Marvel's Spider-Man boasts a memorable story that does justice to a classic character. The setpieces are awesome, the story regularly put a smile on my face, and the swinging is satisfying, but everything outside of the main story suffers from feeling a little by-the-numbers and repetitive, yet when...

That's a bold statement to start the review on but there's no other webslinger game that comes even close to this. Not Spider-man 2 on the PS1, not Maximum Carnage on the Mega Drive…nothing.

Like Batman: Arkham Asylum before it, Spider-Man raises the bar for one of the world's most beloved heroes.

An immensely enjoyable and fun to play superhero adventure.

Web swinging has a fantastic sense of freedom and control; Beautiful open-world New York; Likeable characters and great performances

Pretty much Spider-Man Arkham; Familiar open-world structure

If you can get past the game's more formulaic elements and old school design decisions, you'll discover one of the Marvel icon's absolute best interactive adventures to date. The addictive progression path, engaging combat, and thrilling web-swinging not only overshadow the game's flaws, they make them fun in spite of themselves. And while many of the side activities feel like they were taken from a familiar open-world template, the main story path is far more absorbing. Brimming with favorite evil-doers, cool call-outs and Easter Eggs, some surprising twists, and even a number of unexpected playable characters, the narrative path is packed with fan-pleasing content. Whether you're a longtime follower of the web-head or only know him from his more recent cinematic outings, you'll have a blast beneath the mask.

Skips the origin tale tedium ; Intuitive, rewarding combat and traversal ; Deep, addictive levelling loop ; Fan-servicing story;

Open-world mission structure feels formulaic ; Some dated design elements/mini-games/QTEs ; Citizens are a bit robotic ;

a classic hero gets the game he deserves