1 person found this review helpful
Recommended
2.3 hrs last two weeks / 54.9 hrs on record (24.8 hrs at review time)
Posted: 4 Dec, 2022 @ 12:42pm
Updated: 8 Oct, 2023 @ 3:59pm
Product received for free

Spider-Man: Remastered is a game that I have wanted since it first came out because of its amazing graphics, cool suits, and just a fun Spider-Man adventure. And of course, nobody can forget the web-slinging. So I was very excited to learn that it was coming to PC, as I don't have a PlayStation.

After a little bit of time adjusting the graphics so it could run well on my computer, I jumped into the game and... Man, it did not disappoint.

Story
I went into the game already knowing the whole story, but even so it was one of the most engaging video game narratives I've ever played through. You play as Peter Parker, or more famously known as Spider-Man. It's been around 8 years since he's started fighting crime behind his mask, and so he is more experienced and has fought with many supervillains several times already. At the very beginning of the game, you jump right into the action, swinging to help the police in a battle with Wilson Fisk, AKA the Kingpin.

After putting him in jail, though, things start to get much more complicated. Masked terrorists known as Demons begin attacking known Fisk hideouts and locations, and a giant conspiracy against gigantic scientific organization Oscorp slowly unravels as the story progresses. I won't go much further beyond that, as I figure it's best to play this game without knowing too much about the story.

One thing that this story really gets right is Peter's struggle with the problems in his personal life. This facet of Spider-Man was always one of the most compelling things about his character, as it allowed people, especially younger people, to relate to his life in one way or another. Peter re-encounters his ex-girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson, who he has a rocky relationship with, and attempts to repair it over the course of the story, with some ups and downs along the way; the small start-up industry he works at gets their funding pulled by the Mayor, and so they have to manage through that; he gets evicted from his apartment because he can't pay the rent, etc. But it all ties in to his Spider-Man life in the end, which I found really nice.

There's nice little tidbits in this game too that help make the story feel more alive. You can scroll through social media in the Map to see a wall of posts left by people. New posts are left often, having characters react to events in the story or crimes that you stop, or they just post random things. There's also the podcast Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson, where JJJ provides commentary on certain events that occur while you play. Although he is incredibly against Spider-Man, I actually found myself agreeing with quite a few of his points. Even if I disagree with him most of the time, I would totally listen to what he has to say. I would listen to a real Just the Facts podcast.

The story is the most enjoyable thing about this game to me, I think. Even when I already knew what happened, actually playing through it myself was really cool and in some moments even gave me a rush of excitement and awe that I haven't really felt since I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters. This was a very nice twist on the Spider-Man mythos, and gives us a fresh Spider-Man story with familiar characters. I haven't gotten to the DLC stuff yet, but the main story itself is great and I loved it.

Gameplay
A main draw for me was the web-swinging, and it delivered. Just swinging around through the city was so fun, and I only fast traveled once, because the game was forcing me to do so, as to show me "Hey, you can fast travel!" That's nice and all, but I'd rather run along walls, do parkour, say hello to random people on the street, and swing through the city. Equally as enjoyable as the story.

Regarding the Mary Jane stealth missions, I actually don't really hate them. Like, I didn't love them, of course, but they weren't terrible. I suppose that's really more of a subjective thing though. I didn't stop enjoying myself through them. I don't think they're bad. That's just my opinion.

There are occasional quick time events, which might be inconvenient for some people, but you can disable them or change the way they work in the options. There are puzzles, but the game gives you the option to skip them. I personally don't do that, but you are welcome to. The game allows it. There are plenty of accessibility options which is quite nice.

NYC is a huge place, and you get to swing around through it all. There's side quests, as well as collectibles that you can get to unlock cosmetics, gadgets and abilities. You hack towers to unlock more of the map and unveil more collectibles and stuff to you. Sometimes it can feel like you're just running around and getting stuff, but there are occasional crimes and encounters that make things more interesting.

Another review I read said that the combat in this game is very similar to the Batman: Arkham games but it really works with Spider-Man, and I completely agree. You don't just punch the dudes, you can web them up or launch them into the air or you can punch them then web them up then launch them into the air, or all that in reverse. Every dodge and cool thing that you pull off increases your Focus Bar, which allows you to heal or do an instant takedown on your enemies. It's sweet.

Side note: I haven't tried keyboard yet, but I would recommend getting a controller for this game if you don't have one. Xbox or PlayStation controllers will do. Seems like it just feels better.

Performance
I think this is an important thing to touch upon. The game is big and first runs with very high settings, so when I first launched the game and started playing, the game was running very very badly. Tons of lag. My computer is not exactly the kind that would run these types of games, and it was a major concern for me that $60 was going to be wasted on a game I could not even run.

But this game actually has many graphics options that allow the game to run much easier on lower-end computers. The game might not look as great, but you might find that hard to notice because it still looks pretty good! I still enjoyed myself during my time playing. You may get occasional lag, especially if you're launching the game when you haven't played in a few hours or something, but it eventually should subside and you should be able to get to the game pretty quickly. (If not, I recommend restarting the game. That always worked for me.)

Overall Thoughts
This game is wonderful. Unique but familiar Spider-Man story, fantastic gameplay, and, in my opinion, great optimization options. If you're a hardcore Spider-Man fan like I am, I think you are very much going to enjoy this game. This one is definitely in my Top 10.

I think I would rate it a 9/10. Really makes you feel like Spider-Man.
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