Marvel’s Spider-Man was, until the red carpet rolled out for Into The Spider-Verse, the best use of Peter Parker in any digital medium. It put web-slinging at our finger-tips and put us in the red booties of the most clearly empathic version of Spider-Man we’ve come across. Yuri Lowenthal’s turn as Parker led to him being nominated at The Game Awards, but he wasn’t the only shining light in the game.
An enormous rogue’s gallery of villains and more than enough nods to Spider-Man’s history are sure to keep the keen die-hards enthused while they, in true Spidey fashion, save the busy streets of New York City once again. Marvel’s Spider-Man, which shares much of its DNA with Rocksteady’s Arkham series, is not only the year’s best action-hero game, but it might be the best we’ve seen yet.
In his review, Brodie said: “It’s hard to fault Marvel’s Spider-Man as Insomniac has taken their game to the next level. As a developer, they have gone from strength to strength and Spider-Man is a culmination of their past hits. There’s a stunning verticality that compliments the game’s watertight mechanics and, despite the literal boundaries, still makes the city seem boundless. If you’re a Marvel die-hard, there’s enough fanfare here to sink a ship as Spider-Man emerges as the new gold standard. Spider-Man is, without question, the best superhero game ever.”
For its perfect portrayal of Peter Parker, Brodie scored Marvel’s Spider-Man a 10, while its Metacritic rating sits at 87.
Josh chose Marvel’s Spider-Man in his top ten and said: “Pure joy from start to finish. Slick and smooth just like you’d expect from a Marvel product but with a much deeper and interesting story than we’ve seen from those movies, Spider-Man continues to be a great creative foil. The city was so much fun to swing through and the trophy completion rates show just how many people enjoyed doing so all the way to 100% the game which is a shockingly huge result in this industry. A great example not just of how far games have progressed since the PSone days but also the heights developers are reaching in terms of what they can do in the medium.”
Jake chose Marvel’s Spider-Man in his top ten and said: “I’ve always been a huge Spider-Man fan and ever since Spider-Man 2 on the PS2, I’ve been a huge fan of his video games too. Spider-Man by Insomniac is hands down not just the best Spider-Man game I’ve ever played, but the best superhero game too. The tone, vibe, and feel is spot on to what a Spidey universe/game should be and there’s no part that brings it down like in previous renditions. Voice actors are so fitting, the storyline is intriguing and engaging, side missions and hustles are consistently drawing you in, not to mention the passion at which the team are adding to this game with DLC and suit upgrades. I’ve been a huge fan of Insomniac since Ratchet and Clank days and there is no better team to hold the Spider-Man mantle. With great power comes great responsibility and Insomniac have hit it out of the park.”
Brodie chose Marvel’s Spider-Man in his top ten and said: “From the very moment we took over slinging through the high rise of New York, I knew Spider-Man would become the gold standard for superhero games. I seldom do everything in a game, purely because free-time is rare and not every game warrants this kind of attention, but I scoured the streets until every morsel of fun had been mopped clean. Being Spider-Man is something else, but it’s the human characters and their relationships that Insomniac managed to nail. I can’t wait for even more to come from this universe.”
Congratulations to Insomniac and Marvel for their cinematic collaboration of Spider-Man, our second best game of the year.
Current Top 10:
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
4. Red Dead Redemption 2
5. Fortnite
6. Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee
7. Dead Cells
8. A Way Out
9. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
10. Florence
