Insomniac's Spider-Man

I guess I misremember but I'm pretty sure he never took his wife's last name. Unless he did in the first couple of issues of Miles' comics and both I and Bendis forgot >.>

Black Cat's collectible quest doesn't have the Black Cat herself but her voice and that's purrfect.

Yes, I did it.

Yea, it would be nice if there was a Spider-Man game that lets you hook up with a different love interest besides MJ for once. Even if One More Day might be one of stupidest way to have a character divorce.

I still can't get over how they treated Hammerhead like he was this A-lister villain.

That was so weird.

What's so wrong about Hammerhead? I felt he was a good villain for a DLC story. He's just recognizable enough to be a threat but not popular enough that he overshadows Venom or Green Goblin. Hammerhead was a good choice for DLC bad guy, he's got enough character to be a competent big bad, plus we can save cooler Spider-Man villains like Mysterio or Lizard for next game.

I like the chemistry between Peter and Yuri but i like MJ better. Plus i genuinely think Yuri would have murdered Peter out of annoyance if they actually do hookup. I'm really iffy on Black Cat, she's way too manipulative to be trustworthy, and that trick she pulls? oh boy.

Edited by RedHunter543 on Apr 7th 2019 at 10:55:51 AM

Also isn't Yuri like way older then Peter?

There is a 15 year difference.

And I'm reasonably sure that they're both aware of the "half your age plus seven" rule.

Because Hammerhead is treated like Kingpin's equal. Just a personal gripe on my part. I know Hammerhead has more than once been the leader of whatever group of thugs at the time, but I doubt I'll ever see him other than an elite enforcer. At the end of the day, it's not like an Adaptational Badass was a bad thing.

I like the chemistry between Peter and Yuri but i like MJ better. Plus i genuinely think Yuri would have murdered Peter out of annoyance if they actually do hookup. I'm really iffy on Black Cat, she's way too manipulative to be trustworthy, and that trick she pulls? oh boy.

I'm not saying I want hook up Peter with Yuri or anyone else, I'm saying the option would be nice.

Hammerhead has actual powers unlike Kingpin, so realistically it's a miracle Kingpin is treated like something Hammerhead has to surpass. It's stretches belief to me, that Kingpin can throw down with the likes of Spider-Man, yeah Kingpin is a good villain, but he should not be able to match Spider-Man no matter how much muscle that is as Back in Black demonstrates. What Kingpin brings to the table is being a criminal mastermind with good publicity, that's something Spider-Man can't punch away, but Hammerhead IMO can bring that and be able to be a physical threat to Spidey. Kingpin works better as a Daredevil villain, but i will admit without Doc Ock, Goblin, or Venom to compete with, Kingpin would have been Numero Uno among the villains in universe but i still think Hammerhead belongs more in Spider-Man's world than Kingpin. Historically, Kingpin never deals well with the other supervillains, like Doc Ock has been able to outwit and terrify him at least once, while Hammerhead was able to keep up a gang war with Doc Ock in his debut, i never really understood why Hammerhead has the image of a mob enforcer when he's always been a mob boss.

Yea, you can blame his TV appearances for that.

Kingpin in the 90s show was pretty good, but man did they reduce a lot of villains into lackeys, Doc Ock and the Sinister, i mean Insidious Six were reduced to elite mooks, Hobgoblin was the wacky enforcer, Norman Osborn was the stressed out lackey making weapons.

Here's a thought experiment, would Hammerhead be a good villain if we changed his name to Carmine Falcone and put him in the Arkham Games?

Fisk had a major Adaptational Badass for that show & I wasn't exactly fond of how many villains were his henchmen.

I don't know, Falcone is small time compare to rest of Batman's rouge gallery. He's still relevant though.

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2019/04/spiderman-ps4-review.html

I did a review of the Insomniac Spider-Man game and one of the things that stuck out at me was the fact that the actual gameplay is only so-so but it was incredibly effective at making me feel like Peter Parker as well as Spider-Man. You really can't do one without the other. Batman in Arkham Asylum never takes time out to be Bruce Wayne while doing the opposite with Pete is what makes the game feel Truer to the Text.

Re: Kingpin

Kingpin doesn't have powers in the same sense that Street Fighter characters don't have powers. He's capable of superhuman punches, strength, and so on because he's been trained in the martial arts and that means something different in the MCU. Hence why he can throw Spiderman through walls and hurl stone statues. Besides, his whole thing is that he has the "Evil Batman" thing in that while he is a master martial artist, his primary power is money. You don't need him to be able to throw lightning when he can hire Electro.

As for being a Spider-Man villain, he's thematically the ultimate rich white New York businessman vs. Pete's poor working class hero.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 8th 2019 at 7:00:14 AM

Norman Osborn is the ultimate rich businessman. He's always been richer than Fisk.

I disagree with you about the stealth sections. I for one loved the "grand central" sequence where MJ basically orders Spider-Man to swallow thugs and so on, and it felt cool. Seeing Spider-Man from non-powered perspectives and inhabiting the world of the supers as a non-powered guy made Spider-Man awesome and necessary. Mary Jane's character in the game draws heavily from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, where she became a reporter near the end of that run.

Good review aside from that.

It's just that Hammerhead's plan in the DLC really reminded me of Falcone's character in Batman Eternal, they are both old school gangsters who long for the good old days before costumed super-heroes and super-villains showed up, and in the process become freaks themselves.

Norman Osbourne is a character I inherently associate with the Clone Saga, being a Karma Houdini, and a Boring Invincible Villain. Generally speaking, I prefer the Kingpin in every way. Also, you can't combine the Joker and Lex Luthor very well—which is how Osbourne is. YMMV. I realize I'm in the minority on this. But I hope to see more Kingpin in the next game.

But yes, I enjoyed that segment a great deal. I also appreciated when she got her taser.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 8th 2019 at 8:55:47 AM

Hammerhead's plan is not original. Silvermane had it once in the comics. The concept of gangsters wanting to keep up with the supers was a constant theme that people tapped into back then.

My only problem with Hammerhead is that he’s big bad twice in a row with more or less the same plot both times, making the first time seem more filler-y than anything and devaluing the second time.

I would’ve preferred if Wraith was the final boss in Act 3.

I should also point out, Norman Osborn still does the evil rich business man gig far better than Kingpin. Kingpin's evil is mostly background information, while Norman's evil is front and center, he puts Otto and Peter out of a job and crushes their little operation in typical tycoon tyranny, he abuses his power, manages to turn Officer Davis's ceremony into a reelection opportunity, utterly crushes the little people in pursuit of power like Mr. Negative, Doc Ock, and even Peter, and all that happens to him is that he loses his job but walks free. But yeah, i do hope to see more Kingpin, his voice actor plays him very well.

Edited by RedHunter543 on Apr 8th 2019 at 9:00:39 AM

Wraith feels like Sequel material. I'm going to really enjoy her and Peter's interactions. I have a soft spot for the friend turned evil, especially if they are built correctly.

I've always considered Kingpin a Daredevil villain so the recent push to show him as a major Spider-Man villain (even though I know it's accurate) is kind of weird to me.

Eh, Norman is a billionaire tech mogul who wants to destroy Spiderman for personal reasons. He's also insane and has a split personality who does thing For the Evulz.

The Kingpin is Only in It for the Money criminal as well as mobster.

YMMV as I said.

Re: Hammerhead

I actually like the use of Hammerhead because it nicely undercuts the theme of JJ Jameson's defense of the Kingpin. The mob gets a lot of romanticization but (ironically) JJ points out that there's no such thing as a Friendly Neighborhood Gangster and when Fisk is gone that everyone reveals just how nasty they're willing to get.

Hammerhead is also not as skilled at Fisk and compensates with violence.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 8th 2019 at 9:08:27 AM

Eh. Call me weird, but even though I understand that Fisk has been true Arch-Enemy for a long time, I think he still has enough history with Peter that it can be seen as shared custody.

How much of a fight he should be giving Spidey is debatable (with Back in Black giving the biggest argument in the complete curb stomp in Spidey's favour argument) but I'd say Fisk is just behind Venom, Ock and Norman in Pete's rogues, but #1 among Matt's.

The two heroes apparently have a bit of crossover, so it's not out of the question.

Norman’s went bigger & farther than Fisk really.

It’s clear which of the two is superior.