Marvel's Spider-Man

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Yacobg42

Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Yacobg42 »

So what's everyone thinking of the Spider-Man release? I'm only a few hours in, but I'm having a blast.

Some thoughts:

Visually, the game is astonishing. Character models look great but the city is where it really shines. It just looks so big. It really feels like being in New York. The streets are so detailed that I like just walking around on ground level, even though it's way slower than swinging.

On that note, swinging is pleasantly nuanced. I'm happy that I wasn't able to immediately zip through the city flawlessly; it actually requires some finesse to get a flow going, especially when chaining different kinds of jumps and swings together.

Combat is fast and punchy, but I feel like I don't have a great idea of where enemies are at all times. In the Arkham games, goons were always pretty bunched up, but here they're sometimes far apart and I'll shoot off in a direction I didn't mean to go. Not a big issue, I'm sure I'll adapt.

Finally, I really like Peter as a character so far. He chatters a lot, but I'm not annoyed yet. Early on, you save someone from some muggers and then when the scene would normally end, he asks her if she's considered going to a community kitchen nearby. It's a little touch, but makes him feel like he's actually concerned for her, not just excited about beating up folks.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by ratsoalbion »

It's on my Chrissy-list!
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Suits
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Suits »

I’m that put off by comic book characters that I’ll probably never play this game.

Although I do like to hear and read about the things it does.

I appreciate it doesn’t add much to the hype/conversation surrounding this game but it’s an opinion I suppose :lol: .
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I've become very tired and frustrated by the modern western AAA open-world template, and this game doesn't seem to have any sort of distinct hook that would suggest a bold departure from that norm. I like the Arkham games a lot, but playing a slightly re-skinned version of their stealth sections and combat system isn't going to motivate me to buy it at full price.

I might check it out if it's on sale at some point in the future, but I can't say that this is any sort of priority for me at the moment.

I hope everyone's having fun, though! :)
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Combine Hunter »

The traversal is God tier, and everything else is very good. That's great for me, because I love me some Spider-man
Yacobg42

Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Yacobg42 »

KSubzero1000 wrote: September 7th, 2018, 4:45 pm I've become very tired and frustrated by the modern western AAA open-world template, and this game doesn't seem to have any sort of distinct hook that would suggest a bold departure from that norm. I like the Arkham games a lot, but playing a slightly re-skinned version of their stealth sections and combat system isn't going to motivate me to buy it at full price.

I might check it out if it's on sale at some point in the future, but I can't say that this is any sort of priority for me at the moment.

I hope everyone's having fun, though! :)
Don't want to diminish your feelings here- especially about open world fatigue- but this does feel very different than Arkham. Stealth isn't nearly as pronounced, combat is much quicker and takes place over larger arenas, and the story is also a real central focus.

And, as Josh said, moving around is just an utter joy. Batman could only really zipline, glide, and dive. There are so many more things to master here.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Yacobg42 wrote: September 8th, 2018, 5:35 am this does feel very different than Arkham. Stealth isn't nearly as pronounced, combat is much quicker and takes place over larger arenas, and the story is also a real central focus.
It's not just the open world aspect that bothers me. Stealth not being pronounced is a problem for me. Lots of AAA games like Horizon and Mafia shoe-horn some half-baked stealth mechanics that don't hold up under scrutiny. I love stealth games that focus on being stealth games first and foremost, but the "Jack of all Trades, Master on None"-style of game design is a massive turn-off. Heavily signposted context-sensitive takedowns with flashy animations isn't my idea of stealth.

I watched bits of a stream yesterday, and I'm not a fan of exposition being delivered through radio chatter. Not only does it only provide half the data of a conventional cutscene, but those are mostly used to pass the time during lengthy unskippable sections of going from A to B in my experience. I prefer having substantial cutscenes in-between bits of substantial gameplay rather than this amalgamation of both. Maybe I'm just not great at multi-tasking. I have the same issue with the audio logs that have been used in every other game since BioShock.

Collectibles are also an issue. I know some people love ticking things off a checklist, but this is mind-numbingly tedious to me. Content quantity =/= content quality. According to PowerPyx: "There are 358 Collectibles spread across 15 categories. " No thanks.

Extensive skill trees and arbitrary RPG mechanics take away from the purity of the core design, so I can't say I'm particularly fond of that either.


So yeah, everything I've seen of this game suggests that this is a very polished and beautifully animated experience that does justice to the spirit of the character, but one that is also marked by a lot of conventional AAA design choices I happen to dislike. But it's nice to hear about the traversal! I've also heard great things about the story, and I like Spider-Man as a character, so that's definitely a plus.
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by DomsBeard »

Looking forward to getting this in a couple of weeks when I get back from holiday. I have to ask though does it make the ps4 pro sound let a jet engine?
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by ratsoalbion »

I’d be very surprised if it didn’t.
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JaySevenZero
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by JaySevenZero »

Definitely gonna play this at some point but with a house move, followed by RDR2's release and then a trip to Japan, probably gonna be around the new year all being well.

The photo mode looks spectacular!
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Suits
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Suits »

JaySevenZero wrote: September 8th, 2018, 10:46 am The photo mode looks spectacular!
This.

I’ve seen some great captures come up on my Twitter feed.

Interesting how photo modes have crept into games now. Sort of a sleeper feature that has really taken off and in a few years we’ll wonder what we ever did without them.
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by JaySevenZero »

It's something that Sony, in particular, have been pushing with their 1st-party titles and there's little denying that combined with social media, it's become an almost hassle-free way to publicise your game post launch.
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Yacobg42 »

Photo mode is truly excellent. Also cool are the time-of-day changes, each part of the story has a different time/light/weather setting, so you can kinda choose how long you'd like to stay in each one. Also (I think) once you beat the game, you can choose the time freely.
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Suits »

Mario Odyssey has a pretty in depth photo mode.

It even has a frame that is specific for mobile phone wallpapers :lol: .
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Combine Hunter »

I love randomly getting alerts for criminal activity while I'm on the way to a different objective in Spider-Man. Being late to meet Aunt May because I had to stop a car chase feels like something straight out the comics.

I should say that Spider-Man 2 actually did this all the way back in 2004, however this game does a better job of mixing it up. Every car chase was the same in Spider-Man 2, here there's always a few differences to keep you on your toes.
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

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Alex79
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Alex79 »

ratsoalbion wrote: September 9th, 2018, 12:44 am Cool 2004 / 2018 comparison vid:
https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/09/06/s ... 04-vs-2018
Good god, that game looks utterly incredible! I've not really been following it much, but that video, those water effects and puddles and just general graphical quality - surely the pinnacle of what the PS4 has offered to date? I'm amazed!
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by ratsoalbion »

Another great element of this obviously ‘AAA’ game: https://twitter.com/kirkhamilton/status ... 11264?s=21

Yuri Lowenthal gives every in-game line twice.
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Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Alex79 »

Amazing!
Yacobg42

Re: Marvel's Spider-Man

Post by Yacobg42 »

Alex79uk wrote: September 9th, 2018, 8:29 am
ratsoalbion wrote: September 9th, 2018, 12:44 am Cool 2004 / 2018 comparison vid:
https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/09/06/s ... 04-vs-2018
Good god, that game looks utterly incredible! I've not really been following it much, but that video, those water effects and puddles and just general graphical quality - surely the pinnacle of what the PS4 has offered to date? I'm amazed!
It all moves so quickly, which is what blows me away. Uncharted and God of War look fantastic as you slowly walk around, but this looks good slow or when you're swinging through at 1000 mph.
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