Almost seven months to the day after God of War, it’s another PlayStation exclusive flagship, landing on PC with great fanfare as its sequel prepares to take the console market by storm in 2023. Sony’s argument isn’t subtle, but it does prioritize the customer’s desire to buy, and that shows once again in the quality of the PC port starring Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Released in 2018 on PS4 and ‘remastered’ for the PS5 in 2020, the game by Insomniac Games has been adapted for PC with the help of Nixxes Software, a studio specializing in ports with more than 20 years of experience behind the tie and several qualities titles to its track record .
In the more than 25 hours dedicated to this test, we did not experience any crashes, stability issues, or reduced frame rates. The game has all the graphical assets of a triple-A title, especially if your PC is equipped with a state-of-the-art graphics card and a 4K display. However, a few spontaneous texture loadings during movement, almost only during the prologue, but also occasionally in the late game, froze the action for a few seconds.
These moves, to put it bluntly, are also one of the strengths of any Spider-Man game worthy of the name, and this one is no exception. Strolling through New York swinging at the end of the ropes, walking between two aerial acrobatics or catapulting yourself from one roof to the other at full speed, it never gets boring.
The city map allows teleportation to certain points, but Peter Parker is good at moving and it’s more the detours to prevent a crime or complete a secondary quest that lengthen the trips, or just the envy of enjoying the view.
It must be pointed out that New York from Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is not least of all a supporting character. America’s greatest city is sometimes majestic, sometimes ramshackle, but always remarkably detailed. Each building is unique, each district has its own personality and each move is therefore different from the previous ones.
Add to that the 8.6 million New Yorkers, represented by a generous cast of generic characters with their little routine on the streets and in the few buildings that can be entered. We largely avoid the empty feel of certain other open worlds.
But when the city steals the show, after a while we realize that its inhabitants are mostly for decoration. Their behavior loses credibility when a fight breaks out. They don’t always run in the right direction, sometimes ramming through dangerous criminals and only clustering at a distance where they would be cannon fodder for stray bullets and stray missiles, if not immortal.
The enemies’ artificial intelligence isn’t exactly any more compelling, largely due to a ridiculously limited field of view, but they make up for it numerically in a combat system akin to that of Batman’s Arkham series. Various gadgets such as robotic spiders, your trusty web shooter or even anti-gravity grenades allow the player to tackle these confrontations with a decent range of tactical options that increase as you progress. Grip, on both the controller and keyboard, encourages a fluid, fast-paced, and creative approach to combat that’s enjoyable without being revolutionary.
Don’t get off so easily
Difficulty is primarily based around limited hit points requiring a modicum of caution, but Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is not designed as a game of skill that challenges the player, except for certain side quests where achievement translates into a score.
The occasional contextual action sequences are short and particularly easy, not to say overly easy, and it’s fun to fight against the game’s super villains without always posing great threats.
Some combat and action sequences are also presented, in whole or in part, in the form of cutscenes, which are certainly spectacular, but sometimes seem to deprive us of a great opportunity to show off our skills.
However, these cinematics are at the service of a very neat staging and a well-developed scenario that alternates, with a good balance, between the two lives of Spider-Man/Peter Parker and beautifully introduces the character of Miles Morales , his successor in the making, Star of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which was released in 2020, and another headliner, simultaneously, from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, due for release next year.
The game allows you to embody Miles before acquiring superpowers in sequences focused on stealth, and the same for the character of Mary Jane Watson, ex-girlfriend of Peter Parker, ruthless journalist and Spider-Man’s partner in his Hours. These sequences, especially those with Mary Jane, aren’t awkward, but often less successful than the rest of the game due to the simple AI. They’re limited to distracting enemies with acoustic decoys and crouching while walking (hello, back problems), which is far from innovative.
The other lack of originality in the game is the secondary quests. Some are very simple, like “Go there and press Y,” and the whole thing lacks variety. But the potential was there. The original game’s three DLCs included in the “Remaster” offer interesting quests, but they take place after and outside of the main story.
However, a few repetitive quests far from spoil the experience, reminding us why Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes, but also one of those whose adventures adapt best to video games. Acrobatic, powerful, and endowed with a quick wit almost worthy of a superpower, Spider-Man puts on a show no matter the circumstance.
8/10
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
developer : Insomniac games and Nixxes software
editor :Sony Interactive Entertainment
platforms : PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), also available on PlayStation 5 since 2020 (tested on Steam)
Game available in French