Superhero games carry a reputation that is difficult to shake. Too many of them coast on the power of a recognisable name printed on the box rather than doing the work of delivering a genuinely enjoyable experience. The logic behind them is understandable, if lazy: who would not want to play as Spider-Man, swinging through the canyons between Manhattan’s skyscrapers and putting criminals in their place? The name alone should be enough to sell copies. Marvel’s Spider-Man for PlayStation 4, a console exclusive that Xbox One and PC players must unfortunately go without, is a meaningful exception to that pattern. Rather than exploiting the licence, Insomniac Games has built something that actually earns the name on its cover.
Peter Parker as a Real, Relatable Person
One of the most disarming decisions the game makes is the one it makes before the first fight even begins. The opening does not drop the player into an action sequence or show off the most spectacular version of the hero. Instead it introduces Peter Parker dealing with the kind of morning that most people will recognise immediately. He battles the urge to stay in bed, eats a modest breakfast, and deliberately avoids his landlord’s message about the overdue rent. This is a Spider-Man who is genuinely, persistently broke, and the game does not let the player forget it.
The rest of his day looks like the combination of exhausting and exhilarating that the character has always promised on the page. He chases down heavily armed criminals, swings across Manhattan, stops to interact with ordinary people on the street, visits Aunt May, and wrestles with whether to give his relationship with his ex-girlfriend MJ another attempt. The cumulative effect is a portrait of a hero who is entirely human in his worries and entirely extraordinary in his abilities, and that combination is what makes him genuinely likeable rather than merely cool.
This grounded portrayal is the first major strength of the game. Spider-Man is not presented as an invincible, untouchable force. He makes mistakes, he gets hurt, and he cracks jokes constantly, even in the middle of brutal confrontations. That habit of keeping a quip ready regardless of the situation makes the combat feel lighter and more enjoyable than it might otherwise, which is fortunate because the fights themselves can get genuinely chaotic.
Story, Villains, and Political Sharpness
The central narrative thread follows Spider-Man’s conflict with Mr. Negative and his gang of enforcers, who have set their sights on Mayor Osborn. This storyline provides the backbone of the campaign, but the game earns its narrative credibility through the twists it introduces along the way, several of which are genuinely surprising and land with satisfying weight. The story is not trying to be a simple good-versus-evil tale, and the more interesting moments come from the complications around the edges of that conflict.
The game also takes quiet but pointed aim at contemporary culture in ways that give it more texture than a straightforward superhero story might have. One recurring element involves a podcaster who cannot stop broadcasting elaborate and unfounded conspiracy theories. The character is clearly modelled on a familiar type from real life, and the satirical edge is sharp without being heavy-handed. These small touches suggest a development team that was paying attention to the world outside the studio while building the game.
Combat That Becomes a Language of Its Own
Where Marvel’s Spider-Man truly distinguishes itself is in its combat. The game places the player in the middle of action almost immediately, offering little hand-holding before throwing opponents at the screen. The commands and combinations have to be learned quickly or the consequences follow just as fast, even on easier difficulty settings. What might initially feel overwhelming reveals itself, over a surprisingly short period, to be a beautifully designed system that rewards practice with fluency.
Before long, moving through the button combinations becomes instinctive. The animations that bring those inputs to life are extraordinary, fluid and expressive in a way that makes the fighting feel less like executing commands and more like watching someone dance. Opponents can be grabbed with webs, lifted off their feet, and flung into each other. Objects scattered around the environment can be snatched from the air and used as improvised weapons mid-fight. There is something deeply satisfying about watching a villain take a car door to the face.
On the subject of audio, a genuine quality-of-life feature deserves recognition: the game includes a midnight listening mode that reduces sudden volume spikes. For anyone who plays late at night or who finds themselves startled by loud sounds that build without warning, this option is quietly invaluable, particularly during the boss fights, which are among the loudest and most intense sequences in the game.
The boss confrontations themselves are well above the standard of most action games. These are not simply larger versions of the regular enemies. Each of the major villains, including Electro, Rhino, and Vulture, fights differently and requires a different approach. The encounters are varied, dramatically staged, and genuinely fun rather than feeling like obligatory checkpoints on the way to the next story beat. While the villains lean into theatricality with enthusiasm, the game knows it and plays with that quality rather than taking it entirely seriously.
As the player’s abilities expand, so does the range of options in combat. Gadgets such as web nets and Spider-Bots open up new tactical possibilities. Unlockable costumes bring their own unique powers, including the ability to become temporarily resistant to bullets. The suits themselves span a wide range of visual designs, from entirely new creations to beloved looks drawn from decades of comics and films. The suit from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming, the one Peter received from Tony Stark, is among the options available, and it is far from the only fan-pleasing inclusion.
Visual Presentation: Mostly Excellent With Some Exceptions
The game world is consistently attractive, and digital Manhattan is rendered with enough detail and personality to feel like a place worth exploring. The shifting light conditions and changing weather across different sections of the game create a variety of atmospheres that match the tone of whatever is happening in the story at any given moment. The city genuinely feels designed with Spider-Man’s movement style in mind, with its towers and bridges and elevated structures providing constant opportunities for aerial traversal.
That said, the visual quality is not entirely uniform. Some textures and environmental models receive noticeably less attention than others, and when the surrounding detail is generally this high, those less-polished elements stand out more than they would in a less ambitious game. Some of the background police characters, in particular, look as though they were constructed from cheaper materials than the rest of the cast. Their animations in certain scenes are stiff and unconvincing in a way that briefly breaks immersion. These are the kinds of details that more visually sensitive players will notice more readily than others, but they are worth acknowledging as genuine inconsistencies in an otherwise handsome production.
Mission Variety and the Occasional Repetition
The range of missions available is broader than in many games of this type. Playable sections occasionally shift to other characters, including MJ and a character named Miles whose significance comic readers will immediately appreciate. These changes of perspective add variety and keep the pacing from becoming monotonous.
However, even with that variety, some tasks do begin to feel familiar after repeated exposure. Certain mission structures reappear often enough that a sense of having done something very similar before becomes difficult to shake. The open world map is densely populated with points of interest and collectible challenges, including one that involves chasing pigeons that have an inconvenient tendency to fly away. The volume of these optional activities can feel more like an obligation than a delight if approached comprehensively. These are familiar open-world complaints, and they do not significantly damage the overall experience, but they are worth noting for players who find that kind of repetition particularly wearing.
Movement as the Game’s Greatest Achievement
Everything about Marvel’s Spider-Man builds toward its movement system, and that system is the best argument for the game’s existence. Web-swinging through Manhattan is not a mechanic that serves the game; it is the reason to play it. The physics feel weighty and satisfying, the speed builds naturally as the player chains swings together, and the cityscape rushing past at full velocity is exhilarating in a way that is genuinely difficult to describe without simply asking someone to try it.
The game includes a fast travel option for covering long distances quickly, but it is almost impossible to use it without feeling like something is being missed. Even journeys across the entire accessible map are more enjoyable taken the long way, swinging and leaping and diving between buildings, than they would be through any shortcut. The world is sized correctly for this mode of travel, and the accessible version of New York has been built specifically to accommodate and reward Spider-Man’s particular way of moving through it.
The result of all this is that the game achieves something rare. The player does not feel like they are controlling Spider-Man. They feel like they are Spider-Man. No virtual reality headset required. That sense of embodiment, of genuinely inhabiting the character rather than directing them from a distance, may be the highest compliment a superhero game can receive. Marvel’s Spider-Man earns it.