Spiderman Swings off to PS4

If you had to sum E3 up in a single world, it would have to be 'hype'. It's basically a week of developers, publishers and PR agents doing everything they can to convince the media and public that their game is the biggest and best, guaranteed to blow everyone away as soon as it hits the shelves.

The only problem is a lot of these blockbusters are a long, long way from release. Many of them are simply cinematic trailers or work-in-progress footage. Some are nothing more than a logo and a "coming soon" tag. For an event that's all about big name games, the number that are actually playable is a lot lower than you might imagine.

This means any titles that are actually gameplay-ready are always in hot demand, and if you want to get an idea of exactly how excited people are for any particular game, you only have to look at the size of the queue.

In the case of Spider-Man, the forthcoming PlayStation exclusive due for worldwide release on September 7, they were as long as one of Spidey's trademark web lines. The sight of hundreds of media types shunning all the free booze and food on offer after Sony's showcase just to get their hands on the demo said it all.

There have been plenty of Spider-Man games over the years. Some, like Treyarch's 2002 PS2 classic traditionally held up as the benchmark Spidey experience, have been huge hits.

Others, like pretty much every attempt to capture the magic since, have been total duds.

It seems simplistic to say it, but if you want to make a decent Spider-Man game, you have to make the player feel like Spider-Man. Capturing that thrilling sensation of freedom as you leap from giant skyscrapers, shoot off a web line and swing down the avenues and alleyways of New York is essential, and something that very few developers have managed to pull off effectively.
The traversal system is fast and fluid, allowing you to swing from pretty much every building, lamp post or radio tower you see. An on-screen prompt highlights a swing point, you hold R2 and Spidey is off and away.

You're often required to make tight, 90 degree turns to reach your objective, so a handy web-zip move allows you to make rapid changes of direction.

Handily, you can also pinpoint a sky-high observation point and instantly perch on it, Assassin's Creed style - surveying your surroundings and highlighting points of interest on your map.

There were a few occasions where I mistimed my swing and ended up smashing directly into a skyscraper, but the handy wall-run move lets you simply sprint up any vertical hurdles until you reach the top and get swinging again.

The animation on display as you traverse the city was also particularly impressive, with the webslinger twisting and contorting his body into the kind of rubber-limbed poses made famous by the comics and movies.

It looks like Spider-Man, it feels like Spider-Man - consider this box well and truly ticked.

The other main priority for this game was implementing a combat system that was faithful to the character and flexible and intuitive enough to keep players engaged.

Almost everyone was expecting to see something similar to Rocksteady's recent Batman Arkham games - where large groups of enemies could be taken on using dozens of different moves and tools. While there are obvious parallels between the two games, I found Spider-Man's combat to be a lot faster-paced, with more emphasis on movement and environmental attacks.

Arkham's combat tends to focus on using parries and blocks to open up opportunities for attacks. Although Spidey does have a dodge move - I didn't notice a parry button. Instead, you're required to use your speed and agility to move around the mobs of bad guys - flipping over their heads, sliding between their legs - in order to get a few digs in.
Staying aware of the objects around you opens up opportunities for some devastating environmental attacks.
Staying aware of the objects around you opens up opportunities for some devastating environmental attacks.

You can also utilize your webslinging powers, shooting off rapid web darts at distant enemies or incapacitating others by tying them up.

Some of the coolest attacks, however, happen when you utilise your environment to take down thugs. During the action, you'll sometimes notice a prompt appear over a metal trashcan, a set of doors or overhanging steel beam. A simple press of R1 and R2 sees Spidey fling out a web line to send these objects crashing down, often taking out multiple enemies at once.

It was also surprising to see that Spider-Man isn't quite as durable as the Dark Knight - whereas in Arkham you can absorb a considerable amount of punishment, if Spidey takes more than a few hits in quick succession, you'll need to heal or retreat to a safer spot to recover.

It wouldn't be a Spider-Man game without some trademark wisecracks, and it was cool to hear a few amusing quips and one-liners peppering the combat. How annoying the same lines might end up being after 20 hours of gameplay remains to be seen.

Interestingly for an open world game, this section took place entirely inside the bank vault - suggesting that we could see a lot of interior exploration in the game as well as the wider world outside.

It's also notable that this version of Spider-Man is not canonically linked to any of the Peter Parkers we've seen in comics or recent Marvel movies, giving Insomniac the freedom to tell their own story without being tied down to any ongoing plotlines or future story arcs.

As my demo came to an abrupt end, I was left suitably impressed and eager to see more of what this game has to offer. It's almost guaranteed to be a smash hit, but on first impressions, we could be looking at a game of the year contender. We'll have to wait until September 7 to find out if it lives up to the considerable hype.