Spider-Man

Spider-man

• Growing up I rarely read comic books, but I do remember having a Spider-Man penny Bank.  My dad owned a Marina in Hot Springs, anecdotally the Dillard's stored their boat there back in the 80's, and he would bring home pennies every night.  One of the local banks was having a penny drive and when I took my bank to cash in I had over $103 in pennies that I used to open my first account that I still have to this day.  
• About 12 years ago I wanted to read the original Spider-Man comics but didn't want to spend a ton of money and luckily they started coming out with comic collection books that included 50 comic books in order, but just in black and white.  I read about 3 of those and really liked the character.  
• The Sam Rami movies were OK, but those and other movies and games about Spider-man never really got the character right.  The biggest thing they missed was the banter Spider-man had while fighting the bad guys.  The latest movies have done a better job but this game truly nails it.  He is constantly deriding the bad guys and making bad puns and just having a good time during some intense fights.  He feels like the Spider-man in the comics.  The other thing they get right is showing that Peter Parker is a genius scientist that makes all the gadgets he uses. 
• The game starts many years after Peter Parker has become Spider-man so you are not playing through the backstory which people already know.  They integrate the open world tasks of collecting items in the form of backpacks scattered around the city but each one is a piece of memorabilia from his past that rewards the comic book readers and movie fans with some cool tidbits. 
• You play as some other characters from the universe as well and those were cool at first but the missions they were in felt kind of the samey after awhile and I just wanted to get back to being Spider-man.
• The animations in this game are amazing and it's just fun to web your way throughout the city and watching all the moves he can perform by just pressing a couple of buttons.  When you start fighting the animations kick into overdrive as each battle becomes more and more chaotic with different types of enemies and you are constantly getting new moves and gadgets to increase your arsenal. 
• Another great thing was how they implemented new costumes.  There are around 20 different costumes you can unlock and each one has a unique power associated with it, but once it's unlocked you can use that power with any costume so you aren't stuck in a costume you don't like just because you like the power it gives you.  Brilliant.  
• Of course the graphics are amazing and the HDR implementation is really stunning.  I was actually impressed the first time I entered into a air conditioning shaft, it was awesome.   
• The story was entertaining and well paced and could even be a plot for a new Spider-man movie. 
• I only have a couple of quibbles.  The side missions could have been more varied as you are kind of doing the same thing over and over.  Also there are a lot of loading screens.  
• Overall this is a game this is a must play and one that may even be worth buying a PS4.