The Spectacular Spider-Man (2025 PS5 Video Game)

The Spectacular Spider-Man is an action-adventure, open-world stealth & fighter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5, serving as a continuation to Marvel's video game universe and a sequel to 2021's Spider-Man 3; that game ended a trilogy of Spider-Man games and this game begins a new trilogy. This game went into development in late 2021 and was revealed at E3 2023 and was supposed to release in 2024, but creative director, Bryan Intihar, stated that they needed more time to polish the game and truly make it a great PlayStation 5 experience with a great continuation to an already established universe of four games that came before. The game releases on PlayStation 5 consoles on February 24, 2025.

Rating
T (Teens) for Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Violence, & Sexual Reference

Gameplay Dynamics/Features

 * The immersive combat system is partially inspired by the Batman: Arkham video games, mixing those dodge and attack elements with web gadgets, parkour, swinging, and great variety in combat, as the combat is what Spider-Man fights like in the comic books. There are a couple more web gadgets and skills to unlock, however, Insomniac Games has developed the enemies so that they are way smarter, can detect Spider-Man easier, and overall make them challenging and unsuspecting; the combat includes combination moves and web combinations to improve overall flow of combat
 * The last three Spider-Man games had complaints about Spider-Man essentially being the only playable character in the vanilla aspects of the game; Insomniac Games has listened and implemented Miles Morales aka the Ultimate Spider-Man as a playable character who plays a role that does not overshadow Peter Parker's, but still has his own missions and even unique combat style (Miles is less experienced and has different abilities gained from the spider bite that differentiates him from Peter); Black Cat is also playable in her own missions and Insomniac has brought back the combat duo system where Spider-Man can duo finish and duo-play with another character. Players have access to Felicia's high-end penthouse, where there is also a computer and many activities to take part in to earn tokens, skill points, and even suits. Players also have access to switching between Peter and Miles at any time given (however, Peter has a way bigger role than Miles, as Insomniac is aware this is a game about Peter Parker, not Miles Morales)
 * Miles's gameplay is very different from Spider-Man's; he has the ability of bio-electrokinesis, which allows him to shock enemies, as well as venom blast, which can be combined with bio-electrokinesis. Miles also has the ability to cloak himself and turn invisible, making his gameplay style unique from Peter's
 * The maximum level cap is level 100
 * Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, the actual real-life accurate entirety of Queens, Staten Island, Statue of Liberty, Ryker's Island, the Raft, the subways, the sewers, and Brooklyn, with Queens including forests and upstate New York beyond the streams of New York; almost all building interiors, including bridges can be entered, with lore to be explored and side activities to do, as well as possible crafting skills to collect in them to craft personal spider suits, drones, and web fluid
 * Spider-Man has a total of 50 (vanilla base) game suits; players must uncover secrets and complete difficult, grinding challenges to unlock most of the suits
 * Black Cat has a total of 10 (vanilla base) game suits
 * Miles Morales has a total of 5 (vanilla base) game suits
 * The hangout system continues on from the last two games
 * Insomniac wants to be active with the Spider-Man community, so they implemented daily challenges for the players to complete to earn skill points, unlock skill tree categories (as there are over 10), and earn specific in-game suits for all three playable vanilla characters
 * Peter's cell phone, laptops, and computers return
 * The challenge maps and characters to play with (the three main ones) are there at the start, but are harder if you don't have the right gadgets and want a good challenge
 * Players get to be immersed in Peter Parker's world once more and better than ever; keeping up with his daily responsibilities (especially with the storyline involving the symbiote); story follows a 28-year old Peter Parker with his new job as an assistant professor at Empire State University (with that being a playable area) and helping Morgan Michaels run the FEAST organization and keep it's consistency going four years after Martin Li was arrested and Aunt May was killed; Peter also must keep his reputation with the city good
 * With the storyline with the symbiote (which the suit makes Spider-Man stronger, angrier, and more brutal combo moves), the city cannot trust Spider-Man; the player must keep Spider-Man's reputation strong in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn to continue on with their journey; if not, certain activities will not be able to be done if Spider-Man does not act like the hero he is supposed to be (there are certain side mission approaches as well as civilian approaches that could end badly; it is nothing like The Amazing Spider-Man 's Hero or Menace system; because this system actually works and it effects the storyline massively)

HLTB
Main Story (alone): 33 hours

Main Story (plus a few extra activities): 62 hours

100% Completion: 91 hours

Playable Characters

 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Yuri Lowenthal)
 * Miles Morales/Ultimate Spider-Man (Nadji Jeter; playable in twelve solo missions)
 * Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Erica Lindbeck; playable in eight solo missions)
 * Mary Jane Watson (Laura Bailey; playable in seven missions)
 * Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Robin Atkin Downes; playable in separate story DLC as a side character)
 * Aaron Davis/Prowler (Phil Morris; playable in separate story DLC)
 * Eddie Brock/Venom (Troy Baker; playable in separate story DLC)
 * Richard Fisk/Blood Rose (Kevin Conroy; playable in separate story DLC)

Protagonists

 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Yuri Lowenthal)
 * Miles Morales/Ultimate Spider-Man (Nadji Jeter)
 * Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Erica Lindbeck)

Main Story Antagonists

 * Harry Osborn/The Goblin
 * Richard Fisk/Blood Rose
 * Spencer Smythe
 * Karl Fiers/The Finisher
 * Gustav Fiers/The Gentleman
 * Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer
 * Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven The Hunter
 * Aaron Davis/Prowler
 * Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon
 * Mac Gargan/Scorpion
 * Quentin Beck/Mysterio

Side Mission Antagonists

 * Carlos LaMuerto/Black Tarantula
 * Martin Li/Mister Negative
 * Norton Fester/Looter
 * Max Dillon/Electro
 * Swarm
 * Herman Schultz/Shocker
 * A'sai
 * Abner Doolittle
 * Emil Blonsky/Abomination
 * Alexi Vazhin
 * Ana Kravinoff
 * Akasha Martinez
 * Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino
 * Flint Marko/Sandman
 * Alyosha Kravinoff
 * Ambush
 * Amos Jardine
 * Anaconda
 * Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom
 * John Jameson/Man-Wolf
 * Arthur Nagan
 * Arsenal
 * Michael Collins/Deathlok
 * Asylum
 * Atlas
 * Batroc The Leaper
 * Cain Marko/Juggernaut
 * Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost
 * Johnny Storm/Human Torch
 * Overdrive
 * Hammerhead (Black Cat)
 * Abby (Black Cat)
 * Ari (Black Cat)
 * Ballistique (Black Cat)
 * Jonathan Blaze/Blaze (Black Cat)
 * Garrison Klum (Black Cat)
 * Ghost Maker (Ultimate Spider-Man)
 * Conrad Marcus (Ultimate Spider-Man)
 * Rachel Leighton/Diamondback (Ultimate Spider-Man)
 * Lucia Von Bardas (Ultimate Spider-Man)

Supporting Characters

 * Mary Jane Watson
 * Miles Morales
 * Harry Osborn
 * Norman Osborn
 * Eddie Brock
 * Miles Warren
 * Detective Yuri Watanabe
 * Ned Leeds
 * Phil Urich
 * Dr. Morgan Michaels
 * Rio Morales
 * Amadeus Cho
 * Ganke Lee
 * Cassie Lang
 * J. Jonah Jameson
 * Anne Weying

Synopsis
It has been over a decade of being the Wall-Crawling superhero of New York City; 28-year old Peter Parker is the spectacular Spider-Man and for the past four years following the incident involving the Devil's Breath, Peter has taken Miles Morales, who is fresh out of high school, under his wing to become the ultimate Spider-Man and has formed an older brotherly-like mentor figure to Miles, who strives to become a hero. With the FEAST legacy still running up and Peter helping good friend, Dr. Morgan Michaels, run the organization and Peter proposing to Mary Jane, Peter's life changes forever when the black symbiote bonds with him, causing him to be ten times stronger than his vanilla powers, but also causes him to become more aggressive. As Peter explores his newfound abilities, he realizes the symbiote is taking a toll on both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, drawing him further away from those he cares about, including Mary Jane, Harry, and even Miles. A new and dangerous villain far from Spider-Man's league emerges in the city; that villain known as the Goblin. Public controversy arises around the Goblin and Spider-Man's identity as a hero is questioned; the people of the city begin to question their hero and as Peter grows more-than-ever suspicious of Norman Osborn and his double agenda for the city of New York, the Osborn legacy and conspiracy takes a toll on New York, as well as the dangerous Oscorp scientist, Spencer Smythe, who seeks to kill Spider-Man. How far will Peter go with the symbiote to save his city and himself?

Ending
An angered and weathered Spider-Man takes on Scorpion, who has the symbiote and becomes a symbiotic monster, more than that Spider-Man. In a fight with Scorpion taunting him (with the symbiote telling Gargan that Peter Parker is Spider-Man) for causing all the death and destruction in his life, including Aunt May, Spider-Man grows angrier and angrier, pummeling Scorpion to death to the point where Miles, as the ultimate Spider-Man, comes in and tries to snap Peter out of it; The symbiote bonds back to Spider-Man and tells Peter that they knew he could not resist the power of the symbiote. Spider-Man, with a disgusted look on Miles's face of what his mentor and friend has become, hesitates on continuing on with pummeling Gargan; as Gargan lays on the floor all bloodied. The symbiote tells Spider-Man; "Do it". Spider-Man thinks of Aunt May's last words before she died (in the last game); "I'm so incredibly proud of the man you have become". Spider-Man grows emotional and rips Gargan clean out of his mechanical suit, revealing Gargan, who grows weak and starts becoming breathless. Spider-Man has a moment of silence, with his spider sense tinglings, signifying Yuri, who is emotionally pointing a gun at Spider-Man, Miles, who is ready to fight his mentor (again, even after the player played as Miles to fight Peter in the black suit earlier), and Mary Jane, who is crying at the monster Peter has become. Gargan becomes breathless and ends up dying... Spider-Man has taken a life... Peter regrets everything and slowly reflects everything that has led up to this; the black suit has changed his life and manipulated him to his lowest point. Spider-Man puts a lifeless Gargan down and looks at Mary Jane, who is behind the police lines and several dozen rubble caused by symbiotic Scorpion; Spider-Man looks at her, the woman he wants to marry. Spider-Man hears the gun of Yuri reload behind him; Yuri is crying and tells Spider-Man she does not want to do this; she doesn't want to bring him in, but she has to... Spider-Man runs away and Yuri, with the cops behind her, start shooting at Spider-Man. Spider-Man goes to the Maggie Murdock's church and comes to the conclusion that he must get rid of the symbiote; it has taken him over and must get rid of it before it goes too far and takes complete control of his life. At the same time, Eddie has come in to pray in the abandoned church for God to fix his life; he has lost his job at the Bugle due to him being wrong about the Finisher's real identity all because of Spider-Man and he can no longer trust Peter. Spider-Man, at the same time, is taking the symbiote off by using loud noises; he uses the church's bell and fights with the symbiote. Eddie hears the screams and gets chills as he recognizes that scream. Eddie gets closer and looks up; Spider-Man, with the help and struggle of the player, manages to get the symbiote off and feels free, at last; Spider-Man grows weary and swings home. The symbiote crawls down and bonds with Eddie, who is surprised and screams, while the screen fades black... Two weeks after taking the symbiote off, Peter sees that the Goblin, using his hands to throw fire, has got a protection suit, as the Globulin Green formula is causing his body to slowly decay. The Goblin is causing havoc, with the police struggling to hold him off. Peter looks at a picture of Aunt May and is eventually encouraged to come back as Spider-Man. Spider-Man must swing to where the Goblin is; he is on Roosevelt Island inside the Clock Tower. The Goblin has been reported to have killed over a dozen citizens in Roosevelt Island; Spider-Man and the Goblin fight it off; the Goblin mocks Spider-Man, as Spider-Man no longer has the symbiote. The Goblin reveals his hostage up the Clock Tower; that hostage is Harry. Live reports are coming in the television and from the Osborn Mansion, Norman is watching his son being held hostage by the Goblin, striking a smile on his face. Harry yells for Spider-Man to help him and the Goblin and Spider-Man have a deathmatch, with Spider-Man knowing that without the symbiote this time, it is going to get harder to adjust to his old ways. Meanwhile, the player switches to Miles, who must suit up from his apartment and go to the fight; Miles calls Felicia on the way and she tells Miles that too much has happened in the city as of late; with the Maggia families and Ari returning to taunt her, as well as Spider-Man vs. Goblin, Finisher, Blood Rose, and Smythe; Felicia says she is going to take a day off and wishes Miles luck in helping Spider-Man save the city from doom. Miles must hurry to Spider-Man and as Spider-Man is about to be killed by the Goblin, Miles comes to rescue him and continues on to try and break Harry free. Spider-Man and Miles must duo-fight the Goblin, with Yuri coming and Mary Jane trying to call Peter from the Bugle; Ned asks if everything is okay and Mary Jane ensures Ned everything is fine. Spider-Man angers the Goblin and the Goblin grows fiery with rage. The Goblin then proceeds to kill Harry, in which Peter grows in a rage, but after beating the Goblin to a pulp and gaining the upper hand, he realizes something is wrong; Harry's head was blown off and it is robotic; a clone. As the Goblin lays on the floor, Spider-Man has flashbacks of what he remembers happened earlier (in the game)- when Spider-Man snuck into Spencer Smythe's workshop in Queens, he saw that Smythe had two contacts; Dr. Miles Warren, which surprised Peter, and the Osborn family. Spider-Man remembers seeing Warren and Smythe together; while creating slayers to try and kill both Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man, Smythe and Warren were both developing clones and Spider-Man remembers seeing a figure in a holding room. Spider-Man becomes extremely horrified when he realizes that figure was Harry and remembers Mary Jane telling him that Norman had someone in his labs in the Osborn Mansion; the Goblin. Spider-Man then realizes that the Goblin is Harry... the one who "came back" from Europe is actually a clone; Harry was being manipulated by his own father to become the Goblin; he was dying from the disease and Globulin Green was the only serum that could save him; the serum turned him into a monster. Spider-Man shows remorse and tries to bring Harry back to the light and ditch the Goblin agenda. The Goblin turns back to Harry and out of all the fire and destruction caused in the Clock Tower, Spider-Man brings an almost-dead Harry to the roof of the Clock Tower; Peter, on the verge of tears, tries to keep Harry alive and Harry remembers Peter; the Goblin knew who Spider-Man was, but not Harry; Harry then chuckles and says, "So it was you this whole time, huh?" Peter apologizes to Harry for hurting him, but Harry urges him not to; Harry tells Peter that the Osborn curse; it's going to live on forever in the heart of the city. Mary Jane arrives in a Bugle helicopter and Peter, unmasked, and Mary Jane look over Harry. Mary Jane then puts two and two together and finds out the Harry that was with them (this entire game) was a clone and that the Goblin was the real Harry all along. Peter knows nothing is fine. Peter, emotional, tells Harry he does not want to lose Harry as well; he's already lost so many people. Harry's last words are; "Hey... you can't be Spider-Man if someone doesn't suffer. I'm willing to take that risk. You're my friend, Peter. I love you and Mary Jane. You two will always be family to me. A family I've never had". Harry holds both Peter and Mary Jane's hands, as he breathes his last breath. Peter and Mary Jane both tear up as Harry's deceased body is in front of them, with Miles behind them tearing up as well. A month later, Damage Control is cleaning up the streets of New York; in all three cities of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn; all the damage caused by Norman Osborn, who finally gets exposed for his crimes over the last two decades; Oscorp Industries has shut down and Norman cancels his re-election as Mayor and cancels his CEO position at Oscorp. Meanwhile, Dr. Warren has been reported to have been missing, ever since leaked photos showed him with the controversial figure, Smythe, who is now in jail. Peter is on his rooftop balcony in his apartment. Mary Jane texts him to meet her at the jazz club in Midtown; the place Peter, Mary Jane, and Harry would always go to hang out after classes at ESU (as shown in the very first game in the saga). Peter and Mary Jane smile at each other and have small talk, but it is really awkward between them; they say nothing. All that is heard is the jazz club in the back, with people quietly dancing with each other. Peter offers Mary Jane his hand, so they can dance and while dancing, Peter says he wants to make it up with her after everything that happened with the symbiote and the Goblin; Peter and Mary Jane dance and Peter finally shows her the ring and proposes to her. Mary Jane smiles and tells Peter; "Yes, Peter Parker". The screen cuts to black...

Endgame Stories
Although Peter has proposed to Mary Jane and begins preparing wedding events and preparations, Miles and Black Cat both have problems to deal with in the city; Miles knows his Uncle Aaron is still out on the loose robbing the richest in New York as the menacing Prowler and Black Cat plays cat-and-mouse with Blood Rose, who she is convinced is on their side now.

After Credits Scenes
After Credits Scene 1: Norman finishes his call with Chameleon, who agrees to disguise as Norman in case the authorities in New York ever show up. The camera zooms out to show Norman in New Jersey, hiding there; he goes insane; his son has died and Spider-Man managed to turn the entire city against him and Oscorp. Norman downs the Oz formula and his eyes turn green...

After Credits Scene 2: Miles Warren opens Smythe's laboratory and looks at the hybrid spiders him and Smythe have been working on. Warren goes into a secret code room within Smythe's lair (the one Phil Urich conspired about the entire game); Smythe and Warren have finished their final project; the Scarlet Spider... a human clone more evolved than Harry Osborn...

DLC
There is a starting DLC that includes the Spider-Mobile, where players have the ability to drive around the city with the Spider-Mobile, as well as race Johnny Storm in additional challenges throughout the city and race yourself to time yourself to see if you can hit a record and earn tokens and trophies. There is an expansion story pack called The Dark Age of New York, which is priced at $50 as a whole (including the Spider-Mobile, which is $5 standalone). There are four story DLC, each of them costs $15 standalone. The first DLC, which is the one that includes the Spider-Mobile, comes out in March 2025, while the first story DLC with Spider-Man, comes out in July 2025 and the second story DLC with Prowler comes out in August 2025. The third story DLC with Blood Rose comes out in September 2025 and the last story DLC with Venom comes out in October. Synopsis: After endless amount of chasing Doctor Doom and attempting to put him back in Latveria, Spider-Man sees the rise in a crime syndicate calling themselves the "Dark Avengers"; at first, Spider-Man thinks this is a hoax; it has to be, since many criminals have dressed up as superheroes before and tried to rob high-end chains. However, Spider-Man, who reunites with Daredevil, ends up finding countless bodies and Doom Bots begin raiding New York and destroying the last legacy of Oscorp and Norman Osborn. Spider-Man gets a call from Tony Stark, who he does not like, as he finds Tony to be an egotistical jerk, saying that this event is a high-alert and the likes of Captain America, Ant-Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, and the Fantastic Four enter New York to deal with the Dark Avengers, who are all led by Doctor Doom and contain darker and more twisted individuals mirroring the heroes, including Spider-Man. Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the rest of the heroes must ensure the safety of the city, as well as prevent Doctor Doom from ruining the name of superheroes...
 * Dark Avengers

New Features:
 * 1) First ever DLC to include two protagonists; Spider-Man and Daredevil are both playable with Daredevil bringing back his skill tree (although not even 10% of how big his skill tree was in his standalone game)
 * 2) Ability to enter Avengers Tower interior and learn more about the history between Spider-Man and the Avengers
 * 3) Access to the SHIELD helicarrier, with Maria Hill being the new director after Nick Fury retired
 * 4) New challenges to complete
 * 5) New errands to run for each of the heroes, including Daredevil
 * 6) Four new enemy factions (Doom Bots, dirty NYPD detectives, dark HERBIE/JARVIS clones, and Doom worshipers)
 * 7) Ten giant side story arcs (one with helping Tony Stark deal with the return to Crimson Dynamo, one with going alongside Captain America and Captain Marvel stop the rise of AIM in New York with MODOK coming back, one with