Share. A hero whether he’s wearing a mask or not. A hero whether he’s wearing a mask or not.

If you show a picture of Marvel’s Spider-Man to someone for the first time, they’re likely to notice one thing: the suit. Insomniac has created a brand-new look for Spider-Man that’s entirely unique but immediately recognizable, its own spin on a hero we’ve been following for decades.

But while it’s true that the suit may catch your eye first, spending real time with the game reveals what’s underneath is just as important. For all the work that’s gone into making a new look for Spider-Man, Insomniac has put equal work into Peter Parker, giving the man behind the mask new depth and instant relatability that defines the character.

Note that you can check out new Spider-Man gameplay (and hear our impressions of it) in the video at the top of this page -- and here's an extra bonus conversation about our recent time with Spider-Man with even more details:

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A More Mature Hero

Playing the opening hours of Marvel’s Spider-Man, we meet a Peter Parker who’s been doing this for years. Instead of an awkward teen discovering his powers, Peter is in his 20s and knows exactly what he’s capable of.

With all of those skills on full display, the story begins with a mission that feels like the ending to a game you didn’t play. After years of battling against Wilson Fisk, Peter swings in to finally take him down. Following a lengthy infiltration of Fisk Tower and a multi-stage boss fight, he succeeds! Fisk is defeated and the city is saved. Good job, Peter.

“ The story begins with a mission that feels like the ending to a game you didn’t play.

But as Fisk heads into police custody, he gives Spider-Man a warning: he was keeping the criminals of New York in order. Without a big bad, Fisk says, the city will fall into chaos within a month. Peter laughs off the warning with a one-liner, but the statement rings true. This is where Peter’s struggle – which is also Spider-Man’s struggle – begins.

Speaking at our demo, creative director Bryan Intihar explained the game’s driving principle, something suggested early on in the project by Marvel Games creative director Bill Rosemann.

“I’ll never forget, I circled this one thing he said to me,” Intihar remembers. “'The best Spider-Man stories are when Peter’s world and Spider-Man’s world collide.' That’s driven every single thing we’ve done in this game.”

The power vacuum created by the fall of Kingpin becomes a problem for Spider-Man, but it’s also a problem for Peter. He’s juggling a full-time job alongside his superhero duties, as well as his relationship with Aunt May and his sort-of-relationship with ex-girlfriend Mary Jane.

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While this is a dynamic we’ve seen before, Insomniac has added new twists. Rather than working as a humble reporter, Peter works in a lab on projects that he believes are actually important. Work isn’t a burden that he needs to maintain his cover, but something he truly believes in and is passionate about.

“ He’s been saving the city as Spider-Man, but for the first time, he starts to think, through his work, that he can actually make a difference in the city, in the world, but this time as Peter Parker.

“For eight years he’s been saving the city as Spider-Man, but for the first time, he starts to think, through his work, that he can actually make a difference in the city, in the world, but this time as Peter Parker,” Intihar told us.

Peter has also grown more mature in his relationships with other people. This isn’t a cocky kid ready to take on the world; he’s a seasoned hero who’s learned from his mistakes. His relationships and his attitude have evolved in his eight years of fighting crime.

A scene early in the game sees Peter trying to distract Aunt May while her coworkers set up a surprise party behind her. While it’s initially played for laughs, it eventually leads to a heartfelt moment between the two, one that shows what kind of support system Peter has built.

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“He starts to understand it’s okay to lean on people,” Intihar said. “It’s okay to ask for help, even if you are a successful superhero.”

Peter especially learns from his relationship with his mentor, whose identity we won’t spoil here. But as Peter matures and potentially grows into someone who could be seen as a mentor himself, learning when to listen and trust people is something that will serve him well.

“In many ways, this story is his next coming-of-age story. This is his journey to becoming an adult,” Intihar said.

Dress for the Job You Want

Of course, no Spider-Man game can be entirely about Peter Parker, and you’ll spend plenty of time swinging through the city as his costumed alter ego.

As we wrote about at E3, Insomniac absolutely nails what it feels like to be Spider-Man. Playing the game’s first three hours, every movement as Peter feels pitch-perfect, from swinging across the city to landing a punch on a potential jewelry store thief.

“ He starts to understand it’s okay to lean on people. It’s okay to ask for help, even if you are a successful superhero.

In our demo, we also experimented with unlocking alternate suits, which you’ll be able to craft after reaching a specific point in the story. Each time your player gains a level, you can see the unlock conditions for a new suit in the pause menu. Suits we saw during our session included Peter’s Noir suit, Scarlet Spider suit, Secret War suit, and many others.

Each suit you unlock gives you a special ability (for example, the Scarlet Spider suit lets you project holographic decoys for enemies to attack), but once you’ve unlocked an ability you can use it with any suit.

Suits are unlocked using different combinations of Tokens, which come in many varieties. To name a few, you’ll earn Crime Tokens for stopping petty street-level crimes, Landmark Tokens for taking photos of famous NYC locales, and Base Tokens for taking out hideouts where enemies are gathered.

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You can also earn Backpack Tokens for finding long-forgotten bags Peter left throughout the city in his early days. Each of these also contains a fun memento you can view in the pause menu -- among a few we found were a restaurant menu from Peter’s first date with Mary Jane and a vial containing the remains of Sandman.

Speaking of Mary Jane, Spidey isn’t the only hero you’ll play as. In one segment of our demo, we also had a chance to briefly play as MJ. As you might expect, she isn’t swinging through the city or changing into costumes, but instead focuses on stealth gameplay. Unlike previous versions of the character, this Mary Jane is an investigative reporter for the Daily Bugle, and she’s willing to put in the work to find a good scoop.

We took control of MJ as she sneaks through a museum. After successfully avoiding detection, she pieces together an Uncharted-esque statue puzzle to reveal a clue, but soon finds the museum packed with enemies. She eventually encounters Spider-Man, who helps clear out the building so she can get to safety.

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We didn’t spend long as Mary Jane, but Intihar hinted at some “really fun” ways Spidey and MJ interact in later missions, so the door is open for plenty of interesting ways to switch between the two.

Finally, Insomniac has done a fantastic job of making New York feel alive, with pedestrians reacting to Spider-Man with everything from jeers to applause to selfie requests. You can hack police radio towers to unlock points of interest on the map in New York’s various districts, and each time you do you’ll find more opportunities to earn Tokens and more side missions to help Spidey level up.

There’s still a lot to learn about Insomniac’s vision for Spider-Man, but if these early hours are any indication, this could be one of the most exciting iterations of the webslinger we’ve seen in years, for both the hero in the suit and the man behind the mask.

Andrew is IGN’s executive editor of news and occasionally gets mistaken for a former Spider-Man. You can find him rambling about Persona and cute animals on Twitter.