If you’re like me and you’ve long since devoured everything that Marvel’s Spider-Man had to offer, then you’re probably itching for some more Spider-Man gameplay about now, right? Well, we now have just that with The City That Never Sleeps DLC, which continues the exploits of our favorite wall-crawler after the events of the main game. The first part of this DLC, The Heist, has Spidey come face-to-face with Felicia Hardy, aka=Black Cat, that naughty little feline who left behind all those rather well-hidden cat statue collectibles in the main game. Seems like Spider-Man’s ex-gal pal has made some new and dangerous bedfellows in the form of the ruthless crime syndicate known as the Maggia, and it looks like she’s stealing high-value items for them. But as any fan of Spider-Man knows by now, things are never that simple when the Black Cat is involved.
This being the first of a three-part DLC, the story was obviously not going to compare with that of the main game’s story. Nevertheless, the same character-focused storytelling we got in the main game is alive and well here, and I certainly felt for Peter as he found himself in rather awkward (to say the least) situations given that he’s dealing with a sort-of love triangle situation with Felicia and Mary Jane, all while trying to help Felicia with her issues with the Maggia. That being said, the story (so far) is more predictable than that of the main game to the point where I saw a couple of big plot twists coming a mile away; however, part of that was due to my rather intimate knowledge of the Spider-Man lore and its characters, so for those who are more casual fans of Spider-Man, the story for The Heist could still have a surprise or two in store for you.
As expected, the gameplay is unchanged, but I see that as a plus given how stellar the gameplay in Marvel’s Spider-Man already was. Aside from the fun main missions, there will be more side activities to take part in, like beating up bad guys through random crimes, completing new challenge missions, and finding a new set of collectibles; all the good stuff. All combat and webswinging upgrades, not to mention suits and gadgets, that you unlocked in the main game carry over to The Heist. Speaking of suits, three new ones are added into this game that have to be unlocked, but unfortunately, they don’t feature any special powers like most of the other suits do (they still look cool though). The Maggia enemies you fight in The Heist are, for the most part, the same as the standard thug enemies Spidey dealt with in the main game but with different designs, and they’ll be using the usual assault rifles, sniper rifles, and missile launchers as they try to take Spidey down; although now some of the brute enemies are armed with freakin’ miniguns, so keep an extra close eye out for those bad boys. Some other thug enemies from the main game also return to cause Spider-Man some more headaches in the new challenge missions hosted by the social media-obsessed Screwball.
I was hoping there’d be one or maybe two boss fights in The Heist, but rather surprisingly, we don’t get any. This was slightly disappointing, but again, given that there are still two more parts to this DLC, it can be assumed that some boss fights will be featured in the second and third parts (please don’t pull a “Batman: Arkham Knight” by shortchanging us on the boss battles, Insomniac). Regardless, the combat is still as fun and engaging as ever, and there are a couple of legitimately tough battles against the Maggia enemies in the main story. There’s one stealth bit with Mary Jane, so that’s a bit of good news for those who enjoyed playing as MJ in the main game, and it’s also good news for those who didn’t enjoy playing as her since this one stealth bit is over pretty quickly. The Heist is also a bit on the short side, at least as far as the main story goes, though finding all the collectibles and completing the district activities lengthens the playtime a decent bit. Still, most players should be able to beat this game in a single day, maybe two if they’re short on free time.
To sum up, The Heist is not a game-changer for Marvel’s Spider-Man, it’s basically just more Spidey goodness that is sure to satisfy most fans who enjoy anything related to our favorite red and blue-clad hero. And I’ll say this too, the way The Heist ended has me looking forward to seeing how the rest of the story unfolds in the next two parts of the DLC, namely Turf Wars (which releases in November) and Silver Lining (which releases in December).
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony
Platform: PS4
Release Date: 23rd October 2018
