An evolution in video games is here: Marvel's Spider Man for PlayStation 4 (Video Game Review)

Post date: Sep 18, 2018 7:53:45 PM

By: Eddie Inchaurregui, Staff Writer

Posted September 18th, 2018

Hello fellow readers! Today’s story is about the history of the hero that has seized a spotlight in the current gaming community: Spider-Man. As you might have heard, Marvel’s Spider-Man has been a playable character on the PlayStation 4 since Friday, September 7th. With all the paramount attention it has gained, fans might wonder if the game offers any contrast to the other Spider-man games in the history of the franchise. It’s time to see how the game varies from the previous versions.

1980s-2001

Gamers first joined the web-slinging fun with the release of Spider-Man (1982). The objective of the game was to defuse bombs and defeat criminals before you ran out of web fluid. With limited capabilities, your gameplay options were to shoot your web, swing your web, and interact with bombs and criminals. In other Spider-man games during this era, you had the option to travel on foot to beat several levels in order to face bosses. The first game to change this genre was Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage which came out on September 16th, 1994. The game was a brawler instead of an action-adventure. It also included a common feature of picking up health packs and temporary abilities to help you win battles. The release of Spider-Man(2000) gave way to a new form of game-play with the use of 3 dimensional graphics. The next game to have advancements in gameplay was Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro(2001). This version featured the ability to change into different costumes once completing certain achievements. A difference presented from this game was that you were able to travel in the air as well as on the ground. One issue that this game faced was a small environment which was due to technological limitations at that time.

2002-2010

The release of Spider-Man (2002), which was heavily based on the Spider-Man film from that same year, gave the gamer more diversity in choices. The player had the ability to explore levels in search for gold spiders that added new attack combinations for the player to use in combat. Multiple bonuses were also added to allow players to play new levels with specific missions that varied from timed battles, flawless victories, and stealth missions. Other Web-Slinger games from this era include Ultimate Spider-Man(2005), which lacked variety in game levels (The New York Times) and Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (2008), which seemed to have technical issues including glitches at certain points. The commonality that all Spider-Man games beyond 2010 share is the use of Spidey-Sense to detect projectiles that target your player.

Marvel’s Spider-Man(2018)

With the latest release of Marvel’s Spider-Man, players are given the ability to change the character’s appearance and playstyle. The game has three skill trees: Innovator, Defender, and Web-Slinger. From current advancements in technology, the game has smooth gameplay when swinging from webs, doing parkour, and fighting villains. A new feature provided in the game is the ability to combat enemies while in the air, providing an advantage for defensive players. The game has also gained massive attention from the villains that appear: Mister Negative, Electro, Rhino, Scorpion, and many others. With the overall success of the game, it’s hard not to be impressed. The new Spider-Man game is fantastic for its attention to detail and overall quality. However, the only way to truly tell if this game lives up to its strongly positive ratings is to play the game for yourself.