Spectacular, sensational, astonishing, amazing. While the popular superhero,  Spider-Man, has carried one of these descriptions at one point or another, Insomniac’s latest game adaption of this classic character has earned them all. Marvel’s Spider-Man, also denominated Insomniac’s Spider-Man or Spider-Man PS4, released on September 7 became an instant hit among comic fans and gamers alike. This new and fun take on this first-class hero was raved by critics for its stunning graphics and innovative game mechanics. The story takes place eight years into Peter Parker’s career as Spider-Man , he’s just put away the biggest crime boss in New York City, and he and his colleague are nearing a scientific breakthrough in prosthetics and neurological technology that will revolutionize the world. Things are finally starting to look up for Peter, but this does not last long as a new group known as the Demons and their leader, Mr. Negative, are causing Spider-Man’s and Peter Parker’s worlds to collide to confront new threats like he has never faced before. Spiderman’s compelling story keeps gamers hooked from the moment they pick up their controller to the moment that they put it down, and it is an example to other developers of the elements that are required to make a great story-driven game.

        Audiences’ first looks at Insomniac’s Spider-Man dropped a little more than two years ago at E3 2016. Viewers were instantly fascinated and eager to see more from what would come from they game studio. For months, the hype for this game built up until E3 2017 when viewers got their second look of actual gameplay. Audiences were thrilled to see the attention to detail on the designs and movements to characters from Spider-Man who was front and center to the average civilian ten stories down walking on the street. Fans also got their first look at the main antagonist of the game, Mr. Negative, who was fairly young in the comic world. Insomniac was aiming to show gamers and fans a Spider-Man they had never seen before and their costumes white spider emblem and unusual villain definitely portrayed that. Though it took fans awhile to adjust to this adaption of the character, they were once again pleasantly surprised when this past year, at E3 2018, they got to see the inclusion of some the best of Spider-Man's classic rogues gallery including Electro, Scorpion, Rhino, and Vulture. Finally, after months and months of patiently waiting, fans were finally given the game they were waiting for, and was it worth the wait. While many have depicted the game to be the best Spiderman game ever, some have even gone to compare it to the award-winning Batman Arkham series; some even calling it superior.

While the game as a whole is remarkable, some of the best aspects of the game noted by fans and critics have been the epic web swinging, tremendous story, and motivating upgrading system. First, the web swinging, Spider-Man’s most notable attribute by far, has always been his web swinging and scaling high buildings by crawling up walls and leaping great distances. For years, Spider-Man games tried to nail down this essential hallmark of the character for a smooth and realistic game mechanic, but have failed to deliver time and time again. Finally, Insomniac has delivered. From the incredible feats in the air after releasing a web to actually shooting a web that connects to a building and not the sky, Insomniac’s web swinging has been exhilarating and pure fun that truly makes players feel like Spiderman. Players have voiced that they sometimes just jump on the game to swing around New York City and jump off the Empire City in a grand dive only to traverse onto another building and maneuver through different obstacles. Next is the story. With the shocking twists and memorable callbacks to the Spider-Man history, Insomniac has without a doubt, created an adventure for this beloved character that will remembered in video game history. Even when you are not playing as Spider-Man and are instead on an undercover investigation as Mary Jane Watson, love interest for Peter Parker and Daily Bugle journalist, the game still keeps its players captivated. Lastly is the game’s upgrading system, from collecting Peter Parker’s old high school backpacks to taking down baddies at their heavily guarded bases, each mission in Spider-Man has an incentive. In addition to the typical skill points of any third person action game, completing certain types of missions can earn players tokens; these tokens include backpack tokens, base tokens, crime tokens, research tokens, challenge tokens, and landmark tokens. These tokens then, in turn, can construct suits, gadgets, and mods that allow players to personalize how they play as Spiderman. This fun and rational upgrading system provides players with the motivation to complete side missions and activities so that they continue to make their Spiderman better and more capable throughout the story. All in all, each one of these characteristics, in their own way, has contributed to what has made Marvel’s Spider-Man so amazing.

Though Insomniac’s Spider-Man does have a multitude of great traits, some do claim there are flaws. First off, though Spider-Man could take days to complete at one hundred percent, the side missions can become tedious after a while. Though there is the incentive to get all the suits and gadgets, once that is lost, it becomes kind of pointless to stop a getaway car for the forty-fifth time. Performing the same moves and takedowns and, at worst, the same exacts QTEs (Quick Time Events), becomes plainly repetitive. Some gamers have declared gameplay following the end of the main story can only be played for so long before it just becomes boring. Besides this one complaint so far, Insomniac’s Spider-Man has not really received any other criticism and is, for the most part, just being enjoyed by gamers.

Overall, Marvel’s Spider Man has been a huge hit in the gaming industry and will no doubt have a sequel in the works soon. The game made more money on its opening weekend than the most recent Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming. In its first week of sales, it earned itself the title of fastest-grossing video game of the year with 3.3 million copies sold, with the number still growing. Gamespot has given the game 9/10 and Metacritic a 87%, with even more video game media networks giving the game a near flawless score . In my opinion, Insomniac’s Spider-Man is a phenomenal game and a breath of fresh air for how different yet classic the character is adapted. There is no other way to put it but to say that every time you turn on the game that you truly become the amazing web-slinger himself. I would most certainly say that if Insomniac’s Spider-Man is not the best, it is most one of the best games of 2018. Marvel’s Spider-Man is out now in entertainment retailers for only $59.99 along with its first DLC chapter, “The Heist,” for $9.99.