rionaleonhart | On To Plan B: Getting Kicked In The Face.

I'm generally suffering from superhero fatigue, but I still occasionally have time for Spider-Man. Qualities that often show up in various incarnations of Spider-Man: screwed-up teenager or young adult, makes bad decisions and worse jokes, suffering from guilt, good-hearted but kind of a wreck. They're all qualities I enjoy in fictional characters.

Plus

thebaconfat had recommended me the Spider-Man game for PS4 and

th_esaurus had offered to lend it to me, so I thought I might as well check it out.

It was a great decision.

At the start of the Spider-Man game, Peter Parker sniffs his Spider-Man suit to see if it's clean enough to wear, makes a face, and then wears it anyway, and that's the sort of relatable hero I want in my videogames.

Nobody went through this many backpacks in school. Is Peter aware that you can put more than one thing in a backpack? You do not need a separate backpack for every item you own. (I wrote that before he mentioned that he'd won a lifetime supply of backpacks, which I'll admit made me smile.)

The traversal in this game is a lot of fun! I have limited patience for open-world games, and I was expecting to ignore all the side missions and focus on progressing through the story. In this game it's just a joy to go anywhere, though, so I keep going 'hey, let's swing over there and do all the stuff!'

There's also more care put into the writing and details than I expected. You can feel that a lot of love went into this game. I thought it'd be a fun timewaster; I wasn't expecting to be genuinely into it! What a delightful surprise.

The game really wants me to know that I can unsubscribe from J Jonah Jameson's radio show if I want to, and I just can't comprehend why anyone would want to.

I've just reached the point where Peter falls asleep on May's couch. I assumed at first that we were meant to think 'oh, he probably slept at some point' while we ran around and time progressed in the story, but no; the plot hasn't even got going yet and Peter Parker canonically hasn't slept in two days. The boy's a disaster.

The other Insomniac games I've played (the Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet and Clank series) have been excellent, but they were cartoony platformers rather than plotty open-world games, so I wasn't sure how well Insomniac's skills would translate to this title. Evidently I shouldn't have doubted them!

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At the start of the Spider-Man game, Peter Parker sniffs his Spider-Man suit to see if it's clean enough to wear, makes a face, and then wears it anyway, and that's the sort of relatable hero I want in my videogames.

That is...very Spider-Man. (He is as good at swinging between buildings as he is bad at life.)There's also more care put into the writing and details than I expected. You can feel that a lot of love went into this game

Aw, nice!

I assumed at first that we were meant to think 'oh, he probably slept at some point' while we ran around and time progressed in the story, but no; the plot hasn't even got going yet and Peter Parker canonically hasn't slept in two days. The boy's a disaster.

Also extremely Spider-Man.

The whole opening cutscene is great, actually; there's so much personality in it. The two jars for savings, both empty! The cracked laptop screen! The Post-it notes saying 'send JJJ dozen roses from "secret admirer"' and 'need catch phrase... "it's webbin' time"?'! The Spider-Man underpants! Grabbing the toast with his web shooters! It won me over pretty much straight away.

Insomniac shows the value of experience and enjoyment of the source material.

They really do! You can tell that this game was made by fans who wanted to do the source justice.

The Spider-Man game is such a gem! I never expect superhero tie-in games to be good, but somehow this one beat the odds.

Also, as a side note, once you're finished with the game I highly recommend this improv-comedy version of the Spider-Man PS4 cutscenes if you're at all into improv comedy and/or internet humor. It's a real delight.

It's so much better than I expected! Thank you for the link; I'll come back once I've finished the game.

Yessssssssss I had the same reaction to him sleeping in the couch. I kept trying to get back into his apartment to force him to rest but haha! No.

And yes, clearly a lot of love and care has gone into the details here. And last time I watched a movie set in Manhattan I kept being like, hey I know that place! It makes me wonder if an NYC native would be able to find the police scanner crimes without using the map.

I think my favourite backpack find might have been the job application. Or the book about work-life balance. Also I enjoyed checking the twitter feed after every mission.

I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I do want to warn that the story got darker than I expected. I don't really feel the need to warn YOU about that, but y'know, just in case anyone is reading this comment who doesn't thrive on fictional suffering.

It makes me wonder if an NYC native would be able to find the police scanner crimes without using the map.

It must be very cool for residents to play! I really enjoyed running around Victorian London in Assassin's Creed: Syndicate; I'm a disaster at directions, but I was still able to go 'oh, hey, here's Leicester Square, let's go over there to check out Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus!'

I do want to warn that the story got darker than I expected. I don't really feel the need to warn YOU about that, but y'know, just in case anyone is reading this comment who doesn't thrive on fictional suffering.

This made me laugh in embarrassment, because this morning I made a note on my phone that just said 'I really want to fuck Peter Parker up. I want to see him pinned down and screaming uncontrollably' and then felt slightly bad about it. Sorry, Peter Parker. The good news is that it means I like you.

I haven't been checking Twitter in-game because it's too small on my screen for me to read without getting off the sofa, but evidently I'll have to start!

I'm having a great time! Thank you so much for pointing me towards this.

The game is ridiculously good. The main plot is interesting, the side events are interesting, and the writing is top notch. MJ is one of my favorite things in the game-- it's the first time that I feel like she's been depicted appropriately outside of the source material. She and Peter's relationship is my burning passion.

Just looking around the city will find you all sorts of cool stuff-- neat statues, unique interactions, and just... cool stuff. I remember finding a rainbow flag, and it had same sex civs walking by, hand in hand, and I was just like T_T.

Make sure you read the in-game twitter feed after, like, every mission. It's hilarious and heartfelt, and a lot of the handles show up again and again, to the point they almost have their own character arcs. Some of JJ's jokes fly better if you've read some of his occasional tweets. (Also, sometimes people start randomly shipping Peter with Black Cat and post it to Pete's twitter which is hilarious)

If you don't have access to it, you'll definitely want at least the Black Cat DLC which takes place after the main story. I feel like Peter's arc during that would be right up your alley.

I love how many non-combat things there are to do. Collect backpacks! Catch pigeons! Photograph landmarks! Monitor air quality! And, yes, the portrayal of MJ seems great so far.

it had same sex civs walking by, hand in hand

Aww, what a lovely tiny detail!

(Also, sometimes people start randomly shipping Peter with Black Cat and post it to Pete's twitter which is hilarious)

omg, this is great, I am absolutely going to have to check this out.

I've been wanting to play this, and I grabbed it in the sales on the weekend. Having started playing yet but I'm looking forward to it!

I really hope you enjoy it! I've been having a great time. I'll avoid posting anything spoilery outside a cut, if you're playing.

I've just reached the point where Peter falls asleep on May's couch. I assumed at first that we were meant to think 'oh, he probably slept at some point' while we ran around and time progressed in the story, but no; the plot hasn't even got going yet and Peter Parker canonically hasn't slept in two days. The boy's a disaster.

I GOT TO THIS PART YESTERDAY AND I PHYSICALLY THREW UP MY HANDS AND YELLED YOU IDIOT AT THE SCREEN.

He's so bad at taking care of himself and I love him.

Terrible, adorable child <3

On To Plan B: Getting Kicked In The Face.

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