Now Playing: Spider-Man Remastered

I can’t review Spider-Man Remastered without talking about the serious crashing issue I experienced with this PC version. It’s an issue I expected because, prior to purchasing the game I took a look at the Steam forums and saw no end to threads complaining about it. These crashes to desktop always occur when the game is trying to load. Want to fast travel on the map? There’s a 50% chance of a crash. Want to restart from your last checkpoint? 50% chance of a crash. Want to replay a challenge or an enemy base? 50% chance of a crash. Want to switch from the main campaign to one of the DLC episodes? You guessed it – 50% chance of a crash.

And, once it’s crashed your auto-save becomes corrupt and any attempt to load into it will result in a crash 100% of the time. This means you’ll always want to create a manual save prior to any load or you’ll potentially lose progress.

The only good thing I can say about it is that Spider-Man Remastered loads ridiculously fast, so jumping back into the game takes only a handful of seconds. But come the f**k on, how has this issue not yet been addressed? It’s a real shame because despite this issue, Spider-Man runs flawlessly and looks fantastic.

Granted, I am playing on a new system that crushes the recommended specs but still – playing Spider-Man at 165FPS at 1440p on Ultra settings (plus Ray Tracing) is quite the treat. The game looks fantastic and it’s so f**king smooth.

I wasn’t surprised to see that the best aspect by far in Spider-Man is the traversal system. If you’ve played the criminally underrated Sunset Overdrive that Insomniac worked on prior to Spider-Man you’ll know what I’m talking about. The traversal in SM is perfect. If I rated individual components of a game separately I’d give it an easy 10/10. It strikes the perfect balance between player control and I guess what you might call ‘auto-swing’.

You don’t have to fret about where every web will latch onto – the game does the tricky part for you ensuring a constantly smooth and speedy movement throughout the environment. And that’s another reason why the crashing on fast travel didn’t really bother me too much – because I very rarely wanted to use it. That’s how fun the traversal is in SM. You want to keep swinging no matter how far you have to go.

You also don’t mind the overly repetitive fights in the open world side content or the main missions because the combat, whilst not as perfect as the traversal, is still extremely fun thanks to a wide selection of special suit abilities and gadget attacks. And there’s plenty of options for the player to experiment and be creative by combining all of these abilities – suit, gadget and skill – in some very fun and satisfying ways.

I also love how you can combine traversal and combat. You really do feel like Spider-Man. They really did nail that feeling. The obvious comparison would be the combat from the Batman Arkham games. It’s not overly complex or challenging. It’s more style than substance. But it certainly scratches that superhero itch.

It’s such a shame then, that the main campaign of Spider-Man Remastered is a real mix of highs and lows. There were some absolutely fantastic moments, but there were also times I had to practically force myself to sit down and play because of how tedious it was. There was even a few moments when I was telling the game to ‘f**k off’ and that’s never a good sign.

So let’s address the absolute worst part of SM and no, it’s not the crashing. It’s the f**king terrible ‘stealth’ sections. Not the Spider-Man stealth sections. No. The sections in which – without spoiling anything – you play as another character and must use ‘stealth’ to progress through a mission. I say ‘stealth’ because the actual mechanics are basic as f**k. It’s literally a game of hide and seek in which you press X occasionally to create a distraction and continue on.

Who the f**k thought this was a good idea? All of these ‘missions’ could and should have been cut-scenes. Why? Because they’re f**king boring. The stealth mechanics are boring. They’re not difficult, just tedious. You might think I’m overreacting. Maybe I am, but I f**king hated them. The very last one in the main campaign is by far the worst as it forces to you spend several minutes running around an office searching for a tiny key by tediously examining every highlighted object.

F**k off! I’m playing Spider-Man, not hide and seek detective! These sections are pointless and dull and completely kill momentum within the campaign. Every time the game switched to one I immediately wanted to turn it off. Okay . . . take a deep breath because we’ve got other issues we need to talk about.

The side content in SM is mostly lacklustre and repetitive. There are a few bright spots, but not enough. It’s not bad stuff, don’t get me wrong, but it’s all entirely forgettable. I was hoping for a few more elaborate side missions that saw you dealing with some lesser known Spider-Man villains but there’s only really one of these in the entire game – and unsurprisingly, it’s the best one. When I saw the achievement pop for ‘all side missions completed’ I was honestly shocked. Is that it?

And the main campaign has some pretty bad pacing issues, too. The first act is great fun as you begin to explore the city and learn new abilities, but the second act drags hard. Really hard. I honestly can’t recall a single main mission from the second act. They all just blur together as you’re stuck fighting the same five enemy types from one mission to the next.

Speaking of enemy types, SM does do a pretty good job of mixing things up as you go by introducing new types to deal with, even if your core foes all adhere to a similar pattern – foot guy, gun guy, sword guy, shield guy, rocket guy, heavy guy – just wearing different ‘hats’.

It was during act 2 that I honestly started to lose interest in the game. It just drags the story out and frankly, the main villain during this act just isn’t very compelling. Thankfully, the end of act 2 is pretty damn amazing and suddenly the game kicks into high gear. It did, unfortunately, rush one story aspect of the game in a way that’s kind of annoying considering how it was meandering along previously, but at least shit was finally kicking off.

Act 3 is where the game finally shines as you bounce from one tense encounter to the next, fighting more familiar SM villains. There’s even some nice emotional moments. Shame about that final stealth mission which made me want to punch it. But the game certainly ends on a high note, I can’t deny that.

The DLC packaged with this edition is also pretty good, but also suffers a little from the same problems – repetitive, lacklustre side content, not to mention the crashing issue. The first DLC episode has a stealth mission – f**k no – but thankfully they seemed to learn their lesson after that because there’s none in episodes 2 or 3. They’re all worth playing and because they’re a little more focused than the main campaign, I’d even say I enjoyed them a little more.

I think if you’re a big Spider-Man fan you’ll enjoy it even more than me thanks to all the unlockable spider suits and I’m sure Easter eggs / references I just didn’t pick up on. I don’t know if I’ll get Miles any time soon. If it’s just more of the same, I think I might need a break first.

Overall, my reaction to Spider-Man Remastered was more positive than negative. The good does outweigh the bad. It’s a game I feel is crying out for a more refined sequel, one I hope addresses the issues of the first. It’s certainly worth playing though, if you can live with the irritating as f**k crashes on PC.

7/10

Steam Winter Sale: Damage Report

The only game I’d really planned on picking up this sale was Spider-Man Remastered. I’m not a massive Spider-Man fan but I wasn’t exactly a big Batman fan either and I still really enjoyed the Arkham games. I also really enjoyed Insomniac’s previous game Sunset Overdrive.

House Flipper is a game I’ve wanted to pick up for some time, and a friend actually bought me this as a gift, so I just picked up all the DLC in a bundle. Sometimes, you just want a game you can chill out and relax with.

I think I first saw Kena: Bridge of Spirits during an E3 presentation a few years ago and thought it looked pretty neat. I kind of forgot the game existed, but when I saw it on sale I figured I’d give it a spin.

The Last Clockwinder is a VR game I’ve heard and seen some good things about. I don’t know if I’ll like it, but I’m always willing to try something a little different.

Why did I buy Mirror’s Edge Catalyst? I already own and have reviewed the game on EA Origin but to be honest, I totally forget Origin exists most of the time and then I forget games like Catalyst. And I quite enjoyed Catalyst back when I first played it. I didn’t think it was as good as the original, but when I saw it on sale for a silly £1.40 or so, I thought I might as well pick it up so I’ve got both games on Steam and I do want to play it again.

I’ve never played any of the Uncharted games but they seem pretty popular so I figured I’d give the Uncharted Collection a shot and see what all the fuss is about.

And finally we have Mass Effect Legendary Edition which . . . I don’t know why I did this. I thought I’d put the Mass Effect 3 trauma behind me. But here’s the thing – I still really love Mass Effect as a series, despite the absolute shit show that was ME3. And I do want to replay them in the future. I figured getting them all in one bundle with all DLC included was the easiest way to do that considering my current ME games and DLC are split between Steam and Origin.

Gallery: God of War

Now Playing: F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R. is a first person shooter that originally released way back in 2005. It’s a rather cool mix of intense action and psychological / supernatural horror. I played it at release multiple times. Like many players, I loved the gunplay, I was impressed by the enemy AI, and I liked the horror elements. But 2005 was a long time ago. So how does F.E.A.R. feel to play now?

Well, the gunplay is still great. The weapon selection may seem rather small, but every weapon is fun to use. The shotgun is immensely satisfying as your enemies explode in a cloud of red mist. The assault rifle packs a hefty punch as each round slams into the scenery. The Type-7 particle weapon – a name I had to google because I’ve always just called it ‘the skeleton gun’ – turns people into skeletons and that never gets old. Oh, and how can I forget about the Penetrator that lets you nail enemies onto walls?

And the environment is so reactive to these weapons – concrete and dust fly out from bullet impacts, computers explode, glass shatters and overhead lights swing wildly from the concussive blast of a grenade. Every shot from both you and your foes feels like it has a substantial impact, real weight, and an immediate and devastating effect on the environment around you. It makes shoot outs in F.E.A.R. all the more intense.

And then you add ‘reflex’ time into the mix – the ability to temporarily slow everything around you. It’s almost majestic to watch as you see each round fly towards its target. You can observe a grenade arc in the air as it heads towards your enemies – they’re already dead, they just don’t know it yet. Or, better yet, hitting reflex in a small room full of enemies and blasting each one point blank with a shotgun. First person shooters are rarely this fun – which I guess is why F.E.A.R. is still held in such high regard, even today.

And the enemy AI also holds up as they take cover and try to flank you as a team. They know how to use grenades properly too. What really sells the AI though is the audio as you hear their radio chatter reacting to your actions. The enemy variety, like the weapon variety, also isn’t great. You’re mostly fighting the same standard soldiers from beginning to end. There are a few ‘heavy’ type variations and some really f**king annoying (and I wish weren’t in the game) drones, but that’s about it.

In terms of story, F.E.A.R. does a decent job of leading you through the twists and turns of its narrative. There’s not really any cut-scenes interrupting your play, nearly everything is handled through radio dialogue or information you uncover as you progress. It’s a story I like but the horror aspects certainly aren’t as effective now as they were in 2005. It’s actually kind of amazing how many of the jump scares I remembered just before they occurred. F.E.A.R. is one of the those games that you almost wish you could erase your memory of playing just so you can experience it for the first time all over again.

All that said, F.E.A.R. does feel quite dated when it comes to level design and progression. There’s a lot of copy / paste corridors and office spaces. There’s a lot of crawling through vents. There’s a lot of completely nonsensical building layouts that only make sense if you remember you’re playing a video game. I hate to say it, but the actual levels you play through in F.E.A.R. really aren’t that good.

You can wrap the game up in about 6 hours, and a lot of that 6 hours will be pretty repetitive shoot outs in repetitive locations. Thankfully, the shoot outs are always fun as f**k, so you don’t really mind, but the moments in between when you’re crawling through yet another series of vents does get a little tedious.

Overall, F.E.A.R. holds up pretty solidly today at least in terms of the action. Everything else may be a little dated, but the core gun play is still as enjoyable now as it was back then and that’s what makes F.E.A.R. still worth checking out. I did play F.E.A.R. 2 at release but I can’t recall much about it aside from the ending which . . . goes places. I never played F.E.A.R. 3. Maybe I’ll have to give 2 another spin in the future and maybe even pick up 3 when it next goes on sale.

7/10