In an age of countless remasters and remakes, it's incredibly difficult to strike lightning twice. Some developers like Bluepoint Games have proven to be masters of their craft in this particular field with truly phenomenal remakes like Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls, though now that we're officially in the next generation of consoles, we'll see them a bit more frequently. Insomniac Games have been busy lately, not just with the standalone spin-off adventure in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but also the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. After playing Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, I have to wonder how these guys managed to pull so many high-profile projects off - because once again, it's a spectacular revisiting.

READ MORE: Review: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales



Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered is, as the title suggests, a remaster of 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man. The story remains largely unchanged: Peter Parker is a more seasoned crime-fighter in his mid-20s, going through the motions of protecting Manhattan from an onslaught of devious supervillains while also trying to juggle his personal life with Aunt May, Mary Jane, and his pupil/mentor relationship with Dr. Otto Octavius. If you're familiar with the comics, then you know exactly where this is heading - not to mention the Sinister Six also making a big hoorah. However, the Remastered version now extends the story by including all DLCs available in The City That Never Sleeps, and it's integrated perfectly to give the story a bit more weight and drama.

To put it bluntly, I ended up loving the new face and it didn't hurt or hinder the original experience in any way.

I won't talk about the core story since fans may already be familiar with it, but the inclusion of The City That Never Sleeps is something I put off playing until now. It's actually a terrific collection of DLCs in the form of short stories spread across numerous characters, especially a more fleshed out addition of Black Cat and her great chemistry with Peter. Their integration into the core story here feels incredibly organic and didn't feel like it stood out. Across the board, the performances are still top-notch and the writing is among some of the best you'll find in a superhero video game. The biggest and most controversial change to the Remastered game is Peter's new face model. I understand it's still a hot topic online, but after a few hours, I actually got used to his more youthful and age-appropriate face. It helps that the facial capture and likeliness was done by Peter's voice actor, Yuri Lowenthal, who brings such a welcomed charm and charisma to the remaster. To put it bluntly, I ended up loving the new face and it didn't hurt or hinder the original experience in any way.



Like Miles Morales, Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on PS5 boasts two ways to play: Performance or Fidelity. In Performance, you get the smoothness of 60fps, and it's awesome feeling Spider-Man swinging in upscaled framerates. In Fidelity, the framerate is locked to 30fps but it introduces ray-tracing support to the mix. However, while I said Miles Morales felt better to play in Performance, here it's the exact opposite. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, when played in Fidelity, looks and feels truly next-gen. The reflections bouncing off of wet streets, cars, and buildings looks stunning and completely sold me on ray-tracing above it being just some next-gen buzzword. In addition to that, you also get improved textures, detailed character models, and better facial animations overall. Seeing the tiny details like Mary Jane's hair or the texture of clothing just adds so much to the game. Insomniac have really done their homework in earning the "Remastered" tag.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, when played in Fidelity, looks and feels truly next-gen.

Thanks to the capabilities of next-gen, the city now feels more alive. Insomniac have been afforded the opportunity to vastly improve the look and feel of Manhattan with added particle effects, more dynamic weather and lighting, and a jaw-dropping sense of immersion. In some instances, it somehow looked better than the Manhattan in Miles Morales, and that's saying something considering this is a remaster of a game two years older than its new counterpart. It still feels great to swing through the city, tackling side objectives along the way while experiencing a gripping emotional core story.



That said, Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered still feels the weight of some of its previous flaws. While the main story is engaging and still holds up well today, you still have an exorbitant amount of side quests and world activities to partake in. I felt that Miles Morales really improved the open world formula and trimmed most of that open world fluff for a more focused experience, so it was a bit jarring returning to Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and having to grind through some of its more uninspired side activities. Thankfully, the combat is still as fluid and fun as ever, and it's easy to get side-tracked doing other smaller missions because you just want to get into the thick of the action again.

...fast travel is almost instantaneous, and bouncing in and out of cinematics to gameplay is lightning fast.

Two areas where you really feel Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered benefits from the PS5 is the DualSense controller and the vastly improved loading times. Thanks to the implementation of haptic feedback and the awesome adaptive triggers, swinging with Peter feels upgraded and a lot more immersive and free-flowing. The resistance of the triggers as you swing upwards to gain a speed boost or avoid incoming enemy fire by dodging thanks to your spider-senses is insane, and I loved how much the DualSense's new features actually added to the momentum and fun factor of the game. It's worth experiencing all over again just for the controller's improvements, to be honest. The other great benefit to the remaster is its drastically improved load times. No longer are you stuck watching Spider-Man on a subway during a loading screen. Instead, fast travel is almost instantaneous, and bouncing in and out of cinematics to gameplay is lightning fast.



Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered also continues to introduce free suits into the base game, and the newest ones are actually pretty unique. The best addition is the design of Andrew Garfield's suit from The Amazing Spider-Man, which I always felt to be underrated (gold eyes for the win). Apart from the new suits - which are also available free to PS4 players too - there's not much new content here with the exception of the DLCs. However, if you're looking for the quintessential "complete" edition, then this is the way to go, especially with all the next-gen bells and whistles that it provides.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered can proudly stand on the podium with some of the best remasters in video games. Thanks to all that the PS5 offers, it vastly improves and upgrades the experience to make it the most next-gen feeling it's ever been. Ray-tracing looks gorgeous, the visuals have received a considerable boost, textures have been upgraded, and the implementation of the DualSense's features feel incredible in your hands. Add The City That Never Sleeps DLC into the mix, and you have yourself a well-rounded Spider-Man experience that only makes me more excited for its inevitable sequel.



*PS5 Review code provided by PlayStation