“Marvel’s Spider-Man” is a 2018 PS4-exclusive produced by Insomniac Games. The game takes place in Earth-1048, which means it’s set in a different universe than the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Earth-616. In this universe, Peter Parker is 23 and has been holding the Spider-Man title for eight years.

“Marvel’s Spider-Man” is a perfect encapsulation of everything Spider-Man media should be. The pacing of story mode and the beats in between plot points are what every movie dreams of having. There are multiple side-missions that you can play for hours. They feature mini-stories, stealth challenges, and hunting out Spider-Man easter eggs, which the game is chock-full of.

This game also features an insane amount of callbacks to other Spider-Man mediums, including the Raimi trilogy, the Amazing series and even the MCU movies. References from previous Spider-Man games and other Marvel shows are also incorporated into the game. Apart from a spectacular story, paralleled only by the heartwarming plot of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, and multitudinous side-missions, “Marvel’s Spider-Man” features a near-perfect rendering of New York City. The graphics are beyond HD, too, and the world feels lived in due to the plethora of collectibles and conversations you can unlock. Only playing the game for an hour can make you feel like you have lived in the in-game world for years. It’s no wonder “Marvel’s Spider-Man” was nominated for a Game of the Year award.

Numerous suits from tons of Spider-Man universes and mediums are presented and unlockable in “Marvel’s Spider-Man.” The user can upgrade tech, switch around suit powers, the game’s skill tree is easy to use and understandable, the mechanics are easy to control, the whole game is user-friendly, and the web-slinging…don’t get me started on the web-slinging. All of this goes without even mentioning the fantastic voice talents of Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Darin De Paul and countless others. Their talents help bring this already buzzing world feel even more alive and real. 

I love this game. It’s a beautiful representation of what not only Spider-Man, but Peter Parker truly acts like and what a game all about him should feel like. Even Hi Top Films, a notoriously harsh commentator on all things superhero, agrees that this game is top-tier.

You can tell that the people at Insomniac actually care about this character and want to do their best to do him justice in a video game. They could have done a dime-a-dozen Spider-Man origin story, or a retelling of an MCU plot. Instead they took the Peter Parker from the comics and made him a brand new, totally original story that’s worthy of being listed under “Spider-Man.”

“If I met someone who had never ever heard of Spider-Man and had no clue what the character was like, I’d show them this game,” says Jackson Montes, an eighth-grader at McAuliffe Middle School. “I really like this game, man. Ten out of ten, would recommend.”