The progression of these new Spider-Man games, and nearly every big boy Spider-Man game since 2004, is inherently… flawed. I hate saying terms like that, ones that have been used waaay too many times by rEaL gAmEr cRiTiC dUdEs, but, I mean, that’s what it is. Oh, whatever. You read the title. This also isn’t speaking of Miles Morales. I don’t own a PS4, and while I plan to buy a PS5 soon, I unfortunately lack a house to mortgage. Even if I had a PS4 at the moment, I would just commit withdrawal and wait until I get a PS5 for the higher frame-rate if nothing else.
This problem has more to do with game structure than actual gameplay. The structure of puzzle/waiting game, combat, and an extra thing, such as “collect ten what-the-fucks”, then a section of swinging around the city, which then repeats. That structure I think is what means these games can’t be, at the very least, consistently complex. And to get there I think I should address the depth of each section of a… BIG section, or mission, or whatever, that is currently present, and address the more apparent problems with them.
And by that I only really mean combat and world exploration because there’s nothing to say about necessary objectives that are completely separated from combat and world exploration/swinging. I’m not saying these kinds of distractions are always poor, though.
Hacking mini-games like those featured in Spider-Man, or Insomniac’s other big current franchise, are often shit on, and I don’t necessarily get why. They’re quick and well placed, but also, at least in Spider-Man, feature a competent enough scaling of depth and challenge, with more complex stages and pieces. They’re also skippable, but I don’t really like that. While it may not affect me while playing them, I know some will always ask themselves “why bother?”, because even if they enjoy the mini-game, the fact that it is skippable in the first place just makes it feel very inconsequential. I dunno, maybe that was the intent, but if that is the case, I very much do not agree with it. The other big problem is that it gives players the lingering feeling that the devs weren’t confident with what they were making, which just makes playing it feel much less exciting.
The only other objective type as common as those is the stealth sections, which are under-baked to say the least. Spider-Man can navigate around enemies, distract enemies with weapons, perform stealth takedowns from high platforms, or just engage in normal combat, which is normally met with near immediate death. Shallow stealth mechanics like this are included in most open-world games in the current day, but they’re usually at least less common or can be cheesed faster.
Oh, that’s just talking about the Spider-Man stealth sections, which are at least interwoven into the story and game loop naturally, along with having the mostly great core control that is consistent across a majority of the game. The stealth sections with Mary Jane and Miles, however, do not fare as well. There are only four or five that I can recall off the top of my head, but they are all extremely slow and boring.
The only actions the player can perform with these characters are stealth takedowns (which are just pressing a button), hacking (which is just holding a button), and using a camera, which are all context sensitive. Getting off topic for a second, I’d like to highlight the in-universe camera Spider-Man. Most games only use these kinds of features for taking neat snapshots of Mario’s nipples and such, but Spider-Man actually utilizes it in normal missions. They are in one of two of the Mary Jane missions, and while it is very shallow and also context-sensitive, it is also only used a couple of times in the whole adventure (in those stages), and it is very quick and easy to use. With Spider-Man, however, not only can the player experiment with the photos far more than you can in most games, which usually have very little options at all, but there is also a mission where the player needs to follow a character up a building from the outside and take snapshots for intel. This does an excellent job at both showcasing the technology put to use by Insomniac for this title (and maybe others), but also provides a fun, unique use of the camera for actual gameplay purposes.
OK, on topic. Or, off topic. Not really sure, cause’ they’re is pretty much nothing else to say about these missions.
Combat is without a doubt the highlight of this game. Spider-Man can perform normal punches, slide under enemies, and knock them into the air. Players can string together minor combos with these, but the game doesn’t have a dedicated combo list or anything of the sort. One of the biggest problems with combat is that instead of having normal attacks simply create a hitbox that damages enemies that come in contact with it (like good games), Spider-Man’s attacks are instead strict animations that only influence the direct enemy that Spider-Man interacts with. That sounds minor, but it builds a huge disconnect between the player and the battlefield.
The biggest reason why this is a problem, however, is that because of this system, and also probably for accessibility, Spider-Man’s attacks have context-sensitive magnetization. By this I mean that Spider-Man’s punches move him towards the enemy. And this isn’t just a convenience thing like most games, where they move you forward after attacking so moving targets are easier to hit. No, this is just the same damn thing as a normal attack, but Spider-Man will slide towards the enemy. This makes combat completely mindless for a large chunk of the game, and I don’t think I have to explain why. This kinda shit in action games is completely unacceptable.
The only defense I could see anyone using is that this helps increase the flow of battles. You don’t have to consider the environment here, you just… attack the enemy. Well, considering the environment is a good thing. It brings a huge layer of combat, and the reasons why are self-explanatory. But it isn’t just that. In Kingdom Hearts, Sora (maybe another character depending on the game) will automatically move to match the targeted enemy’s position. Say an enemy is above Sora. Pushing the attack button (if he is locked on, either manually or using the auto lock-on) will have Sora jumping while swinging his Keyblade. Other abilities, both part of Sora’s default moveset or gained via abilities, also influence this. If the player isn’t considering the enemy’s position, either because of the difficulty not demanding it or the player just not caring, the combat flow is very simple and easy, but this doesn’t take away from high-level play on harder difficulties. It just lends a super addictive flow to the combat that simply isn’t present elsewhere in the “action game space”. The restrictions of that system is also circumvented by the fact that the player can go against it if they so choose, either by different direction inputs or by not controlling the lock-on system.
Spider-Man does not have that quality. Controlling the character isn’t natural and smooth, but instead clunky and kinda snappy. By snappy I don’t mean quick, but I mean that the game snaps the player to enemies in a very awkward way. That, and the game implements a hidden auto lock-on system, which can not be manually controlled in any way whatsoever.
The biggest problem with all of this is that the game very easily could’ve avoided this entire issue by just not implementing it. I say that because Spider-Man already has a system in place that allows the player to move directly to the enemy’s position, the Devil Bringer-like Web Zip system. By simply pressing a button, Spider-Man can instantly zip to an enemy via a web. With some refinement and expansion, I think this could’ve been a fantastic system. As it stands, it feels like an unnecessary feature that only makes me think of what could’ve been if the devs just relied on the player to actually use it in creative ways, instead of just making the character snap to enemies awkwardly.
Spider-Man also has a variety of gadgets at his disposal. The main one is the Web Shooter, which is just what it sounds like. He can fire off at least six quickly regenerating webs at a time, and it is a great addition. It isn’t super deep or anything, but it is fun and handy to send off some shots on in-between combos, but unlike the typical projectile weapon in action games, it has very unique effects, such as allowing the player to web enemies up to walls or being able to throw webbed enemies. It brings just that little bit of depth into the combat, and it even requires the player to consider the environment and enemy layouts.
The problem comes in the other gadgets. He has many at his disposal, from a simple bomb to an… electric bomb, to a… big impact web that acts like a bomb. All of them act practically identically. They appear different, but they all serve the same purpose. They damage stuff with webbing, or just act like a normal grenade. Because of the ridiculous amount of these all at your disposal, the stealth missions are rendered completely trivial!The only one I ever experimented with was the Trip Mine, simply because it was just super conthardic zipping enemies together the first few times.
Spider Bots are a little different, but they just attack enemies for you. No more depth than that. Just flies, and shoots. Hmm, a robot in an Insomniac game that attacks enemies for you. Huh. Well, these could’ve talked, so I guess we got lucky!
Another feature in Spider-Man is the Focus Gauge. Basically, by defeating enemies Spider-Man will build up a meter which will either allow him to heal himself or will give him a sUpEr mOvE, which will instantly take out any given enemy (as long as exposed). This brings a cool layer of on-the-fly decision-making to the gameplay. Will you be a pussy and heal up, or will you go in for the takedown and… well, takedown the enemy, thus clearing the area and allowing you to consider your next approach. That also brings a nice risk-reward dynamic. You might fuck up and get hit, either when attacking or after it is done. Will you go in anyways, or go with the safe route but still have to kill--- I mean knock out the enemy?
Spider-Man also has Suit Powers, which the player gains access to after filling up the Gauge at the top-right of the screen (the name of which I do not remember or care to look up). Suit Powers are gained via purchase in the Status Menu with tokens and points (I believe) (EDIT: They come with purchased suits), which are gained from doing activities around the city and defeating enemies. Suit Powers range wildy, from dope-ass robot arms to a simple wide attack.
While cool in theory, the game makes it hard to warrant using them. The game does a terrible job at teaching players how the Gauge fills up. Four playthroughs later and I still don’t know! Please don’t comment telling me that it says in some shitty pop-up message, which are all mostly useless and self-explanatory. That shitty in it’s own right.
The game also only allows you to switch via the shitty Status Menu. WHY??? All the D-Pad is used for is healing and camera short-cuts. Healing could’ve been mapped to an action to an action in the Weapon Wheel, and the camera could’ve easily have been offloaded to the Pause Menu, because most players aren’t going to need to bust it out a bunch. So why not make the D-Pad a shortcut for these? Or maybe, while holding a D-Pad button the player can also hold L1 for a Suit Power Wheel. All of these are better than having to pause the fucking game! I only rarely experimented with different powers on subsequent playthroughs, and instead stuck with the default Devil Trigger. Which is activated by, get this, L3 and R3. I would’ve complained if it wasn’t.
There are also a variety of suits and mods that Spider-Man can equip. Suits are mostly cosmetic, but some come with extra Suit Abilities (EDIT: ALL DO). They’re cool fan-service, if nothing else. There are also a bunch of extra mods that Spider-Man can purchase and equip. These are all mostly just stat increases. What difference is a mild increase in my attack power really going to make? Not much, it just adds a bunch of extra shit to the combat system to give the illusion that it is deep, instead of adding new abilities that will ACTUALLY make it deeper.
In summary, the combat is fun in the sense that it really… ahem, MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE SPIDER-MAN, but it lacks any real mechanical depth, despite some great ideas. It instead pretends it has some through a bunch of unnecessary and fake depth in the menus.
At least it fairs better than world exploration. I say that because… well, I don’t really know what to say about world exploration. I mean, it exists. It is half of the game. Yet it is so shallow that I’m struggling to write a paragraph on it. Direct the camera towards your destination, hold R2, and you’re golden. You could learn all of Spider-Man’s capabilities, but your reward will be being exposed to the… let’s just say clunkier aspects of the web swinging, and a slightly shorter campaign.
Within the world, Spider-Man can find enemy outposts, enemy outposts from a different faction, and enemy outposts from another faction. The only difference is that some of them just throw more shitty hit-sponges at you than others. There are also challenges that require Spider-Man to collect ten what-the-fucks, ones that require him to swing through strict paths full of big, floating rings (hmm, that reminds me of something), and finally, ones that require the player to swing through an obstacle course super quickly. The later two do a fantastic job at showcasing how rough the swinging can become if the game enforces mastery on the player.
Not much more to really say about world exploration. Now, on the reason why I wrote this whole damn thing. I wanted to make the point that an open-world Spider-Man game simply can’t be completely complex for both main pillars of gameplay. Either that, or it will be super frustrating. I say that because no matter how much devs may end up trying to make swinging more complex, it is simply still… well, simple. Very simple.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game made it so the left and right triggers determined which arms Spider-Man would be using to swing from each web, but it barely even made a difference. The only things devs could do is provide strict time limits or decision-making. Say there is both a robbery going on, and Spider-Man has a date planned with Mary Jane in fifteen minutes. So Spider-Man will be given a time limit to make it to the bank robbery in time. If he stops it quick enough, he can also swing back through the city to meet Mary Jane. But he can also choose to go to her first, but then Spider-Man’s street cred’ or whatever will decrease.
The problem with this is that it will have to prevail for an entire mission. That means that either the combat sections be super simple and easy as to avoid the frustration of re-doing ten minutes of gameplay, or the entire game would be very frustrating. If it attempts to balance both, it won’t necessarily boat well with the focus groups that Insomniac always panders--- I mean listens to. What I really mean to say is that the BIG BOY SYSTEM SELLER GAME that Insomniac has wanted EVERY game to be since Tools of Destruction in 07’.
That’s all. Bye bye.
This problem has more to do with game structure than actual gameplay. The structure of puzzle/waiting game, combat, and an extra thing, such as “collect ten what-the-fucks”, then a section of swinging around the city, which then repeats. That structure I think is what means these games can’t be, at the very least, consistently complex. And to get there I think I should address the depth of each section of a… BIG section, or mission, or whatever, that is currently present, and address the more apparent problems with them.
And by that I only really mean combat and world exploration because there’s nothing to say about necessary objectives that are completely separated from combat and world exploration/swinging. I’m not saying these kinds of distractions are always poor, though.
Hacking mini-games like those featured in Spider-Man, or Insomniac’s other big current franchise, are often shit on, and I don’t necessarily get why. They’re quick and well placed, but also, at least in Spider-Man, feature a competent enough scaling of depth and challenge, with more complex stages and pieces. They’re also skippable, but I don’t really like that. While it may not affect me while playing them, I know some will always ask themselves “why bother?”, because even if they enjoy the mini-game, the fact that it is skippable in the first place just makes it feel very inconsequential. I dunno, maybe that was the intent, but if that is the case, I very much do not agree with it. The other big problem is that it gives players the lingering feeling that the devs weren’t confident with what they were making, which just makes playing it feel much less exciting.
The only other objective type as common as those is the stealth sections, which are under-baked to say the least. Spider-Man can navigate around enemies, distract enemies with weapons, perform stealth takedowns from high platforms, or just engage in normal combat, which is normally met with near immediate death. Shallow stealth mechanics like this are included in most open-world games in the current day, but they’re usually at least less common or can be cheesed faster.
Oh, that’s just talking about the Spider-Man stealth sections, which are at least interwoven into the story and game loop naturally, along with having the mostly great core control that is consistent across a majority of the game. The stealth sections with Mary Jane and Miles, however, do not fare as well. There are only four or five that I can recall off the top of my head, but they are all extremely slow and boring.
The only actions the player can perform with these characters are stealth takedowns (which are just pressing a button), hacking (which is just holding a button), and using a camera, which are all context sensitive. Getting off topic for a second, I’d like to highlight the in-universe camera Spider-Man. Most games only use these kinds of features for taking neat snapshots of Mario’s nipples and such, but Spider-Man actually utilizes it in normal missions. They are in one of two of the Mary Jane missions, and while it is very shallow and also context-sensitive, it is also only used a couple of times in the whole adventure (in those stages), and it is very quick and easy to use. With Spider-Man, however, not only can the player experiment with the photos far more than you can in most games, which usually have very little options at all, but there is also a mission where the player needs to follow a character up a building from the outside and take snapshots for intel. This does an excellent job at both showcasing the technology put to use by Insomniac for this title (and maybe others), but also provides a fun, unique use of the camera for actual gameplay purposes.
OK, on topic. Or, off topic. Not really sure, cause’ they’re is pretty much nothing else to say about these missions.
Combat is without a doubt the highlight of this game. Spider-Man can perform normal punches, slide under enemies, and knock them into the air. Players can string together minor combos with these, but the game doesn’t have a dedicated combo list or anything of the sort. One of the biggest problems with combat is that instead of having normal attacks simply create a hitbox that damages enemies that come in contact with it (like good games), Spider-Man’s attacks are instead strict animations that only influence the direct enemy that Spider-Man interacts with. That sounds minor, but it builds a huge disconnect between the player and the battlefield.
The biggest reason why this is a problem, however, is that because of this system, and also probably for accessibility, Spider-Man’s attacks have context-sensitive magnetization. By this I mean that Spider-Man’s punches move him towards the enemy. And this isn’t just a convenience thing like most games, where they move you forward after attacking so moving targets are easier to hit. No, this is just the same damn thing as a normal attack, but Spider-Man will slide towards the enemy. This makes combat completely mindless for a large chunk of the game, and I don’t think I have to explain why. This kinda shit in action games is completely unacceptable.
The only defense I could see anyone using is that this helps increase the flow of battles. You don’t have to consider the environment here, you just… attack the enemy. Well, considering the environment is a good thing. It brings a huge layer of combat, and the reasons why are self-explanatory. But it isn’t just that. In Kingdom Hearts, Sora (maybe another character depending on the game) will automatically move to match the targeted enemy’s position. Say an enemy is above Sora. Pushing the attack button (if he is locked on, either manually or using the auto lock-on) will have Sora jumping while swinging his Keyblade. Other abilities, both part of Sora’s default moveset or gained via abilities, also influence this. If the player isn’t considering the enemy’s position, either because of the difficulty not demanding it or the player just not caring, the combat flow is very simple and easy, but this doesn’t take away from high-level play on harder difficulties. It just lends a super addictive flow to the combat that simply isn’t present elsewhere in the “action game space”. The restrictions of that system is also circumvented by the fact that the player can go against it if they so choose, either by different direction inputs or by not controlling the lock-on system.
Spider-Man does not have that quality. Controlling the character isn’t natural and smooth, but instead clunky and kinda snappy. By snappy I don’t mean quick, but I mean that the game snaps the player to enemies in a very awkward way. That, and the game implements a hidden auto lock-on system, which can not be manually controlled in any way whatsoever.
The biggest problem with all of this is that the game very easily could’ve avoided this entire issue by just not implementing it. I say that because Spider-Man already has a system in place that allows the player to move directly to the enemy’s position, the Devil Bringer-like Web Zip system. By simply pressing a button, Spider-Man can instantly zip to an enemy via a web. With some refinement and expansion, I think this could’ve been a fantastic system. As it stands, it feels like an unnecessary feature that only makes me think of what could’ve been if the devs just relied on the player to actually use it in creative ways, instead of just making the character snap to enemies awkwardly.
Spider-Man also has a variety of gadgets at his disposal. The main one is the Web Shooter, which is just what it sounds like. He can fire off at least six quickly regenerating webs at a time, and it is a great addition. It isn’t super deep or anything, but it is fun and handy to send off some shots on in-between combos, but unlike the typical projectile weapon in action games, it has very unique effects, such as allowing the player to web enemies up to walls or being able to throw webbed enemies. It brings just that little bit of depth into the combat, and it even requires the player to consider the environment and enemy layouts.
The problem comes in the other gadgets. He has many at his disposal, from a simple bomb to an… electric bomb, to a… big impact web that acts like a bomb. All of them act practically identically. They appear different, but they all serve the same purpose. They damage stuff with webbing, or just act like a normal grenade. Because of the ridiculous amount of these all at your disposal, the stealth missions are rendered completely trivial!The only one I ever experimented with was the Trip Mine, simply because it was just super conthardic zipping enemies together the first few times.
Spider Bots are a little different, but they just attack enemies for you. No more depth than that. Just flies, and shoots. Hmm, a robot in an Insomniac game that attacks enemies for you. Huh. Well, these could’ve talked, so I guess we got lucky!
Another feature in Spider-Man is the Focus Gauge. Basically, by defeating enemies Spider-Man will build up a meter which will either allow him to heal himself or will give him a sUpEr mOvE, which will instantly take out any given enemy (as long as exposed). This brings a cool layer of on-the-fly decision-making to the gameplay. Will you be a pussy and heal up, or will you go in for the takedown and… well, takedown the enemy, thus clearing the area and allowing you to consider your next approach. That also brings a nice risk-reward dynamic. You might fuck up and get hit, either when attacking or after it is done. Will you go in anyways, or go with the safe route but still have to kill--- I mean knock out the enemy?
Spider-Man also has Suit Powers, which the player gains access to after filling up the Gauge at the top-right of the screen (the name of which I do not remember or care to look up). Suit Powers are gained via purchase in the Status Menu with tokens and points (I believe) (EDIT: They come with purchased suits), which are gained from doing activities around the city and defeating enemies. Suit Powers range wildy, from dope-ass robot arms to a simple wide attack.
While cool in theory, the game makes it hard to warrant using them. The game does a terrible job at teaching players how the Gauge fills up. Four playthroughs later and I still don’t know! Please don’t comment telling me that it says in some shitty pop-up message, which are all mostly useless and self-explanatory. That shitty in it’s own right.
The game also only allows you to switch via the shitty Status Menu. WHY??? All the D-Pad is used for is healing and camera short-cuts. Healing could’ve been mapped to an action to an action in the Weapon Wheel, and the camera could’ve easily have been offloaded to the Pause Menu, because most players aren’t going to need to bust it out a bunch. So why not make the D-Pad a shortcut for these? Or maybe, while holding a D-Pad button the player can also hold L1 for a Suit Power Wheel. All of these are better than having to pause the fucking game! I only rarely experimented with different powers on subsequent playthroughs, and instead stuck with the default Devil Trigger. Which is activated by, get this, L3 and R3. I would’ve complained if it wasn’t.
There are also a variety of suits and mods that Spider-Man can equip. Suits are mostly cosmetic, but some come with extra Suit Abilities (EDIT: ALL DO). They’re cool fan-service, if nothing else. There are also a bunch of extra mods that Spider-Man can purchase and equip. These are all mostly just stat increases. What difference is a mild increase in my attack power really going to make? Not much, it just adds a bunch of extra shit to the combat system to give the illusion that it is deep, instead of adding new abilities that will ACTUALLY make it deeper.
In summary, the combat is fun in the sense that it really… ahem, MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE SPIDER-MAN, but it lacks any real mechanical depth, despite some great ideas. It instead pretends it has some through a bunch of unnecessary and fake depth in the menus.
At least it fairs better than world exploration. I say that because… well, I don’t really know what to say about world exploration. I mean, it exists. It is half of the game. Yet it is so shallow that I’m struggling to write a paragraph on it. Direct the camera towards your destination, hold R2, and you’re golden. You could learn all of Spider-Man’s capabilities, but your reward will be being exposed to the… let’s just say clunkier aspects of the web swinging, and a slightly shorter campaign.
Within the world, Spider-Man can find enemy outposts, enemy outposts from a different faction, and enemy outposts from another faction. The only difference is that some of them just throw more shitty hit-sponges at you than others. There are also challenges that require Spider-Man to collect ten what-the-fucks, ones that require him to swing through strict paths full of big, floating rings (hmm, that reminds me of something), and finally, ones that require the player to swing through an obstacle course super quickly. The later two do a fantastic job at showcasing how rough the swinging can become if the game enforces mastery on the player.
Not much more to really say about world exploration. Now, on the reason why I wrote this whole damn thing. I wanted to make the point that an open-world Spider-Man game simply can’t be completely complex for both main pillars of gameplay. Either that, or it will be super frustrating. I say that because no matter how much devs may end up trying to make swinging more complex, it is simply still… well, simple. Very simple.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game made it so the left and right triggers determined which arms Spider-Man would be using to swing from each web, but it barely even made a difference. The only things devs could do is provide strict time limits or decision-making. Say there is both a robbery going on, and Spider-Man has a date planned with Mary Jane in fifteen minutes. So Spider-Man will be given a time limit to make it to the bank robbery in time. If he stops it quick enough, he can also swing back through the city to meet Mary Jane. But he can also choose to go to her first, but then Spider-Man’s street cred’ or whatever will decrease.
The problem with this is that it will have to prevail for an entire mission. That means that either the combat sections be super simple and easy as to avoid the frustration of re-doing ten minutes of gameplay, or the entire game would be very frustrating. If it attempts to balance both, it won’t necessarily boat well with the focus groups that Insomniac always panders--- I mean listens to. What I really mean to say is that the BIG BOY SYSTEM SELLER GAME that Insomniac has wanted EVERY game to be since Tools of Destruction in 07’.
That’s all. Bye bye.
