Me & Spider-man

Hello everyone, it’s good to be writing again. First things first, I owe an apology for being incognito so long. I got caught up in family stuff over the last few weeks and just couldn’t find the time to sit down and write something. So I am sorry to anyone who was waiting on a piece of writing.

I have been inspired to write this article as a sort of feature piece, about playing Spiderman games since I was a seedling. With the release of the new Spiderman PS4 game this Friday, to which I have pre-ordered so will hopefully have a review up soon, I decided to write about my obsession of playing as Spiderman.

I started playing games when the Sega Megdrive was a thing, a console I stuck with until the release of the Playstation. With it, I also had the Spiderman game, my love of the cartoon being well documented by my loved ones. I must have played through that game several times, incredibly scary and nightmare inducing ending not-withstanding. I can remember being very impressed with the difference of playing the game in ‘Kid Mode’ from narrative to game play difference, where puzzles and boss fights are skipped all together. Putting a bomb in a SAFE place will be a phrase I remember the day I die. Strangely enough it was this game that taught me all about cheat codes, mainly using it to unlock costumes with special abilities (much like the new Spiderman game due out).

I soon got my hands upon the 2nd Spiderman game, whereas the gameplay hadn’t moved on too much, the amount of costumes and a new story was welcome. Unfortunately beyond Electro and a train yard, I can’t remember too much about it so my super in-depth feature on Spiderman 2 (PS1) will end here.

Fast forward to the Playstation 2, and a successful Sam Raimi Spiderman film, where Spiderman was released on the console as a film tie-in. I must admit that graphically it was far superior. Gameplay wise, the combat had improved and gained more depth but the overall experience was pretty much the same. You stick to things, beat people up, drop too low and you die, all inside a set area. I did enjoy being able to replay the game as the Green Goblin, glider and bombs included.

Moving onto the game changer, the game considered to be the pinnacle of Spider-Man games, Spider-Man 2. This movie tie in set a new standard for the superhero genre. Giving you the whole of New York to play with, your were free to go from the street to the top of the Empire State building without a loading screen in sight. Introducing the need for building if you want to web swing, running faster than cars and leaping great heights, Spider-man had never moved so well. Combat came with move sets that could interact with the environment, a particular favourite of mine was tying miscreants to lamp posts.

Ultimate Spider-man was my introduction to other Spider-man’s, though I knew a few from the 90’s cartoon Spider-man, but this was also my first time playing a game with cel-shading. Extremely good story driving the game but the real plus was having the opportunity to play as a villain, in this case Venom. Venom is still attached to Eddie Brock but the symbiote is now a man made suit that supposedly cures cancer. Instead it makes you into a roid raged, long tongued, people eating, extremely high jumping villain called Venom. Being able to jump over tall buildings is a definite way to have a fun time.

If you don’t remember Spider-man 3 the film, firstly well done. Secondly this prompted the movie tie-in which people actually looked forward to, thanks to the success of the previous game. People were especially excited for the chance to play in the black suit. Unfortunately there was no huge progression from what Spider-man 2 offered and although utilising the power of the Playstation 3, the upgraded graphics were all we really got. And also the chance to play as the Harry Osbourne Green Goblin, which was kind of cool admittedly.

Spider-man: Web of Shadows was a game I recently reviewed and if you haven’t read it yet then you should know that I loved it. Although mobility was the same old same old, combat was revamped to genuinely feel like your fighting as someone as acrobatic and mobile as Spider-man would. The web zip combat could allow you to swing into a group of enemies, take them all out and swing away without hitting the ground. This system also made aerial combat more accessible and a skilled player could use aerial enemies to reach difficult to reach places.

Unfortunately I came upon a time in my life where I could no longer afford games and The Amazing Spider-man series, Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time all passed me by. Reviews played there part but also I never really got back to them. Disinterest was the primary issue unfortunately.

BUT…

Today, Spiderman on PlayStation 4 has been released and I am genuinely excited for it for the first time in a long time. I will get a review done as soon as possible but the traversal looks to have been smoothed out and I hope this game reignites my childhood passion for all games Spider-man. And hope it doesn’t douse the spark entirely.