The game follows Peter Parker, a 23-year-old college graduate and research assistant who gained superhuman abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Peter is in his eighth year of crime-fighting under his super heroic alter ego of Spider-Man, who has become highly experienced at this point, but struggles to balance his superhero and personal lives.
Marvel's Spider-Man is an open-world action-adventure title that allows the player to control Spider-Man throughout Manhattan, New York City. Spider-Man fights enemies with his brawler moveset and a wide array of web gadgets. At key points in the story, the player also controls Peter Parker (outside of his Spider-Man identity), Mary Jane Watson, and Miles Morales.
Overview
Marvel's Spider-Man is an open-world third-person action-adventure game, in which the player controls Peter Parker, under his superhero identity Spider-Man, through Manhattan, New York City to fight crime. Spider-Man's moveset allows him to swing through New York and climb buildings in fluid urban traversal, defeat enemies in improvisational combat with dynamic acrobatics, fight by interacting with various elements with his webs, and wield a variety of web gadgets to combat different opponents. Using tokens rewarded from objectives, Spider-Man can unlock and craft new gadgets, suits, and Suit Mods. By earning experience points, Spider-Man can level up to unlock new skills on the Skill Tree to enhance his combat and traversal. In certain parts of the game, the player also controls Peter Parker (outside of his Spider-Man suit) in various puzzle sections, as well as Mary Jane Watson and Miles Morales in stealth sections.
Spider-Man engages in a linear set of main story missions, begun once the player reaches its yellow icon on the map. Missions may make use of combat mechanics, require stealth either with Spider-Man or as Mary Jane or Miles, or involve completion of puzzles as Peter. Each mission advances the main story to the next stage, and certain advancements in the story unlock different objectives, such as new crimes against different organizations, or new types of citywide activities.
Aside from the main story, the player can complete many other objectives throughout New York City. Side missions, signified by a blue map icon, allow the player to complete short objectives offered by non-player characters, with a reward of XP towards new levels. While traversing through each district, crimes with one of the different organizations (thugs, Inner Demons, escaped prisoners, and Sable International) will appear, marked by a red map marker, to be completed for Crime Tokens. Districts may also be home to bases for one of the organizations, to be completed for Base Tokens. Districts also hold replayable Taskmaster Challenges, involving combat, stealth, stopping bombs, and chasing spy drones, which are scored on speed, in which achieving a gold rating for speed wins a maximum of three Challenge Tokens. Research Stations in each district involve short missions often based on traversal mechanics, to win Research Tokens. Black Cat Stakeouts require Spider-Man to reach a camera and photograph a hidden cat figure in order to find Black Cat. Finally, each district contains several of Peter's backpacks to pick up, landmarks to photograph, and Surveillance Towers to piece together a full map. Completing all activities in a district earns a 100% completion for that district.
Traversal
Spider-Man can swing through neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York, using web-swinging mechanics, as well as running along buildings. Spider-Man can swing across buildings, and also interact with various elements to pull himself towards them and propel forward. Certain skills on the skill tree allow Spider-Man to traverse the city faster. Spider-Man can also drop to the ground below. Here, non-player characters will recognize Spider-Man, and react to him in different ways depending on the player's progression. Positive reactions include cheering, high-fiving, and taking selfies with him.
While traveling, Spider-Man can glimpse views of iconic Marvel and Manhattan landmarks all present throughout the city. Additionally, J. Jonah Jameson's radio show Just the Facts will sometimes play news updates, with reports based on recently completed missions and side missions.
Fast travel can also be used to reach certain locations, including police stations and Research Stations.
Equipment
Spider-Man has access to eight gadgets, each upgradeable five times. The first gadget, the basic Web Shooter, is the default gadget unlocked from the start, and automatically replenishes ammunition. The Impact Web and Electric Web are unlocked in story missions. Five additional gadgets can be purchased with tokens upon leveling up or completing a story mission: the Spider-Drone, the Web Bomb, the Trip Mine, the Concussive Blast, and the Suspension Matrix. These gadgets can be used in combinations with one another in combat. Webbing enemies up near a wall or on the ground using gadgets will defeat an enemy.
Spider-Man has access to up to 28 suits in the base game, which can be unlocked and crafted, and are based on classic appearances of Spider-Man throughout media. Most suits come with unique powers that can be activated for a brief period of time, though powers can be swapped between suits, making equipping a certain suit at a time purely an aesthetic difference. The currently equipped suit will be used throughout cutscenes and loading screens.
Up to three of 23 available suit mods can be equipped at once. Suit mods require tokens to craft and a level requirement to unlock, and provide slight bonuses to Spider-Man's abilities.
Mary Jane and Miles gameplay
On a few occasions in the main story, the player will control Mary Jane Watson, or Miles Morales, in linear stealth missions. These require the player to reach an objective without being seen. In earlier missions, the player is guided throughout the whole process with a marker, though later missions, while still linear, are more open in options for how to proceed. Later missions can provide Mary Jane or Miles with a gadget or elements of the environment to interact with in order to either distract or incapacitate enemies.
Minigames
While playing as Peter Parker, the player is sometimes required to complete one of two minigame types. The first type requires Peter to complete a disconnected circuit by reattaching a few of the available pieces. The goal is to reattach the circuit without expending all available pieces, and to ensure the positive and negative voltage gives the current the required voltage in the end.
The second type of minigame requires Peter to analyze a substance, by matching the patterns. This requires Peter to match a few blocks on screen, and a few pieces that cancel out other blocks, until all blocks match the patterns required.
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