Why Marvel's Spider-Man is the GOAT (The Greatest Video Games of all Time)

Hello there Ladies & Gentlemen and welcome back to the Greatest Video Games of all Time. My name is Tarby and today I will be showing why I believe Marvel's Spider-Man is one of the best games that has ever been created. It is no secret that I am a massive nerd. I absolutely love Spider-Man. One of my favourite movies growing up was Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, I remember watching it in the cinema and I genuinely cried at the end of the film. This was the first time I ever cried whilst at the cinema (at least I think it is, Mufasa's death may have got there first)

Spider-Man represents a typical nerdy college student who became something extraordinary. Spider-Man represents losing a loved one and bouncing back to be the best person you can be. Spider-Man represents hope. What are we all if we do not have hope? I could not wake up each day and continue if I did not have hope. Hope is described as 'a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen', which I aim to have each and every day. I hope that one day I can blog full time, earn enough money and become my own boss. Hope is a very important part of life. Growing up, I would use Spider-Man to give me hope in every thing I do. To this day, I think I still do. Spider-Man inspires me to be the best person I can be. 

I am probably one of the nerdiest nerds that have ever nerded and when Spider-Man was available to play on a video game console - I did not think twice. I have never owned a PlayStation until this game was released. Once I knew about it, I purchased a PS5 as soon as I could get hold of one. I paid for PlayStation Plus, downloaded Marvel's Spider-Man and then I sat there for the next week of my life, in my element. I remember playing a Spider-Man game on my old Xbox and it was one of my favourite games growing up. Now I can play a new Spider-Man game on a next generation console - fantastic. Lets swing right into it and see why I believe Marvel's Spider-Man is one of the greatest video games of all time. 

This post will contain SPOILERS. 

THE GAMEPLAY IS amazing  (excuse the pun)

If I was to describe the gameplay of Marvel's Spider-Man, I would describe it as a mixture of Batman Arkham City and Mirror's Edge. What I mean by this, is you can happily parkour and swing around the fantastic New York and then drop into a group of bad guys and get a badass 50+ hit combo. I spent hours swinging around Manhattan whilst dropping into various gang meets, webbing them to walls and turning them into a web cocoon. You can genuinely never get tired of the combat system, it is very similar to the system that made combat in the Batman games so enjoyable. 

Swinging around New York is incredible. You can run up buildings, swing through the city and run along buildings (just to name a few) The swinging is that fun you almost do not want to fast travel. If your objective is the other side of Central Park - you are swinging there. If the objective is 30 blocks away - you are swinging there. If the objective is the complete other side of the map and you have to fight Godzilla in order to get there - trust me, you are swinging there. Web wings were not apart of the this game but I really do not think they are needed. Don't get me wrong they are a fun addition in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but not having them really is not detrimental to your adventure. I also love the way you get various news reports from J.Jonah Jameson himself, which you can listen to whilst exploring New York. I don't think I will ever get tired of his hate for Spider-Man.

The story missions are also extremely addictive. There is a mixture of gameplay so you do not get bored, whether that is quietly defeating enemies or climbing through vents, you will not get bored. Gameplay during missions includes some incredible visuals and uses some amazing techniques that you would not have thought of beforehand. There is also a skill tree which unlocks some really badass moves to use whilst fighting enemies. I personally believe the gameplay is some of the best available in gaming. Now lets move on to the incredible story...

THE STORYLINE MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE A TRUE SUPERHERO

As the title suggests, the storyline makes you feel like a superhero. You get the typical Spider-man routine of doing well, getting knocked down and then getting back up. This is implemented to perfection in this game. 

The storyline begins with one of the best opening missions in video game history - taking down The Kingpin. When you start the game, you get thrown straight in to scaling Fisk Tower and taking down Mr Fisk himself. This is just a short snippet of what is to come. Throughout the story you work in the lab alongside Dr Otto Octavius as he works on creating his robotic arm, where you also complete tasks in order to progress. 

The main plot is about a little thing called Devil's Breath. This is a deadly toxin which Mr Negative (and others) want to release across the whole of New York. Your job is quite simple - stop them. This involves going through various villains including Vulture, Electro, Rhino and basically the whole Sinister Six. There is loads of villains to take on including Taskmaster, Scorpion and Shocker (just to name a few more) The Scorpion missions, for me, are some of the best in the game. Each mission is completing a series of tasks whilst injected with Scorpion's toxin. This creates some pretty impressive visuals and makes the gameplay even better. You also play some missions as Mary Jane, were you mainly sneak around to try and uncover secrets about Mr Negative's operation. Admittedly, these missions are not as exciting as they are in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but they are still enjoyable from time to time. 

As you can imagine, a typical superhero story would not be without some sort of betrayal and you get this from Mr Negative and Dr Octavius. Throughout the story, you learn that Mr Negative is actually Martin Li, who works with Aunt May at F.E.A.S.T (a local homeless shelter) Unfortunately this ties in to one of the most emotional moments in video game history. Devil's Breath is released upon New York which Aunt May falls a victim too. Spider-Man himself recovers the antidote, but he can either give it to Aunt May or give it to the rest of the city. As you can imagine, the latter is always the answer for Spider-Man, as he watches his Aunt die in front of him. This scene truly gripped me as she also reveals she knew Peter was Spider-Man all along. A real symbol of heroism. 

Later on in the story, you actually defeat Mr Negative which makes you feel like this is the end of the game. The game makes out that he is the main villain so you feel that the game is over. However, there is still one BIG problem - Dr Octopus. After defeating all of the Sinister Six, Dr Octopus is the only one remaining. Them robotic arms he was working on have now taken over his body and he is mentally possessed. This leads to an incredible final boss fight and an even more incredible ending between the pair. Its hard to try and sum up every bit of the story so I would advise seeing it for yourself. The story for me is a straight 10 out of 10.

the collectibles actually make you want to find them 

Finally I want to talk about one of the most debatable topics in all video games - the collectibles. Some people love the challenge of collectibles. However, some people cannot stand them. I for one am straight down the middle, I neither love them or hate them. I am the guy who collected all The Riddler trophies in Batman Arkham City, so I feel like I have a wide range of knowledge when it comes to collectibles in video games. Luckily for me, there isn't 400 Riddler trophies in Marvel's Spider-Man, but there is plenty of backpacks and landmarks to find.

Backpacks are actually quite enjoyable to find as they are all in really fun locations with various Spider-Man memorabilia. Whether this is under a bridge or hidden between buildings, you can have a fun time trying to collect them all. When you do find them all you unlock a new suit. Suits are a big part of the game aswell and really mix up the experience. I personally am a big fan of the Bombastic Bag-Man suit, but there is plenty more to choose from if this is not to your taste.

The final collectible I want to talk about is the Landmarks. This is actually my favourite collectible as you get to see various exciting features of New York. Whether that is the Empire State Building or the Sanctum Sanctorum, you can have a lot of fun finding all the Landmarks. I personally loved seeing references to Doctor Strange, Black Panther and the wider Marvel Universe. Hopefully we could get games about all Marvel characters one day? Lets hope this dream becomes reality...

THE VERDICT

Marvels Spider-Man is one of the greatest video games of all time and I wont let anyone tell me otherwise. I have played this game all the way through at least 3 times and I would not change it for the world. The game truly makes you believe that you are a superhero and apart of the game. I will never get tired of swinging around the impressive New York, or fighting off a group of enemies with my various web gadgets. For me, this game is better than the sequel. Thank you Marvel's Spider-Man. You gave me hope for the future of video games.