Spider-Man (2018 video game)

'''''Marvel's Spider-Man'''* is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The first installment in the *Marvel's Spider-Man'' game series, it is based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and tells an original narrative inspired by the long-running comic book mythology, while drawing from various adaptations in other media. In the main story, the superhuman crime lord Mister Negative orchestrates a plot to seize control of New York City's criminal underworld. Spider-Man must confront Mister Negative and protect the city while dealing with the personal problems of his civilian persona, Peter Parker, when he threatens to release a deadly virus.

Players control Spider-Man from the third-person perspective, with the gameplay primarily focusing on his traversal and combat abilities. Spider-Man can freely move around New York City, interacting with characters, undertaking missions, and unlocking new gadgets and suits by progressing through the main story or completing tasks. Outside the story, the player's able to complete side missions to unlock additional content and collective items. Combat focuses on chaining attacks together and using the environment and webs to incapacitate numerous foes while avoiding damage.

Development of ''Marvel's Spider-Man'', the first licensed game by Insomniac in its then-22-year history, began in 2014 and took approximately four years. Insomniac was given a choice of using any character from Marvel's catalog to work on; Spider-Man was chosen both for his appeal to the employees and the similarities in traversal gameplay to their previous game *Sunset Overdrive* (2014). The game design took inspiration from the history of Spider-Man across all media but Marvel Comics. Insomniac wanted to tell an original story that wasn't linked to an existing property, creating a unique universe (known as Earth-1048) that has since appeared in novels, merchandise, and comics.

''Marvel's Spider-Man'' was released for the PlayStation 4 on September 7, 2018, being praised for its graphics, narrative, characterization, combat, musical score, and web-swinging traversal mechanics. It received a number of accolades including being named as one of the best superhero games ever made. It became one of the fastest-selling games of the year and the best-selling PlayStation 4 game of all time. The game's success launched a new franchise for Insomniac and Sony which has since been accompanied by other games and tie-ins in the other media. The game was followed by an expansion, *The City That Never Sleeps*, in the late 2018. In November 2020, an remastered version of ''Marvel's Spider-Man* was released for the PlayStation 5 alongside *Spider-Man: Miles Morales'', a spin-off and the continuation focused on Spider-Man's protégé Miles Morales. A sequel, *Spider-Man 2*, was released in October 2023 for the PlayStation 5.

## Gameplay
''Marvel's Spider-Man'' is an open-world action-adventure game set in the borough of Manhattan in a fictionalized version of modern-day New York City. It's presented from a third-person perspective showing the playable characters and allowing the camera to rotated freely around them. The primary playable character is the superhero Spider-Man, who can navigate the world by jumping, using his web shooters to fire webs that allow him to swing between buildings, running along walls and automatically vaulting over obstacles. Webs can be precisely aimed to pull the player towards specific points. Physical objects are required to attach webs to for swining, and momentum and speed of the swing can be controlled by releasing the web at specific points to gain height or move more quickly. The game features an optional fast travel system that uses the New York City Subway system.

Combat is enacted using three buttons; one for dodging, one for physical strikes, and one for web-based attacks. Webbing can be used to incapacitate enemies and stick them to nearby objects, immediately removing them from battle. Enemies who are knocked from great heights are automatically stick to a nearby surface in a web-cocoon, preventing death. Spider-Man can also use the environment to fight, jumping off walls and throwing objects like manhole covers, grenades and webbing-restrained enemies.

Successful and consecutive attacks build "Focus", which can be partially used to heal Spider-Man, while full Focus allows special finishing attacks to take down an enemy instantly. Spider-Man possesses "spider-sense", which is shown as a white icon around the character's head, indicating an incoming attack that can be dodged. A precise dodge performed just before the attack hits allows Spider-Man to retaliate with webbing against the enemy. Some enemies must be overcome using different approaches. Melee-weapon-wielding enemies must be knocked into the air and shielded enemies must be attacked from behind. Enemies armed with whips will drag Spider-Man out of the air and require a counterattack to fight effectively. Other types of enemy include heavily armored agents who can take more damage, brutes, and jetpack-wearing enemies who remain airborne.

Spider-Man has access to a variety of gadgets that can be deployed in combat; these include electric webbing, concussive blasts, and impact webbing that launches enemies backwards and can stick them to a nearby surface. Gadgets are unlocked by progressing through the game and can be accessed from a radial menu. Spider-Man has several unlockable suits that are based on existing versions of the character in media; there are also original suits created for the game. Many of these offer special abilities that can aid in combat, such as increasing Focus gain, reducing gravity, enhancing stealth, making the player invulnerable, and unleashing an electromagnetic pulse to disable enemy weapons. Once unlocked, suits and powers can be freely combined. Stealth combat involves Spider-Man moving around raised locations using gadgets or webbing to neutralize isolated enemies. Leveling up allows the player to unlock skills from three different specialties, focusing on ground combat, aerial combat, and traversal.

Suits, suit mods, gadgets, and their associated upgrades are purchased with resources called Tokens, which are awarded for completion of specific tasks. Each unlockable item requires different quantities of each Token type: Challenge Tokens for completing Taskmaster's time-and-skill based combat, stealth, and traversal missions; Backpack Tokens for locating Spider-Man's old backpacks containing mementos from his past; Research Tokens for completing research station missions, science minigames, and the collection of pigeons; Crime Tokens for stopping ambient crimes; Base Tokens for clearing out enemy bases; and Landmark Tokens for taking pictures of specific locations around the city. There are also minigames that are rewarded with experience points and research tokens including Circuit Puzzles that require the arrangement of an electric grid and Pattern Puzzles that require the recreation of a specific pattern using composite parts. Radio towers in different areas can be unscrambled, highlighting collectable objects, missions, and active crimes.

Some sections of the game are played as Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker, his friend Mary Jane Watson, and ally Miles Morales. Peter's sections often involve puzzle-solving, while Mary Jane's and Miles' segments focus on the use of stealth to avoid enemies. The game originally featured three difficulty levels; Friendly (easy), Amazing (normal), and Spectacular (hard). A post-release update added a fourth "Ultimate" difficulty that increases enemy damage and health while decreasing Spider-Man's, and a "New Game Plus" option that allows the player to start a new game using all of the suits, powers, gadgets, and suit mods unlocked in a previous playthrough. The game includes accessibility options, enabling players to skip the puzzle minigames, enable larger subtitles, automatically complete quick time events, and replace button tapping with holding. A photo mode allows the player to take pictures of Spider-Man using a variety of image filters, frames, and stickers for customization. The camera can be used to take selfies and can be freely moved around Spider-Man to capture him in action.

## Plot 
Peter Parker is a 23-year-old research assistant who gains superhuman abilities after being bitten by a genetically modified spider. Assuming a secret identity as the superhero Spider-Man, Peter uses these abilities to protect the residents of New York. Eight years into his superhero career, Peter has become an experienced crime fighter but struggles to balance his superhero and personal lives. After the New York City Police Department, led by Captain Yuri Watanabe, finally obtain enough evidence to arrest Wilson Fisk, the owner of Fisk Industries who is a criminal mastermind and the driving force behind most of New York's organized crime that poses as a respectable businessman and phailanthropist, they raid Fisk Tower with Peter's help. Peter neutralizes Fisk's private army as well as several officers on his payroll and defeats Fisk in combat, leading to his incarceration at the Raft. However, Fisk accurately predicts that his arrest will cause crime rates to skyrocket.

Afterwards, an masked gang of supernaturally powered criminals called the Inner Demons begin to divide the city by seizing Fisk's illicit assets.

## Cast 
* Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
* Tara Plat as Yuri Watanabe
* Travis Willingham as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin

## Sequels 
The game is part of a series. The game had a spin-off called ''Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales* in November 2020 for the PlayStation 5. A sequel called *Marvel's Spider-Man 2'' released in October 2023 for the PlayStation 5.

## Notes
## References
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