I’ve lusted after this game for years but this was another PlayStation exclusive. The original version was in fact never adapted for PC. We had to wait until after the Miles Morales sequel added a Remastered version of the first game before that in turn was released for PC. So it took a very long time for me to be able to play this, but at least it does have updated graphics and supposedly better performance. It was absolutely worth the wait as even after so many years, this is a top notch superhero action game.

In this version of the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man has been an established superhero for years and has already put away numerous villains such as the Shocker, Electro, the Vulture and all the rest. Meanwhile Peter Parker is a lab assistant for Dr. Otto Octavius, M.J. is a reporter for the Daily Bugle and Aunt May works for a homeless shelter called FEAST. In the opening scene, Spider-Man apprehends Wilson Fisk at his tower but is warned that Fisk has been protecting New York from worse criminals all along. Indeed soon afterwards a new mask-wearing gang known as the Demons appear and begin seizing Fisk’s assets. Spider-Man intervenes in several attacks and is aided by police officer Jefferson Davis. Mayor Osborn hosts an award ceremony to honor Davis and boost his own reelection campaign but the event is attacked by the Demons. There Spider-Man realizes that the Demons are led by FEAST director Martin Li and Davis is killed, leaving his son Miles Morales fatherless. Osborn survives and hires Silver Sable and her mercenary company to defend the city and that’s just the beginning of all the craziness.

There are some major deviations from the standard canon here and that’s for the better as we don’t need a retread of the stories we’re already familiar with. Also good is that this isn’t Peter Parker’s origin story. Instead it features Spider-Man in his prime with the public behind him and even the police department largely on his side. M.J. is presented as a reporter instead of the traditional model so that she can actively contribute to the crisis. Dr. Octavius starts out pre-Dr. Octopus and Parker’s mentor, but we can all see where the character is going. Norman Osborn is slimy but not actually a super-villain yet. The other villains each get their moment under the spotlight, enough for the player to have some fun with them but Spider-Man is at the stage when he can deal with them rather easily. Finally, this very much is Miles Morales’ origin story in addition to everything else. It’s not a perfect story. It doesn’t really make sense why everyone is after the Devil’s Breath for example. But it is darn good for a superhero action game.

This is an open-world world and the world that you get here is nothing less than the entire island of Manhattan. Not only is this Spider-Man’s natural home ground but the densely packed skyscrapers there allow for what is often called the best traversal system in any game ever: web-slinging. It took a while for me to get a knack for the physics but it feels amazing to swing across the city, stick on walls and leap from one rooftop to another. The graphics aren’t Grand Theft Auto tier of course but they’re plenty good enough for me and I loved that there are separate day/night versions and even what looks like a post-apocalyptic version for when things get really rough in the city. The usual landmarks are all there as are the special Marvel locations. There are pedestrians on the streets who react to Spider-Man’s presence, traffic, and the subway systems serves as the fast-travel method, not that anyone uses it. It’s great.

The combat system is obviously inspired by the Batman games, possibly too much so as you can even stealthily strike at enemies. Rack up a string of hits to generate Focus, spend it to instantly knock out enemies, deploy gadgets and so on. The difference is that Spider-Man can’t block attacks and so must rely on his superior mobility to dodge attacks. You must also be careful as you don’t have invulnerability while locked in an animation and attacks can and will come in from off-camera. The safest place is in the air so you’ll regularly launch enemies to beat them up and web swing in between them. Enemies with melee weapons or shields require special tactics and brutes need to be softened up by using gadgets or throwing an environmental object at them. The scripted boss fights against supervillains are much the same with the main difficulty being in figuring out what is expected of you. It’s fun, albeit somewhat repetitive as there are so many fights all across the map. I’d argue that it might even be a little too easy as Focus is an easy source of healing, especially once you unlock some Skills.

One frequent complaint is that some story segments force you to play as MJ or Miles. As they don’t have superpowers, you need to rely on stealth to get past obstacles. It’s never fun to get forcibly disempowered like that, the segments are short enough and easy enough that I wasn’t too annoyed. Plus they are a good way to deliver exposition to develop the story and break up the pace a little. There are plenty of optional activities and some side missions as always. Most of them are excuses to get into more fights. The most interesting challenges are about traversing across the city as fast as possible using all of the tools at Spider-Man’s disposal. I found them to be very difficult as the unique web-slinging mechanic makes it easy to cross distances quickly but hard to precisely place Spider-Man in a given location. Truly mastering web-slinging will take dedication that I don’t have but I can see how satisfying it can be.

I only have a few minor complaints. The Harry Osborn’s Research Stations optional activity feels silly and out of place even if they introduce some new ways of playing. There seems to be a persistent visual glitch towards the end of cutscenes and I had to restart a couple of boss fights because some needed elements didn’t spawn in correctly. The main story is so good that I’d actually hoped it would go on a bit longer. Yet at the same time, I got thoroughly bored by the repetitiveness of the side-activities. Also, cool as the city is, it starts feeling samey after a while as you mainly experience it from the rooftop view. It’s a great stage for chasing villains around and for fighting but feels lifeless otherwise.

Fortunately completing the main game doesn’t take very long at all so the game never outstays its welcome. I love all of the little touches, such as J. Jonah Jameson ranting on the radio as you web-sling around the city, interacting with objects to learn bits of lore about the many characters, and of course learning to fight like only Spider-Man can. It’s perfectly sized and perfectly paced for an action game. This remastered version comes with the three DLC pack. I most definitely will be playing that and will cover them in another post.