them around your head by a web before hurling them into their comrades.
That being said, Spider-Man’s gameplay isn’t perfect either. For some, the web-swinging antics may get a little old, and though there are side activities to hop into, they seldom mix the gameplay up enough to feel different from the main missions.
But then it tries to do something different during its story missions. Spider-Man will put you in the role of Peter Parker, and other, non-Spidey characters. And while it’s neat to see Peter Parker doing normal, everyday things, these sections do sometimes have a habit of sucking the pace right out of the narrative and will have you eager to step back inside the suit again.
So which game wins here? Ultimately, it comes down to what you’re after. Looking for something a little more methodical and mentally taxing, or just want more of what you got in Rise of the Tomb Raider back in 2015? Shadow of the Tomb Raider is probably more your cup of tea, just be prepared for some underbaked gunplay. However, if you want fast-paced, frantic action, but a simpler and less challenging experience, Spider-Man’s the game for you here.
Winner: Dead-heat
Spider-Man vs Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Which Should You Buy?
Replayability
Once the final boss has been beaten and our protagonists look over the world… or city they’ve just saved with a proud look on their faces, there’s often one question looming in players’ minds: What else is there left to do now?
Replayability is a big deal for many players when it comes to video games now, especially when they’re coming in at $60 a pop. Fortunately, both Spider-Man and Shadow of the Tomb Raider have a fair amount of replayability, dependent on how much you did as you were playing through the game.
First and foremost, both games have a number of side activities that you can completely ignore as you push through the main story. Spider-Man’s Black Cat challenges, Taskmaster challenges, Research Stations, collectible backpacks, bases, street crimes and much, much more means that you can put upwards of 30 hours into the game and still have bits to see and do.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, on the other hand, has all of this in the form of its crypts and challenge tombs that you can find and complete as you’re exploring the game’s lush environments on your quest to save the world and stop Trinity’s plans.
There isn’t quite as side content to complete in Shadow of the Tomb Raider as there is in Spider-Man, and a lot of it can feel like generic fetch quests or heading to a marker and little more. However, if you loved the main story as a whole and want more of it, Shadow of the Tomb Raider has a slight edge on Spider-Man in that it currently has a New Game Plus mode. Though, it’s worth noting Spider-Man is also getting a New Game Plus mode at some point, but no date has been confirmed as of yet.
Winner: Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Spider-Man vs Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Which Should You Buy?
Conclusion
So should you buy Spider-Man or Shadow of the Tomb Raider? First and foremost, if you don’t have a PS4, the decision has already been made for you with Spider-Man only available on Sony’s system.
However, if you’re lucky enough to own a PS4, too, you’ll ultimately want to consider which of the narratives is more intriguing to you, or which of these iconic protagonists you’re more invested in. Though, for us, Spidey’s story just edged it.
In the gameplay department, Spider-Man certainly feels like the more polished and refined experience, thanks to Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s awkward gunplay, but the non-Spidey sections really are a chore to play through, especially when they could have clearly been better executed.
As for replayability, for now, this one’s looking like a bit of a tie. Shadow’s new game plus arguably provides 20+ hours more of content for some dedicated players, while there’s more of Spider-Man’s side content, and it’s a little more varied, too.
For us, Spider-Man narrowly takes the win here. Video games are all about fun, and no game has made me smile and just enjoy playing more in a while than Spidey and Insomniac’s rendition of Manhattan. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is still an excellent game, but it’s not done enough to beat everyone’s favorite neighborhood superhero this time.
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