One of the issues with trailers is getting an idea of what the experience is actually like. This was something I thought during The Last of Us: Part II trailer, since there were so many flashy kills, small touches and other things that will no doubt be there, it’s just a matter of how they take shape. This is something I considered during Spider-Man’s trailer.
From what I played, I am delighted to say achieving those flashy moves are not just possible, it’s relatively easy to do, without it being so easy it takes away all meaning. Combat comes down to two things, neutralize the biggest threat and manage attackers. These would be enemies with guns, weapons and other dangerous things, with it obviously harder to maintain the upper hand while being outnumbered.
Combat is straightforward enough to get it, with it being complex enough to take some time to be proficient at. When Spider-Man dodges into an enemy, he will avoid him by either going above or under him, giving you the advantage. You can further this by using triangle to close the distance and/or disarm enemies. From there, plenty of items can be interacted with, so you might use a door to smack a foe or just push enemies back.
Webswinging is not as easy as it looks, often times resulting in Spider-Man running up walls or falling to the floor. This is not to say it’s difficult, just some items don’t seem to work with it or the angle isn’t that great, resulting in him falling short. When you get it down, it makes traveling a breeze, something that is crucial, as missions are spread out throughout the city and often times require speed.
The demo had four different objectives to find and experience. One was simply collecting something, likely related to upgrades or another mechanic, disarming bombs, fixing things and defeating enemies. Both disarming and fixing come down to the same basic thing. Go from point A to B, do something and win. In the case of bombs, you grab, throw and web, with the thing I fixed being water towers, which simply took zooming in and some webbing to accomplish. That being said, the slowdown and other mechanics make it possible to swing, fix it and then zip to the next one, something that is pretty cool.
Outside of acrobatic maneuvers and mundane missions, the demo features a fight against the villain Shocker. Unlike previous fights, Shocker required patience and situational awareness. Instead of simply punching and dodging him to defeat, you need to avoid his attacks and throw rocks at him to break his shield, followed by throwing a couple punches. Every segment also contains a checkpoint, meaning you don’t need to fully defeat him, just damage him enough to hit a savepoint. However, players seem to have a finite amount of tries.