Eight years after the critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption in 2010, comes its long awaited sequel, Red Dead Redemption (2018). The previous game told the story of former gang member John Marston, but this time the lead role goes to another member, Arthur Morgan. In fact, the game is not a sequel at all despite the title. It is a prequel telling the story of the Van Der Linde Gang in its last years of vitality during the ending of the Old Frontier.
Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North, says “There was a lot of history set up in the last about Marston’s former gang and the character of Dutch and what he was all about. And so that was something that we really thought about that we could explore and juxtapose this idea of this partially reformed outlaw in the last game to being an active, working outlaw living with a gang in the next gang.”
The premise of RDR2 (its shortened acronym) tells of Arthur, one of the most versatile gang members in the Van Der Linde Gang, with Dutch as leader and Arthur’s fatherly figure. While the wild country advances through civilization, the gang is forced to run around the states to survive after a failed robbery. But as the law becomes more formulated, the gang also slowly deteriorates from the inside. Arthur must decide from then whether to continue with Dutch’s futile attempts to create a “savage utopia’ for themselves or to think for himself and others.
This game has long since its release become my favorite video game of all time. My favorite aspect is the hidden dialogues you can find around the camps in each chapter. It gives more immersion into the story involving the characters’ current situation, relationships with others, and backstories. The game’s open world itself is based on the sandbox concept. Meaning whatever choices in play-ability in you make, there are my changes integrated into the story-line and sometimes the games’ side content. Specifically, the “honor” system is the main component that drives the storytelling changes. Arthur can be a man who is more caring towards his friends, townsfolk, and passersby or a vengeful criminal who cares only for his own ambitions. Personally, the high honor route would seem fitting as it ties to the game’s theme of redemption.
Because of the game’s historical attributes and impactful storytelling, it would be a thrill for any gamer to enjoy.
** IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER, REFER TO THE A&M TEXARKANA WEBSITE OR CONTACT CORRINE HINTON AT CHINTON@TAMUT.EDU **
A&M-Texarkana will be hosing a worship for poets, aspiring authors, and lovers of literature! Both the workshop and reading will take place on Thursday, May 9th. The workshop will be at 5:30-7 p.m. in University Center room 230, followed by a reading from 7:30-9 p.m. in UC 217.
Joy Ladin is an American poet and the David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She is the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution. Joy Ladin is an American poet and the David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She is the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution.
In 2013, Ladin published a series of poems formed entirely from words and phrases found in popular women’s magazines. These poems, such as “Ready To Know,” link both trans women and cis women’s experiences of gender to the “commodity capitalist engine of the production of femininity.” This work emerged when Ladin gave herself a “writing assignment” to creatively engage with the “how-to” rhetoric of mainstream femininity.
“I am a teacher, widely published essayist and poet, literary scholar, and nationally known speaker on transgender issues” Ladin says. Ladin has given invited talks and readings at many universities and colleges such as Harvard and Smith College. After this Thursday, A&M University of Texarkana can be added to the list.
The potential for technology has dramatically improved in recent years. We now have Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Video games are becoming more realistic. Robots are becoming more human-like. Driverless or self-driving cars are being tested. The possibilities are endless in the age of technology. However, these new developments make some question whether the benefits truly outweigh the potential for these advances to be used for something more sinister. Peyton Gregory, a mother-to-be, said, “These dangerous aspects of technology are really terrifying for parents when considering the safety of their children.” Lauren Johnson, a local high school student, said that such technologies really freak her out and she would never want to use such technology if it were offered to her.
In recent months we have been introduced to deepfakes, and voice cloning technology. Deepfake technology is used to create fake videos by taking images of a person’s face to create a moving image. Initially it was designed for film production in Hollywood. Although revolutionary, deepfakes are being used to create revenge porn, which started to surface on Reddit in 2017. Many young female actresses such as Selena Gomez, Emma Watson, and Scarlett Johannson have fallen victim to having their faces placed into these inappropriate videos. This form of technology has also plagued the lives of everyday women. Not only does it lead to fake porn and silly memes, but the creation of fake news reports and government videos. This is very dangerous to the safety of the nation, taking into consideration military and governmental use of such technologies. It could become very dangerous and even disastrous. It has the potential to lead the way to another World War if it were used strategically.
Voice cloning technology can use one’s voice to create a computerized voice avatar that is supposed to sound just like their very own and can be used to say anything that is typed into the computer. A program designed by Adobe Voco has this same concept, which was never released to the public because of these scary scenarios. However, an app available to the general public called Lyrebird can be used for those willing to share their voice. Regardless of the revolutionary aspect of these new developments, the potential for them to be used in a negative way still stands a risk if it were to land in the wrong hands.
Technology is constantly changing, and soon, even how we write will not be the same. But change can be a good thing if it is gradual. And it will not be like certain robot takeover movies. That’s right, robots! This is a great thing if our crazy imaginations do not intervene.
Robotics is one of the greatest innovations in science and technology. There are current observations on robots where scientists study their logistics to better aid them when performing aggressive tasks. Unfortunately, robots might be better than us, yet they need our supervision to function properly.
Boston Dynamics is one of the leading companies in the robotics industry. The developers there have created many robots with impressive functions. One is called Spot which is built similar to a dog. A video has two Spots thinking to each about how to open a door. One of them eventually opens the door so the other Spot goes out along with the other.
Another robot is called Atlas. It’s designed to have motor functions like a human. Another incredible video shows him jumping onto and over every obstacle. He falls over in the end but for comedic attribute. Atlas is still operational to this day. Dynamics have also made another version where he can go outside through any type of environment.
In recent times, an achievement of Boston Dynamics happened to be 10 spots pull a large truck. This has become very shocking to the people due to the success of these robotic dogs performing a miraculous task.
Who knows what will happen next?!
All the world is changing, for better and worse. Old technology may soon be gone, but the new technology can make impossible dreams a reality, especially robots.
Clear your mind, and reach deep within yourself in order to vividly dream YOUR dreams because in order to succeed, you need to know what you want in life. This book, Blessed and Unstoppable, was designed to put you in a position to gain strength, a deeper knowledge, and exert your full potential in order to move in greater steps. The author of Blessed and Unstoppable Billy Alsbrooks stated that“My book was written to initiate action, not to just sit back and read.” He also explains that “Each day in my book has self assessment questions that set in motion a change in mindset, to open the mind up in a strategic way so that it can design the breakthroughs required to step into greatness”. I believe this book is about waking up your purpose and the dreams that God has planned for your life. This book is so precious, and points out the fact that the readers of this book have a great deal of potential as well. “If a person wants to achieve the highest levels of success, they must be willing to do the inner homework required” Mr. Alsbrooks says. Therefore, I strongly recommend this book to all students, and staff on campus, as well as the community. This book will take everyone to the next level, and lead you towards your purpose as you answer the questions throughout the book. However, Blessed and Unstoppable is only available for purchase as a physical copy. “On digital devices, it’s too easy to skip past the homework and the action steps laid out in the book,” Alsbrooks said. “I want people to stop and think and then take massive action.” So go now. Purchase the book and get ready for a new change. “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Check out Billy Alsbrooks website here, and click this to check out his YouTube channel.
Is it love we’re looking for, or just something tolerable? An emotion sharing common features across cultures might be less of a romantic devotion and more of a search for gratification. Thinking of love in terms of socialization. Why did you or your last significant other end the relationship? Was it because they left their socks all over the place? Did they always forget your date night? Did you consider these qualities a lack of care? Maybe these things are simply intolerable for you. But to others, they are not. Many of our relationships end as a result of conflicting attitudes, behaviors and values. Social Exchange Theory, coupled with rational Choice Theory and ideas of Erving Goffman, tells us why. Social media tells us how.
“George Homans,” from the article “George C. Homans, the human group and elementary social behaviour,” by Dr. A. Javier Treviño on infed.com
George Homans adapted this theory in the late 1950s, that we base our relationships on a scale of costs versus benefits. When the costs outweigh the benefits, we tend to leave the relationship. People use their comparison levels, by which they compare current relationships to those from the past, and their comparison levels of alternatives, comparing current situations to other available options. These are what help shape our ideas about romantic behaviors. These comparisons come from our schemata, or set of experiences that create our expectations. According to “Romantic Exchanges,” a blog post written by Bradley Wright, social exchange theory suggests that “people think about relationships in terms of various benefits and costs available to them…” and then make choices in their own favor. We make attempts to establish romantic exchanges based on what we think to be worthy of our time and efforts.
Rational choice theory takes these internal monologues and brings them into reality. From available options, one makes a selection based on the shared, consistent schemata of society. These collective thought processes help individuals make daily decisions. Popular choices typically win the fight. Individuals let these normative behaviors to influence their own choice, which is how we know what others expect of us.
“Erving Goffman,” compliments of ThoughtCo.com, from the article “A Biography of Erving Goffman: Major Contributions, Education, and Career,” by Ashley Crossman
Erving Goffman says we use these concepts to control perceptions of us. Our front stage is where all that is socially acceptable remains, while the backstage is the opposite. Social exchange theory is what gives us a reason to act in this way, because of our alternative choices. Goffman’s ideas about front and backstage behavior demonstrates the ways in which social media is a prime example of social exchange theory. Let’s look at the social media dating applications, Match.com and Tinder.
Match.com argues that their ultimate goal is “to help singles find the kind of relationship they’re looking for.” This is an obvious example that they’re promoting social exchange theory. They are encouraging members to highlight their best attribute to find the best buyer. The website even has a blog with helpful hints on how toseem more attractive for other online users.Tinder is similar, but not so subtle. They offer a blatant goal: supporting individuality. They offer no suggestions for relationship building.Tinder’s goal “is to allow users to express themselves freely as long as it doesn’t offend others.” This is more obvious in presenting the idea that these websites are a way for people to use edited photographs and conscious dialogues to entice strangers.
In2015, eighty-five percent of Tinder users claimed to “look after” their appearance on the app, giving in to the collective social schemata. Social exchange theory says that this sense of rational choice is what will guide people in and out of relationships. Match.com and Tinder open the door for rating. With each application, users are picky about not only what they put out there, but also who they continue contact with. They are not obligated to respond to anyone. People take a few short minutes to look at their match and decide whether that person is right for them. Keep in mind that these people are just scratching the surface. They generally know very little about these people they are connecting with.
Each program allows users to designate a set amount of images to their pages and couple them with a description. Both sites reiterate a need to make oneself look attractive by some means.Eighty-four percent of Match users say that they are more selective now than ever of their dating partners, an example of weighing ones options. Match provides more lengthy content, which might mean that its target audience are those people who are looking to engage in something long-term while Tinder is often associated with hook-up culture. This could be the reason that roughly seventy percent of Tinder users also visited other online dating websites in2015.
Complements of Pixabay
A few demographics are notable here. First, a small but visible percent of Tinder users are married. Why is this important? These people are benefiting only themselves. even if the couple is in an o[en relationship, the two are still using other people to fulfill needs not met at home. And, people who would initially be monogamous may take on multiple romantic relationships if they feel that their needs are not being entirely met. In a closed relationship, the person is only concerned with their own desire.
“Only14 percent of boomer women and 22 percent of boomer men…” use Match to marry. These people are seeking a way that they can meet short-term needs, but are open to finding love. We tend to use the social exchange theory very extensively. Online users are very interested in keeping their options open.
These two applications offer participants anonymity and a way to easily filter through comparisons. Rational choice theory tells us how people use such little information to make such a large choice. Individuals purposely create situations where people have to choose swiftly from small amounts of information and, in doing so, lower their chances of someone else finding any bad quality.
Social Exchange Theory is rich in its possibilities to convey an understanding of social relationship building. Though this article has not discussed all aspects of the theory, we can still see a strong correlation between social exchange theory and how people today search for love.
A&M Texarkana’s Multi-Media Specialist offers practical advice acquired from a lifetime of experience.
Casey Roberts’ sixth grade teacher wrote a note to his mother at the bottom of his final report card saying that he would have a career in TV or radio.
The teacher was correct. Inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall Of Fame in 2002, Roberts’s experience in multi-media production spans over 45 years.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Roberts said. He started off at the age of 17 as a disk jockey for a small south Texas radio station, where he soon became the program director. The company that owned the radio station also had several cable TV stations, one of which his father was the general manager of here in Texarkana.
Roberts began producing local public access programs as well as cable ads.
“I was responsible for getting commercials on the air,” Roberts said. He also pioneered a system, now the norm, called “local commercial insertion,” where local cable commercials are seamlessly integrated with national ones.
Roberts’ passion and diligence were noticed. He would spend the next 35 years honing his craft in the markets of Louisville, Kentucky, and Las Vegas, Nevada, holding a range of positions.
One of Roberts’ favorite moments was filming an interview with Muhammad Ali, after his defeat to Larry Holmes in Louisville, 1980.
“He came down to our little studio and spent an hour and a half with us, then invited us to a party that evening, where we got to hang out with him,” Roberts said.
“I like to tell people, I shot for Playboy and Disney channels in the same day,” Roberts reflected.
His journey came full circle, returning to Texarkana in 2005 to help out family. As fortune would have it A&M Texarkana, at the old location, had an open position to teach mass media production and a studio that needed to be rebuilt. Roberts has been employed with A&M Texarkana for the last 12 years.
“What I taught was the difference in being in a high-school TV class and real professional broadcast standards,” Roberts explained, “The rules of television are the same, and it’s about production values and technical standards.”
Lessons from the popular mass media class, 417 Advanced Television Production, focusing on making documentaries.
Casey at work. Photo by Stephen Parker
“Documentaries require a more polished production; Learning how to shoot, interviewing people, doing research, doing reenactments covers many important aspects,” Roberts assures.
His most practical advice for students is: preplanning, knowing what you want to do and maintaining high technical standards.
Suggesting that students often have really good ideas in their head, but loose the intended message because they have not tried to see how their message might appear to someone first viewing the idea.
“Always a good idea to bounce things off other people,” Roberts said.
There are no current video production classes offered at A&M Texarkana because the lack of a TV studio “made it difficult to keep classes going,” Roberts allowed.
“I have two jobs here now,” Roberts stated, “Production, which is near and dear to my heart, and facilitating event technology.”
Eagle Hall hosts several big events throughout the year. He makes sure that everything technical is working and familiarizes speakers with the equipment, assuring any hiccups will be dealt with promptly, putting speakers at ease.
Roberts shares his thoughts on the necessity for media production classes at A&M Texarkana.
“All the things that go into a real comprehensive university are important. I think news/journalism and the media-arts are essential for a liberal-arts education, hopefully we get to that point. With the introduction of athletics there is a need to cover athletes and broadcast games, giving students a hands on opportunity to work within professional standards and guidelines. I hope we get TV multi-media back in the curriculum. There are ways to do it, even in conjunction with the community college where the studio sits.” Roberts concluding with, “It would add a lot to the atmosphere to the campus with students more involved.
Are you a fan of traditional first-person shooter video games, zombie puzzle games, or battle royale style matches? If so, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 delivers on all fronts.
Developed by Activision and released on October 12, 2018, COD: Black Ops 4 is shattering sales records across download platforms and viewership numbers on streaming services.
World-wide sales topped $500 million according to GFK Chart Track data. Following its October 12th launch, Black Ops 4 established a new one-day record for PlayStation digital game sales, and became the best-selling Activision Xbox One digital game in a 24-hour period.
“Black Ops 4 is an incredible game, and the community’s response to it has been amazing. We have shattered multiple digital day one sales records, and the number of people who connected online on day one to play has grown year on year,” said Rob Kostich, EVP and GM of COD in a press release. “But probably the most important thing is that the community is having so much fun across Multiplayer, Zombies and Blackout. We are so incredibly thankful for the community’s trust and support. This is just the beginning, it’s going to be an incredible journey with Black Ops 4.”
COD: Black Ops 4 has garnered extraordinary viewership on the video game streaming site Twitch. According to analytics provided by the Esports Observer, one of the world’s top sources for Esports business news and insights, Black Ops 4 has taken over viewership on Twitch since its release. From October 11 to 17, the game has amassed a total of 29.66 million hours watched on Twitch, the highest level of viewership through a launch weekend in Twitch’s franchise history.
Courtesy of Desert.com
So, what exactly is special about COD: Black Ops 4? A brief step back in gaming history will shed some light.
The battle royale style game mode has gained in popularity over the last couple of years with games like Player Unknown’s Battleground and Fortnite. In a nutshell, 100 players are dropped from the sky with no weapons or gear. They must scrounge around in search of “loot,” items like guns, ammo, body armor, helmets, scopes, and grenades. The playing field or “map” is large, taking up the virtual equivalent of two square miles.
After a short time, a random circular section of the map is revealed, then an all-encompassing larger sphere of electric death closes in around. This squeezing of space continues until one player remains.
By incorporating well known COD fixtures from the past, Black Ops 4 has innovated the battle royale style game. Player enhancements or “peaks” can be found randomly around the map that can have one of several effects such as improved hearing, complete silence while moving, enemy awareness, or longer held breath while sniping. Several gadgets unique to COD can be found as well such as trip mines, portable sonic walls, sensor darts, grenade deactivators, grappling pistols, and an assortment of grenades.
Will Black Ops have the longevity of its predecessors? Can it maintain Twitch viewership with the onslaught of holiday game releases? Has the battle royale genre reached its zenith of popularity? These questions can only be answered in time, but for now COD has set new watershed marks for the next iteration of battle royale to strive for.
You’re a senior in high school. You’re over halfway through the school year, and you’ve just spent the last four years of your life trying to forget that you’ve spent a good majority of it flipping through math, science, English, and history textbooks. You’re ready for your summer of freedom. But, that’s not going to happen. It’s time to decide your place in life. Your teachers tell you that college is nothing like high school. It’s hard. It’s tiring. You need to know what you’re doing before you do it, because there’s not much wiggle room. And all you can think about is what you haven’t been prepared for.
Our educators expect us to understand the world enough to know exactly what we should do with our lives, even at the age of ten. It’s a scary thought. But there lies the problem. People aren’t expected to have everything figured out once they reach college. However, our younger selves are somehow coerced into believing that picking a major field of study for higher education is a singular choice.
On the contrary, college is a place where learning the steps to make that decision actually takes place. The misconception that high school is where you make your final decision is just downright stressful. Some people get so worked up it actually decreases their likelihood of going to college. They feel so overwhelmed that their solution might be to wait it out. But education isn’t knowing everything in advance of doing it. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need education.
Venturing further into your academic career offers new discoveries and options everyday. The electives at Texas A&M University – Texarkana offer multiple teaching and learning styles, material, perceptions.
Photo by Allison Hall
One class in particular is Dr. Drew Morton’s Intro to Media Production course. The name suggests filmmakers would receive the most benefit, but anyone on campus can gain something. The course teaches students how to properly use DSLR Canon Rebel cameras for photography and video, and how to mash those clips together in Adobe Premiere. The course requires no necessary experience or skill (Hint: “Intro”). The series of projects in the course moves in an elegant and gradual way to ward away nerves about technique and to compliment your available skill set. The course is all about you: What do you want to make? What do you have to say? Film is an easy way to tell a story. A section of the class teaches you to do this without words. Visual elements can instill meaninginto a person that words just can’t.
Photo by Allison Hall
One junior history major has ventured much further into the field of mass communication thanks to classes like this. Josh Wattigny has taken several MCOM classes and is now enrolled in Intro to Media Production. Prior to any of these, he hadn’t thought of branching out into media studies. Now, he has his own camera, equipment, and a YouTube channel. “I had an interest in learning about film history, and from there I found out that I really enjoyed everything that goes into film production. I wanted to learn more and make my own movies,” Josh said. The truth is, with or without a degree, we’re all involved in the field of mass communication.
You might think you know what you want, and maybe you do, but there’s always something else worth exploring. Something you might think is too hard, or not worth the time might turn into a consistent hobby, as it was for Josh. Here, we’re discussing videography, but maybe you have a knack for poetry or writing. So, a word of advice: get out there and take as many classes as you can. Wander around and find new media of expression. You never know what’s possible until you apply yourself in a new, scary, wonderful way.
Texas A&M University – Texarkana has some upcoming workshops and lectures you can use to test the waters. November events include a GIS (Geographic Information System) day hosted in the Digital Humanities Lab on November 14th, a Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)screening accompanied by discussion from Jaime Cantrell, Drew Morton, and Rachel Stonecipher on November 20th in Eagle Hall with a live podcast taping, and a walk-through of Audacity applications and podcast recording on November 27th at 12:15 in the Digital Humanities Lab. All these opportunities provide a variety of explorable content. Please check them out and don’t hesitate to ask questions.
With a myriad of Spider-Man games and even more superhero games that have hit the market over the years, does Insomniac’s latest attempt at bringing the red-and-blue-clad hero manage to stand out? With confidence, I can say that this is not only the best Spider-Man game ever made, but also a destined classic for the PS4 and the superhero genre.
After a four-year dry spell of mainstream Spider-Man games, the last being the mixed Amazing Spider-Man 2, Insomniac has done what Rocksteady Studios did for Batman in creating an experience that delivers both in narrative and gameplay.
PLOT
Image courtesy of Sony and Insomniac Games
With Dan Slott, a veteran Spider-Man comic scribe, and Insomniac’s writing team, the game spins an impressive web. Peter Parker, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger, has been at the superhero game for roughly eight years. He’s working as a research assistant for Dr. Otto Octavius, is behind on his rent, has put away plenty of his classic rogues behind bars, is helping out at the local homeless shelter (called F.E.A.S.T.) with his Aunt May, his relationship with Mary Jane Watson is on the rocks, and has finally put the notorious kingpin of crime, Wilson Fisk, behind the bars. However, with Fisk out of the way to manage crime in the city, Peter’s problems only seem to get worse as criminal misdeeds begin to spike in Manhattan when a new crime syndicate, the Demons, led by the mysterious Mister Negative, come into play.
What makes this plot work is how the writers are able to bring together so many elements from Spider-Man’s history in such a glorious fashion. Like plenty of classic Spidey stories, he’s down on his luck but manages to persevere with a grin and snappy quip to get him through it, but, thankfully, there are some twists along the way. While you have the usual stuff with Peter and how he tries to balance his personal life with his superhero life, there are also some of the newer components from the comics. He’s long since passed working at the Daily Bugle as a photographer, and is now working as a scientist. Mary Jane is no longer a model, and now works as an investigative reporter, much like her Ultimate universe counterpart. Miles Morales, one of the most popular Spider-Man characters in recent history, has been integrated into Peter’s life as a friend and helping hand around the F.E.A.S.T. center. The list goes on. With all of this interwoven with a plot that juggles Peter’s tragic friendship with Dr. Octavius, repairing his relationship with Mary Jane, the backstory and motivation of Mister Negative, escalating danger in New York, a conspiracy involving Norman Osborn (the city mayor and CEO of Oscorp), and the formation of Peter’s most reviled enemies, the Sinister Six, you’ve got yourself an engaging story that celebrates all eras of Spider-Man that’s both satisfying for fans and newcomers.
PERFORMANCES
Image courtesy of Sony and Insomniac Games
With motion capture blending together with voice acting, nearly every member of the cast give it their all in elevating the script and story to excellence. Yuri Lowenthal, best known for his roles in Ben 10, Persona 4, Paprika, absolutely shines as Peter Parker. With so many people that’s played as the character in the past, it was, no doubt, a difficult task to stand out, but Lowenthal accomplishes this in spades by delivering a performance that balances the traits of the character from his jovial mood, his unwavering sense of responsibility, his enthusiasm for science, etc. There’s such a level of humanity in his acting, once again praising the motion capture for capturing the subtle nuances in his face, that you don’t normally see that it’s not only refreshing, but also captivating. Other standout actors include Laura Bailey as Mary Jane, having great chemistry with Lowenthal, William Salyers as Dr. Octavius, giving us what I believe to be the best iteration of the character, Nadji Jeter as Miles, and Nancy Linari as Aunt May. All of these actors and more bring their A game and pull off the spectacular.
GAMEPLAY
Image courtesy of Sony and Insomniac Games
With fancy new gadgets, weighty web-swinging, and refined combat, it’s never felt so good to traverse the Big Apple while dealing out justice. Taking a page from the Arkham games, the fighting in Spider-Man mainly consists of punching, kicking, dodging, and using the environment to fight bad guys. Thankfully, unlike the gameplay from Beenox’s Amazing Spider-Man games, this manages to stand apart from being another inferior clone of the Batman games by emphasizing Peter’s agility and the use of various web-based tools to keep Peter fast and on the move. It works in adding a whole other layer to the style of gameplay as it doubles the variety you’d normally get with this type of gameplay. More on the gadgets, a handful of them are at the player’s disposal such as standard webbing to immobilize or yank weapons from enemy hands, impact webbing, web mines, taser webbing, robot spiders, and other such gizmos to meet whatever the player’s method of play. There are even stealth stages and side challenges scattered throughout the map, some even relating to other classic characters, such as Black Cat, Harry Osborne, and Taskmaster. While much of this seems familiar, no doubt bringing the mind to Spider-Man 2 or even other open-world games, it remains engaging because of these components working together with exceptionally polished execution.
If there’s one other thing the game had to get right, it was the web-swinging, and, like everything else, it’s just as skillfully realized. The weight of the character coupled with the momentum creates what’s possibly the most realistic swinging. It can take getting used to, but once it’s mastered, it makes for some fast and fun travel that never gets old. This along with the web-zipping and parkour-like moves all add up to the best traversal of New York ever developed.
Besides the usual stuff fans have come to expect from Spider-Man games, there are some new things brought to the table with some mixed results. Some sections of the game are dedicated to Peter in his civilian clothes as he solves two types of puzzles in Dr. Octavius’ lab and investigating, and stealth sections with Mary Jane and Miles. These sections are much slower in comparison to the rest of the game, so it can feel like the game comes to a halt, but they’re still amusing in their own right and provide a different perspective that’s unique in a superhero game.
GRAPHICS
Image courtesy of Sony and Insomniac Games
From the character models, to the breathtaking in-game map of Manhattan, to all the interactive components, the game looks and plays really well. After there was some concern about the frame rate only being 30 fps, it was a pleasant surprise to see the game run smoothly with such gorgeous visuals. The people in the game have a slightly stylized look, but the subtle details of the eyes and body language give them a realistic presence, and this goes for the city as well. Never have I experienced such a lively rendition of the often used city, and it’s the smaller details that help it come alive. There are squirrels scampering in the park, citizens having parties and lunches on rooftops, and so much more that feels organic to such a busy, populated place. Not to mention the occasional weather effects look absolutely beautiful, partially the rainy sections. There were some graphical hiccups with my character being stuck in a wall during the last boss fight, as well as a moment where the target icons cluttered the screen, but a few updates could handle that in no time if this problem applies to other copies.
FINAL VERDICT
From the story, to the acting, to the gameplay, Spider-Man is a triumph. If you haven’t already converted to Sony and bought yourself a PS4, then this is definitely a game worth buying a console for. Never before has it felt so good to do everything a spider can.
9.5/10
Now available for digital download and physical purchase.
