2017 is going to be a very fun year for Spider-Man fans. Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming will debut in theaters in July, bringing the wall-crawler into the world (er, Universe) of Marvel Studios in his own feature film for the first time. On top of that, Insomniac and Marvel are set to release a Spider-Man console game, thought to be the first of many major titles in Marvel’s plans. It’s not supposed to be specifically tied to the Spider-Man: Homecoming movie, but the two will be out at the same time in what’s looking like the Year of Spidey for Marvel.
These are exciting developments, and the game is going to have a lot of people more excited about Marvel’s video game output than they have been in quite some time. The comic book giant has largely eschewed consoles in favor of smaller (and frankly, sillier) games in recent years, even as its films have taken over Hollywood. When they have had success in gaming, both on major consoles and elsewhere, it’s often been through Spider-Man. That makes the idea of a revamped console effort focused on the character even more enticing.
In the meantime, we thought we’d highlight a small but diverse selection of Spider-Man games you can easily play that will help warm you up for the Year of Spidey that lies ahead.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
This 2014 console game by Activision and Beenox was released to coincide with the movie of the same name (you know, the Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield one that everyone’s forgotten about). It’s worth mentioning because it’s actually backwards compatible with PS4 and Xbox One, making it effectively the only truly “modern” console Spider-Man game, for now. And it was a decent one to play, even though one critical review noted, it missed out on greatness. There’s a perception among some critics that Spider-Man games tend to be good, but not good enough, and that’s more or less how people felt about this one. Nevertheless, simply controlling Spider-Man in an open world New York environment is pretty thrilling on current generation consoles.
Spider-Man Unlimited
This mobile game from Gameloft has gotten rave reviews. It’s designed as an endless runner in the spirit of Temple Run, but it’s absolutely packed with “characters from the Spider-verse.” It’s hard to fully explain how awesome this game actually is. Just imagine playing Temple Run in an urban environment drawn to resemble a real comic book, and battling thugs and super villains instead of just jumping over gaps and ducking trees.
Spider-Man Slots
It’s not as much of a conventional video game, but aside from the apps listed here it just might be the most accessible game on the list. Available as part of a collection of licensed online games from a mainstream casino site, it’s basically a digital slot reel enhanced with Spider-Man comic imagery. Incidentally, it’s among the games with the “biggest winnings” on the site, indicating that Spider-Man, even in a casino gaming format, is as big a draw as any other theme or character. If this is your type of gaming, it’s a nice, unexpected chance to enjoy a little bit of Spidey-related content.
Spider-Man: Total Mayhem
Here’s another one from Gameloft. It hasn’t gotten the same attention as Unlimited, but it’s of a similar quality, and definitely one of the better mobile superhero action games you’ll find. You swing around and beat up villains to save New York (no surprise there), but the cartoonish graphics, intuitive fighting systems, and awesome boss fights make for a fun experience.
Spider-Man 2
This one might be a little trickier to get your hands on these days, but if you can, you should play through it. One article that ranked it as the best Spider-Man game we’ve seen said that it’s kind of like Grand Theft Auto starring Spider-Man. The ability to explore a massive open-world Manhattan while accepting side-quests leaves plenty for fans to do and is well worth checking out for fans of the wall-crawler that haven’t played it yet.
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Ultimate is my favorite console version, for sure. I love how they captured Bagley’s art!
I’m currently playing the first Amazing. I’m enjoying webslinging looking for comics. Not too thrilled with the skins though, as they’re focused on an era I’m not a fan of. I’ve been using a lot of the Raimi suit until recently as the ASM 1 suit has started to finally grow on me.
Spidey Unlimited is my favourite app and I practically play it every day, vs Injustice where I mostly log in daily for my reward. I’ve got 205/230 of the characters currently. Finally got the unmasked Spider-Ham, now if only I could get Iron Mary Jane!
@Crime Master Web of Shadows had really good gameplay too, but the story was perhaps a bit melodramatic, and the voice acting for the eponymous character was not my favorite. So high-pitched.
Spider-Man 2 is kind of li? Kind of li what? I must knowwww!
TASM2 was indeed good but not great. Open world was good, but having to decide between shooting a web with Spidey’s left hand or his right hand was a little too granular (thankfully, you didn’t have to alternate pressing the L and R triggers to move your left and right feet while walking; that would be the next step, though–pun only noticed during typing).
On the positive side, you couldn’t websling from the sky anymore; on the negative side, you couldn’t always seem to websling from buildings either. Freefalling from a tall building and mashing the shoulder buttons repeatedly would usually get you a repeated “uh-uh” buzz sound indicating nothing to web to until you nearly hit the street. The game also lacked the mobility and momentum of SM2, the game by which all open-world Spidey games are judged. Web rush was cool, though. As were stealth takedowns, and for the most part, combat.
I remember one level 75% or so into the game where I though, “Man, this is a good level; give me more!” and then it ended short without actually hitting stride. Good stuff, but it needed more time and money. I think most or all Spider-Man video games end up being limited by that licensed-game budget. What’s there is indeed good, but it’s not fully polished, fleshed out, or quite filling enough in terms of length or content.
Either that or a silly Spider-suit that doesn’t represent the character. You can take that hot take to the bank, Insomniac. 😛 I’d much rather see the classic suit return so I don’t have to explain to every one of my friends “Yes, that’s Spider-Man. Yes, it’s the same one. Yes, the suit looks randomly different,” when I should be able to just hold it up to their faces and have them go “Oh! Spider-Man!”
Best Spider-Man games for me are Spider-Man 2, and Ultimate Spider-Man (which is basically the same game except with an awesome comic book visual style and you get to play as Venom!) Until the Batman Arkham games came along, those were probably my favourite Superhero games in general.