When I was a kid I loved Spider-Man. The Spider-Man movie, which came out in 2002, was my favorite movie for a long time. I loved everything about the character. His back story. His quips. His fights. Everything. While the Sam Raimi movies were incredible to me (except Spider-Man 3), the video games were also awesome as well. I know some people have mixed feelings about the 2002 video game (which is based on the movie), but I enjoyed it a lot. I could never bring myself to actually complete it, but I enjoyed swinging around the first level beating up the thugs on top of the buildings. Other games based on the character were awesome as well. “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows” deserves more credit than it gets, despite it looking incredibly outdated nowadays. Fast forward to around 2012 and my love for the character started to dwindle a bit. I just watched The Amazing Spider-Man movie and was incredibly disappointed by the result. I longed for the days of the old Spider-Man. The old movies. The old games. The old cartoons.
I mean can anything really top this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZGN9fZvQhc
The answer to that question was an emphatic no.
Until last year when I was finally able to Insomniac’s Spider-Man game for the first time. Instead of being able to play it on release, I had to wait over a year and a half after the fact to be able to play it. Despite the reviews for the game being glowing, I was still nervous to play it. I had heard so much about it online that it was the best Spider-Man game ever. A common appraisal I heard was that the game “made you feel like Spider-Man” more so than any game before it. I kept telling myself to “Calm down. This game can’t possibly meet your expectations.”
That was until I did this. I flung my web as Spider-Man for the first time and instantly thought, “Oh man! This is it”.
This game was my first platinum trophy on the PlayStation. I wanted to experience everything there was to do in this game. I found every single one of Peter Parker’s bookbags throughout the city. I took a selfie at every single landmark in the beautifully created New York City. I beat up over a thousand of Martin Lee’s thugs.
While the game itself was incredible, I found the story to be the best Spider-Man story since the first two Sam Raimi movies. The gameplay was enough for me, I didn’t need the story to be good, but I wanted it too. I didn’t expect to cry at a Spider-Man video game, but I did. I mean it should be illegal to do something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3hAt1uWo8M
“Take off your mask. I want to see my nephew”. Queue me getting instantly choked up. With knowing just the basics of Spider-Man’s origin story, this scene would cause any men to cry.
Which takes me to today. After watching the incredible Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, I’m chopping at the bit to finally play “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales”. My PlayStation 5 is supposed to be here on Thursday, but Walmart might drop the ball. Will have to see.
Overall, “Marvel’s Spider-Man” holds a special place in my heart. When my love for the webhead started to fade, this game made me realize how much I care for the character. Everything about this game was awesome, from the story to the gameplay. The cold summer nights playing this game will always be remembered.
A big thanks to Insomniac Games for creating such a beautiful and fun game.
-Ben
