Spider-Man PS4: 10 Things It Must Learn From Batman Arkham
6. Nailing The Combat
Sony
When it comes to combat, few games have managed to impart as great an influence as Rocksteady's Arkham games.
The 'freelow' system introduced in Arkham Asylum has been aped, parroted and blatantly copied by dozens of other titles in the years since its release - and for good cause. No other combat system has managed to convey the sheer sense of power, speed or poise of Batman quite like Rocksteady's own, and while there are other dynamics to consider in capturing Spidey in quite the same way, combat should be top of Insomniac's priorities.
Encouraging to note is the emphasis placed on the environment, with the game's E3 demo having shown Spidey utilising construction work and equipment to dispatch his foes. Subsequent screenshots have also depicted the web-head bringing down everything from scaffolding to fences on his enemies, and in attempting to convey Peter Parker's frenetic and industrious style of combat, the environment is an essential component.
It's not a mirror image of the Arkham games, but noting both the momentum and environmental elements of those titles could provide Insomniac with a perfectly weighted combat system - something every superhero project is sure to covet.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
