Marvel's Spider-Man hit last week and it's making a huge splash, already becoming the . The game is deserving of such a blockbuster reception: Insomniac Games has crafted one of the best games of the year, another jewel in Sony's crown after the equally incredible release of God of War earlier this year. Spider-Man has also done what no one superhero game has managed this generation: surpassing Rocksteady's Batman Arkham series as the very best superhero simulator ever made. While Spider-Man certainly owes plenty of gameplay innovations to those seminal Batman experiences, Insomniac has forged a path all their own. Marvel's Spider-Man beats Arkham in one major way: the storytelling in this game is way beyond what was presented in the Arkham series, giving us a fully fleshed out, emotional rollercoaster of a superhero melodrama, worthy of the best Spider-Man stories.
Spider-Man isn't just a highly polished experience that should be in every PS4 owner's library. Like any good modern property with the Marvel stamp of approval, connections to the larger Marvel universe are all over this title, often with spins on them unique to Insomniac's vision of the Spider-Man myth. In addition to all the nods to other Marvel characters and ✱properties, the game also takes place in a highly detailed recreation of Manhattan and so, just by virtue of this being a digital recreatioꦫn of a real place, there are some cool little details for fans of the city itself.
SPOILER WARNING! This is a ga🌳me so f🍨ull of love and care that you'll want to see lots of this for yourself but, if you want the goods, I got your back.
30 Pay Your Resp🐲ects
It's not a spoiler to say that Uncle Ben say his♈ goodbyes in a Spider-Man thing, but this game goes the extra mile by allowing you to visit his grave, and even say hello if you travel all the way up to Harlem to do so.
Aunt May is laid to rest right next to him, just like in the ending cutscene. While there is no prompt to say a prayer for May, it's nice t🐭hat they updated the l⛎ocation for those who completed the story.
29 Watch Closely, Spider-Man Saves EVERYONE ꦛ 𓆏
This may be my favorite detail in the game. Early videos of Spider-Man, like the famous , showed the wall-crawler gleꦬefully tossing and kicking enemies right off the sides of buildings. "Wait a minute," I thought, "Spider-Man wouldn't just chuck ♎guys off rooftops to their ends!"
Turns out, he doesn't. If you look closely, when an enemy falls off a building a web will shoot out and pin him to the side of whatever he fell off, then enca♈se him in a web to hold him in place. Just another sign of the incredible work that went into this game.
28 🍒 Can You Fiꦚnd The Wakandan Embassy?
While it's easy to point out the major changes to New York's skyline in Spider-Man, the OSCORP Building and Avenger's Tower ꦗare visible from nearly everywhere in the city, there are a few much smaller buildings added to the city that are easier to miss.
As much as Marvel loves using real cities for its stories, it has no problem with made-up countries like Dr. Doom's homeland of Latveria or everyone's favorite future paradise Wakanda. Wakanda and Symkaria both have embassies in NYC, tucked a✨way in nice art deco buildings just like a real embassy would be.
27 Yeah So Harry Is Definitely Venom ♋
Spider-Man crams a lot of villains into its runtime and doesꩵ a great job giving each one his due, though there are a few major omissions like Kraven The Hunter and everyone's favorite edgy 80s villai🐻n, Venom.
Turns out, Insomniac was saving the best for the sequel. In a classic Marvel post-credits scene, you fi🐟nally discover what you may have suspected al๊l along: Harry Osborne isn't in "Europe" at all, but floating in a tank in that secret room in Norman's penthouse. He seems to be surrounded by some kind of black goo which reacts to Norman putting his hand on the glass!
26 ﷽ Yes (Seriously) Spider-Man's Voice Changes Wh🌃en He's Tired
Spider-Man always has too much going on, it's kinda his thing. While most of us have a work/life balance, Peter has work/life/superhero balance. Spider-Man conveys this the way a lot of open world games do, by having conversations take place while the player is traveling from one place to the next. But while Franklin can just chat with Trevor on the phone while driving in GTA5, Peter Parker's method of travel is a 𓆏bit more📖 strenuous.
That's why Insomniac recorded : one where ꦉPeter is at rest, another where voice actor Yuri Lowenthal sounds a bit strained, almost like he's hurling his body through the air at 100 miles an hour.
25 🐟 ꩵ Yep, The Ghostbusters Are In Spider-Man
Known to thousands as the headquarters of the Ghostbusters, in real life this building is in Tribeca, New York. The design of Hook & Ladder Company 8 is typical of Manhattan firehouse buildings and there are quite a few scattered around Spider-Man's NYC. I found a few that I thought were tಞhe Ghostbusters building until I found this one, which is even 🌞located roughly where the real one is.
24 Spy On Niko And Roman From Grand Theft Auto 4 🔯 ꩵ
One of the many side quests in the game sees a concerned girlfriend asking Spidey to track down her partner, who she thinks mi𒅌ght be involved in a plot to rob a bank. The mastermind of the heist? A man in blue and white ♔striped track pants with an accent, who speaks on the phone to someone named "Roman."
This is an obvious reference to the Bellic brothers, Niko and Roman, from Grand Theft Auto IV which was set in Liberty City, the Rockstar Game U🌠niverse version of NYC.
23 🅺 The Ir𒐪on Fist Of Corporate HQs
One of the many architectural references ♓to the greater Marvel canon is this building in downtown 𒈔Manhattan, emblazoned with the logo of the , aka the company owned by Danny Rand, aka The Iron Fist.
Aka the one Marvel Netflix show whose second season is better than the first.
The Rand building has some prime real estate: it's right across the street🅠 from. It's also quite close to Hell's Kitchen which, as you'll see further down, is pack🐻ed with references.
22 The King Of Cameos Returns —𝐆 Say Hi To Stan Lee ꦬ
Early on in the story, Peter and MJ meet for dinner at the same tiny diner they have been going to for years. It's a bittersweet meeting: you find out that the two have broken up and haven't spoken in half a year, but their chemistry is still as fiery as ever. As Peter dashes out to respond to passing police cars, sirens wailing, MJ waves to the owner who turns out to be none other than Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee.
The Man With A Thousand Cameos is rendered in loving detail by the team at Insomniac and it's a great treat to see him. This isn't Lee's first time in a Spider-Man video game: he narrated the way back in 2000.
21 The Pedestrians Have Hidden Stories Of Their Own 🐷
Swinging through the streets of Manhattan is so much fun it's easy to ignore all the incredible work Insomniac put into every detail of the city. From up high, you may be forgiven for thinking the street-level is just a backdrop to when the action takes you down from the rooftops, but the streets of New York are just as detailed in Spider-Man as in any Grand Theft Auto.
Some enterprising young New Yorker will randomly shout pitches for business ideas at you as you pass by. It's not a one-time thing either: she changes her pitches over time and it seems to be the same voice actor. She's not the only one: there's als☂o a woman who offers to do your taxes!