Our friends from God Hates Geeks gave us some exclusive coverage of the upcoming Spider-Man for PS4.
“The Traveling Nerd” Lance Paul
@lance_paul
Getting Spidey’s aerodynamic exploits right is one of the hardest aspects of video game knowhow and –miraculously– Insomniac nails it. Swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper in a robust photorealistic New York is breathtaking; it nearly gives you the feeling of air rushing past you with every leap in that Marvelous red and blue suit. Point blank, the creators of Rachet and Clank nailed the first demo of this PS4 exclusive. In the 20-minutes I was allowed with Spider-Man, I freely weaved in and out of an open sandbox of NYC, all while popping from small mission to small mission battling the men of Mr. Negative and Kingpin.
Instantly, I was struck by how simpistic the game mechanics were. Swinging from building to building was as easy as holding down the R2 button, while tapping X boosts Spidey’s speed. Also unlike the Spider-games of old, magical webs no longer find invisible buildings in secluded areas. Now the R2 button can “latch” onto far away distant objects and then slingshots you towards it — hopefully landing enough air to web to another higher building or street light.
Combat was also extremely satisfying, simplified with the primary buttons allocated to attack, web bullet, and dodge. Things started to get sticky once enemies showed up with high-powered assault rifles and launchers. Despite the challenge, this was no problem for everyone’s favorite arachnid. In this game, Pete has the best move-set of any Spidey title; my favorite move required a mid-air touch down of the R2 button which sees our Avenger shoot out webs to the nearest projectile which takes numerous enemies all out at once. Bravo. 5/5
-Lance Paul
“Monsignor” Travis Moody
@travmoody
The first thing that came to mind playing
the Spider-Man hands-on demo at E3 today was how gritty it felt. This is no cheap, colorful movie tie-in, folks; this is the real thing. Patrolling the Sinister Six’s streets of New York isn’t easy, and, as Lance briefly touched upon up above, you can’t just web your way up a skyscraper without a little bit of heft.
Momentum is key to mostly everything on Insomniac’s new Spider-Man game, and that might be its best feature. And, heck, if you’re looking for a greater challenge than the cheesy bosses of Spidey’s video game past, you got one in Shocker. Even when I had everything about him figured out.. concussive waves and all, still no bueno. It’s a shame I didn’t have as long as Lance had to sling the concrete slabs and put this B-villain to his misery (I keed, I keed!). With tough enemies and comfortable yet intuitive gameplay, I can’t wait for more challenges when the webcrawler arrives to the PlayStation 4 on September 7th all the way up until 2019 DLC — Spider-Man PS4 Pro Bundle Edition or not. 4.5/5.
-Travis Moody