We played Spider-Man at Sony’s Playstation E3 Showcase and without a doubt, the gaming future looks promising for one of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes.

Our gameplay demo begins with Spidey on the streets of NYC. The game quickly explains how to swing across the city. Admittedly, it took me a minute or two to feel completely comfortable in finding the right timing, the right targets to shoot my web at, and how long before I let go. Once I figured this out, moving through the city became entirely fluid, and I was impressed with how accurate it felt. At times, I almost got the sensation of vertigo, forgetting that I wasn’t actually in the game. The best way I can describe the feeling is that it was comparable to playing a virtual reality title. If that’s not a good indication of immersion in a game, I don’t know what is. As I gracefully flung my way through New York, I found myself timing jumps by pressing the X button, which launched me forward with more momentum than I had previously.

In order to find trouble to get yourself into in the city, or rather stop trouble from happening, Spider-Man has to find his way to a relatively high point in the city. Generally, running or swinging up the side of a building, then hitting the L2 and R2 buttons simultaneously would land me on a perch. Once there, I hit the R3 button to focus in on the city’s happenings. That’s one of the parts that I enjoyed most about the game’s dynamic – you are truly the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Sure, you’ll deal with some of the nastier thugs in the city, and maybe even a supervillain or five. More on that later.

Once on my perch, I found a few activities to occupy my time. I found a crime in progress that needed some handling. Upon receiving my target via checkpoint, I flung my way there. The game gives you a tutorial on combat as you run through, showing you different actions you can perform. I thought it was going to be a blessing and a curse that the combat would be too closely linked to that seen in the Batman Arkham series. Spider-Man is a completely different character all together from Batman and thankfully, Insomniac found a balance that strikes as unique and fluid. Spider-Man moves quickly from thug to thug, but leaves himself open for more attack than the Dark Knight. Therefore, you need a good dodge. Thankfully, the well-timed press of the circle button will allow Spidey to get out of the way of the next blow. You recover surprisingly quick, as Spidey is fast and agile.

Your health meter can deplete relatively quickly, but that will keep gamers on their toes. Spidey can replenish his health by building up a second meter, which also serves to use as your special combo meter. Once full, you can unleash a circular barrage of web slings that incapacitate your enemies. In addition to your standard light and heavy attacks, you can use the environment to your advantage. When prompted and if you’re close enough to given portion of the environment, you can hit the L1 and R1 buttons simultaneously. Hold them for a few seconds longer and Spidey will grab the object with his webs, spin in a circle to gain momentum, and slam the object down on a poor enemy. In my demo, I pulled shelves down on enemies, flung street barriers at them, and even tossed bombs back at the person that originally tossed it at me. As with all things in the Spidey demo, things take a little repetition to get the hang of. Once I timed this dynamic properly, it became a deadly weapon in my arsenal. Combat is all about rhythm in Spider-Man.

Once I was done breaking up that particular crime, it was back to the swinging high above the streets. I decided to traverse the city for a little bit, spending some time taking in the visuals. Insomniac’s rendition of NYC is simply put, gorgeous. My demo took place as the sun was setting, giving the entire city an orange hue. At times, my breath was taken away. Visuals are sort of expected to be cutting edge in just about every game that releases these days, but it’s something I never take for granted. After all, it’s truly art. In addition to swinging my way around, I used the run dynamic a few times in an effort to make sure I was as well rounded as I could be when it came to being ready for a fight. Running up the side of a building is serviceable, but you’ll do yourself a favor to learn how to balance web-swinging and the appropriate timing of the X button to sling yourself forward.

After I had my fill of taking in the sights, it was time to find myself a gang hideout to breakup. The game allows you to surprise attack the hideout, as long as you remain unseen. I decided to take the head on approach and started jumping around the area, gang member to gang member, like a hurricane of destruction. One thug even had a rocket launcher-style gun that shot bombs at me. Of course, using my L1/R1 combo was a thing of beauty, as I regifted each and every bomb until there were no more enemies to take down.

My final portion of the demo came when I learned of a break-in at the nearby bank. The culprit? Shocker himself. After a brief cinematic featuring the charming, snobby dialogue of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, it was time to engage in a boss battle, 1 on 1 with Shocker. Shocker is quick and powerful, so if I didn’t time my dodges and counter attacks accordingly, I was in trouble. Shocker would send intense waves of electricity my way, forcing me to dodge. After a few well-timed dodges, I was able to use my L1/R1 combo to find a boulder or other downed piece from the environment. Once I threw it at Shocker, he was stunned. This was my chance. A press of the triangle button allows you to start throwing punches at Shocker. Rinse and repeat.

Spider-Man was one of our most anticipated games of the year and fans are lucky to only have to wait 3 short months to get their hands on it when it drops this September. I can’t wait to throw myself into the story on a deeper level. Additionally, side missions look like they’ll occupy my time for the weeks and months after release. Whatever the case, it appears that the wait was worth it for a quality action game in the name of the world’s favorite webslinger.

Josiah LeRoy is The Geekiverse’s Editor In Chief. If you’re at E3, you’ll probably find him drooling over the Spyro remaster.

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