A few days ago we were invited to the Sony event, to experience the long-awaited first hand Marvel's Spider-Man, new exclusive PlayStation 4 branded Insomniac Games, historical development house known above all for the Ratchet & Clank saga. The software house did not hide the fact that Sony itself has left her carte blanche on the choice of the superhero to take to console. However, the decision was easy, so here about two years ago during E3 2016 the videogame dedicated to spiderman was shown to the world. Expectations, especially after the not so brilliant parenthesis dedicated to The Amazing, were very high, also thanks to the emblem of the team that took over the reins of the project. From the trailers released we have been able to understand most of the mechanics of the product, but now that we have been able to try the work firsthand we can say that we have been completely speechless. Between a jump, a climb and a constant fight against organized crime, there was a way to deepen our knowledge with the superhero and especially the events of the man behind the mask, aka Peter Parker.
Unfortunately, however, many questions and curiosities are still wrapped behind a thick blanket of mystery. We have seen the wall climber in all its sauces, but Sony this time wants to raise the bar: there has been a lot of talk about the videogame and how it can soon become the new milestone of the new MGU, Marvel Games Universe. For now let's be satisfied with what we tested, or two full hours, for other considerations obviously you will have to wait for the complete review. Playing the role of Spider Man has never been so exciting, an apparently complete experience from many points of view. The thing that intrigues, however, is to know that the title will be much more than what has been released so far. Obviously, however, despite the expectations, many doubts related to particular functions of the title were to be dispelled, and our test gave its answers. Between fears and certainties, here is our hands on!
Like a moth to the flame
First of all it is right to tell you about the plot, but for obvious reasons we will not dwell too much on what we have seen, also because we would risk ruining the experience due to some important spoilers. First, you will immediately be thrown into the most adrenaline-fueled action, with the sole objective of definitively capturing Kingpin, Spider Man's evil historian. Needless to say, you will be immediately catapulted into chases, explosions, respectable swings and fights. The chaos and the fast pace are the masters of the game, both during the clashes and during the movements, but we will return to what has been said later. After a series of sections that, in addition to defeating enemies, also included the liberation of some hostages, we faced Kingpin in a fight that seemed to us quite guided. As in the battle against the Shocker seen during the last E3, this challenge was also divided into phases, two to be exact. In any case, our movements and actions against this character repeated themselves rather excessively, modus operandi that transformed an epic boss fight into a linear duel and quite devoid of pathos. Despite this it must be said that before the fight we were very charged, fully involved and amazed by what was happening in front of our eyes.
Needless to say, the mission was successfully accomplished, and Kingpin's imprisonment inevitably leads to the end of a historical period that saw the underworld boss as the sole master of crime. His disappearance from the scene, however, automatically gives full power to all those villains who, before this drastic event, were limited to operating more under the radar, without bothering the territories under the Kingpin's dominion. As for the plot, I would say that we can safely end the discussion here, but there are really many other aspects to be explored that we spare you for the same reason mentioned above. The narrative sector is not limited to the superhero Spider Man, but it also focuses on a student Peter Parker and his "normal" life. Often the two identities, as happens on the other hand also in comics or films, they will coincide, putting him in situations that are really at the limit of endurance. In his private life, the boy dabbles in science, with the aim of helping people and becoming an important researcher. In addition to the protagonist, therefore, characterized to perfection both in the role of the hero and in those of the boy (irreverent and caring) we have supporting characters who will go to help spiderman in thorny situations.
Mary Jane as we know will be a playable character: the girl is strongly determined and launched in her journalistic career, for this reason it will be essential to help the good Peter in this adventure. Unfortunately, we do not have much information on the relationship between the two... a little something actually emerged, but let's avoid going into too much detail and leave the discovery to you. Last character to be analyzed is Yuriko Watanabe, in the game Yuri, but in the comic she is better known as Wraith. The woman is one of the prominent members of the police, and constantly communicates with Spider Man to coordinate or call him when there are problems too big to solve. Also discounted the presence of Aunt May, who we got to know already in the early stages of the game, even if her relationship with her nephew is still to be explored since the dialogue did not last long. In the test, therefore, we could see how the development house wanted to strongly concentrate on writing a deep narrative, full of supporting characters of thickness and who are not limited to being simple shoulders for the protagonist. It will be curious to see the evolution of the various relationships, especially the one between Peter and MJ, as well as making the official acquaintance of Miles Morales, an avid fanboy of the wall climber and a character - at least from what the development company said - decisive for the companies of the masked hero.
"If you are nothing without the costume you don't deserve to have it"
Now we come to the point of our test that mattered most to the fans, which is the combat system. It is useless to go around it, the combat system of the new Marvel's Spider-Man takes its cue exactly from what was seen in Batman. Despite this, however, do not think it is a shameless copy and paste, as Insomniac Games has made that important legacy its own, adapting it perfectly to the needs of spiderman. Let's start by saying that the spectacularity and fluidity of the movements make everything more immersive, to the point of diverting attention from the fight to focus on the protagonist's moves. Unlike Batman, however, in the title there will not be a button dedicated to the parade, with this replaced by the dodge: much more coherent and relevant to the character in question. You can use the cobwebs to move anywhere, or to reach your opponents faster and anticipate them in the fight, because it is well known, who leads first leads twice. But not only that, you can also use the cobwebs to bring enemies closer to yourself, block them, stick them to the wall, and much more. The result is a deep and well-structured combat system, which lays its foundations on more than solid foundations.
Another element of more than relevant importance are the costumes: Insomniac Games has promised that there will be "different" clothes, each with a specific bonus and that can be further improved. During our test we saw some of those already announced, but actually we only tried two. The first is the classic Spider Man one, which you can easily see in the comics, the second obviously is the one created specifically for the game. The last mentioned has the power to reload the focus bar, so as to always have it available. Using part of this charge, you can restore part of life to your liking, or eliminate minor enemies with a single shot. The combat system becomes even deeper if you also take advantage of the gadgets available. Weapons have always been a touch of class for Insomniac Games, as also confirmed by those featured in Ratchet & Clank. In addition to the burst of cobwebs we had one that thanks to a single hit allowed us to immediately knock out an opponent, so as to quickly reduce the number of rivals. The use of these special tools will however be limited to a number of specific uses, but which if exhausted will recharge over time. The gadgets can be further improved, they will therefore increase the number of shots, the area of the effect and so on.
Last but not least to complete the combat system there is a skill tree that is basically divided into three branches: combat, displacement and "gadgets". Let's start by saying that each of these specialties is full of facets, so you can adapt Spider Man to your style of play. There will be users who may prefer a faster fighting style, who, as usual, will focus everything on brute strength and who will exploit the extravagant weapons available. In any case you will be happy with your choice as the production also allows you to combine all these skills, so as to create a sort of "perfect superhero". As previously mentioned, Mary Jane will also be playable, its sections will be mainly stealth, divided by apparently not too complex environmental puzzles and, we hope, diversified from each other, Unfortunately we could only face one, but even this phase was rather guided. As with MJ, even when you take on the role of Peter don't expect the maximum of freedom: the phase in which we checked the boy we did nothing but interact with some elements of the scenario and deepen certain knowledge.
Nel blu di blu dipinto
The movement system and camera management were one of the doubts that gripped us most before the test. Luckily this fear turned into enthusiasm right away, just after the first swing. In fact, the presence of the buildings will be essential to take advantage of the cobwebs, but rest assured, because you can move very quickly. In fact, the game, in addition to the classic movement, it will also give you a chance to gain momentum, quickly approach some extremities to increase speed and much more; all this obviously seasoned with very scenic twists and turns. The camera follows your movements perfectly, without colliding with the elements present in the scenario and giving a cinematic cut to the various shots. The large game area is divided into zones and to make them visible on the map you will have to reactivate some turrets. Once this is done, all the interaction points will be clearly visible, which are essentially secondary missions. These differ from each other, even if they risk becoming very repetitive in the long run. What we were able to test were basically foiling a robbery, clearing an area in a wave battle, recovering the backpacks scattered around or photographing some historic building.
Once completed, in addition to experience points, they will also release specific tokens, fundamental for the development of the character. As just said, these sections can certainly entertain, but we seriously hope that in the full game they are many more and, above all, varied and fun. We certainly weren't bored, but they could tire many players into focusing solely on the main story, which would be a shame since thanks to the side quests it is possible to discover small details about what is happening in the city. Light insights, nothing too complex, but it is always nice to discover the events of this adventure with more precision. In any case, the real reasons that should push you to complete the secondary missions or, at least, to make a good number of them, they are closely related to the abundant rewards.
In conclusion we can tell you with certainty that what has been said about Marvel's Spider-Man for now it is only the tip of the iceberg, since some things are still top secret, and there would be many others still to be discovered or at least to be gutted within the speeches. Having said that, we returned home with the certainty that the title is not only really ambitious, but that Insomniac Games literally took the bull by the horns. They themselves have in fact confirmed that "the best thing about working on a game dedicated to spiderman is to work on a game of spiderman, but it is also the thing that causes the most fear". The development house knows what the risks are and is also willing to take them, but it was nice to see how, at least in the two hours of our test, they wanted to balance the man-hero structure well. The desire to create a deeper production, mature and complete it has been seen, like the desire to present to the public some sort of definitive Spider Man game. The combat system was another of our fears, but now they have turned into enthusiasm. The exclusive PlayStation 4 does not come to make the sparring partner for the most famous video games of the same company line upon the contrary, it enriches the stock portfolio with an out of the ordinary experience, like a real spearhead. Obviously, for the final considerations we will have to wait for the review, since we could only pull certain judgments when we have the complete game available. For now, however, we can say with certainty that the videogame has pleasantly impressed us, so much so that September 7 has never seemed so far away.
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