Many moons ago, Insomniac Games made games exclusively for PlayStation. Popular franchises such as Spyro, Ratchet and Clank, and the Resistance series - all handled by the premier developer. Where after a number of years, it would eventually leave the exclusivity stable in favour of spreading its wings and exercising the equivalent of free agency in sports - still working closely with Sony, but in a seemingly new direction.

Which brings us to 2018, where we find the studio reacquainted in the halls of exciting large-scale exclusivity land. Joining the ranks of God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us II, and Detroit: Become Human, Marvel’s Spider-Man is an all-new, original release from Insomniac -- and Sony – that brings with it the hope it can become a superhero franchise in a similar vein to the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.

With the release of Spidey upon us, which you can purchase digitally here, and a peerless library of PlayStation 4 exclusives released so far, we look at seven points designed to give you all the information you need on this new (and returning) IP for the PlayStation 4 -- check them out below.

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A Reimagined Standalone Game-World to that of the Comics and Films


Unlike many Spider-Man games of the past, which were based on existing movie adaptations, Marvel’s Spider-Man exists in its own universe as imagined by Insomniac in collaboration with Marvel. This means there’s creative license to not only pull away from the comic-book series, animated and film stories and timelines, but use this to set up a brand new Spider-Man series that will look and feel like its own thing. Of course familiar faces and locations exist in this new Spidey narrative spin, but where Insomniac decides to take them is entirely new. And that’s, well, exciting.

The Story so Far


In Insomniac’s timeline, Peter Parker is 23-years old. He’s not a teenager haphazardly fighting crime while juggling teen angst and indecision. Instead, he has an internship at a laboratory where he works with Doctor Octavius, and is on the cusp of graduating college. As Spider-Man, he initially comes across a turf war between Wilson Fisk AKA Kingpin, and a new criminal faction called the Inner Demons. The Inner Demons are lead by Mister Negative whose real-life alter ego is Martin Li -- a prominent New Yorker who also runs charity shelters across New York. What makes this already precarious situation worse is that Peter’s Aunt May also volunteers for the shelters -- thus setting up an epic narrative fraught with danger, turmoil, intimate relationships and, naturally, the fate of New York City on the line.

The Peter Parker Side to Spider-Man


As mentioned above, Peter’s life is going well, and it’s in that expansive timeline the title takes another turn further away from previous Spidey games. You’ll actually be performing tasks as Peter Parker and existing as the two in disparate form throughout the game’s main storyline. Very cool. This allows Insomniac to add in a layer that no other superhero games have wholly embraced before - the alter-ego. Which works in forging and testing personal and professional relationships the preclude Spider-Man’s involvement but will coalesce as a narrative whole with both characters. Additionally, players will also take on the role of Mary Jane Watson in specific narrative moments, all in an effort to break up the action-heavy gameplay and to add weight to Peter’s relationships.

Villains, Villains and Villains (and Heroes)


We’ve already mentioned Kingpin and Mister Negative above, but it’s also been revealed a number of Spider-Man’s key arch nemesis will either play active roles throughout the game’s storyline, or will feature in cameo roles, strengthening the game’s ties to the larger Marvel universe. Vulture, Rhino, Electro, Scorpion, Shocker, Green Goblin and Taskmaster have all been revealed, while cameos from Daredevil and the Avengers will also play out. There’s likely to be even more still yet to be revealed, but as a starting point for the potential for absolute chaos - you already can’t go past the names mentioned above. Spider will have his hands full in this outing.

Physics-Based Web-Slinging


A contentious point of some of Spider-Man’s previous games was in web-slinging through New York. Specifically, in that his webs tended to just shoot magically into the sky, not really attaching to anything. In Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man movie we excitedly saw for the first time -- in motion -- how he’d use the environment, physics and his agility to swing through his urban jungle, and it was glorious. Insomniac knows how important factors like these are to not just the fans, but in selling Spider-Man’s abilities overall and have adopted a physics-based web-slinging system. Each thwip requires an anchor point, which lets the player quickly utilise New York’s skyscraper urban ‘forest’ as an exciting means for fast traversal. Additionally, web-slinging can be utilised in tandem with wall-running, insane leaps of faith and more -- and it will all be managed through an in-depth XP and abilities upgrade system.

Fight Like a Spider


The Batman: Arkham games redefined hand-to-hand combat, but Insomniac knows Spider-Man has more agility and abilities than his cross-franchise rival, and they’re looking to one-up the combat ante by tapping into all of it. Naturally, Spider-Man’s “Spidey Sense” will play a pivotal role in all of this, while his web-shooting and slinging, uncanny agility and super-strength, coupled with dynamic environmental actions will all combine for an intense and acrobatic combat experience. Add in unique parkour moments in chase and escape sequences with enemies, and a new, dynamic action fighting system emerges - it all makes the player feel like they are your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

New York, New York, it’s a Webhead’s Town


The final piece to this puzzle is Spider-Man’s stomping ground: New York City. What’s unique about Insomniac’s take on it is it’s a combination of real-world New York and Marvel Universe New York, with liberties added for fun gameplay, traversal and exploration. Moreover, it’s alive. Bustling with civilians -- good and bad -- that can be interacted with and, often at times, will need saving or being brought to justice. It will also feature a day and night side, serving up disparate versions of the Big Apple. This is the most populated and dynamic version of Spidey’s home ever created in videogames, and Insomniac has worked tirelessly to not just build a highly-detailed city to swing through, but a city with its own character and personality.

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It’s been a number of years since we’ve had the chance to swing through a digital New York City as Spider-Man, and with Insomniac working closely with Marvel and Sony to bring the character to the PlayStation 4 - the end result is shaping up to be the defining superhero game of this generation of hardware. Not only in terms of looks, thanks in part to the beautiful PlayStation 4 Pro enhancements, but in giving players the ability to also take on the role of Peter Parker and explore a bustling city full of life and things to see and do. Spider-Man’s return to the world of videogames might be long overdue, but the wait has been worth it. In a game featuring a world wide web of possibility.

This feature is sponsored by PlayStation Australia. For more Spidey and PlayStation goodness be sure to follow PlayStation Australia on Facebook and Twitter.