Hey everybody welcome back to LegalSpeak a ColdNorth Production. I'm TheLawMorris and this is the video essay series where I get to talk about the games I've been playing and what I think of the video game industry as a whole. Now I know I said last week that I would be talking about Tom Clancy games this week but the scale of that video got way out of control so that one wont be coming until next week, so for now we are going to be talking about the Spider-Man DLC.
Before we get into the discussion though I do need to take a moment to issue a spoiler warning, I wont be intentionally delving into specific story beats in this video but I wont be making any effort to avoid any spoilers so if you havent played Spider-Man or the DLC yet and you don’t want that spoiled stop watching now.
I've never been a huge supporter of DLC, there has almost never been DLC that has captured my interest so as a result I almost never buy DLC. The primary reason that DLC has failed to intrigue me so many times is that I play games for the stories they tell and after the story of the main game anything short of a full blown sequel feels lackluster. After the climax of a main story of a game playing a smaller story just feels less than in many way. In my opinion DLC almost always feels overpriced for what it is able to deliver. Now that’s not to say that all DLC is overpriced because there is quite a bit of DLC that can stand on its own as an entire experience and deliver. The best examples of this being The Witcher Blood and Wine and Far Cry Blood Dragon. So after years of avoiding DLC I decided to jump back in with one of my favorite games of the year and I spent the $25 on the Spider-Man season pass.
On the whole the entire Spider-Man DLC experience was what I would call the epitome of mediocrity. Throughout three chapters and roughly six hours of Spider-Man gameplay we definitely weren't given the best the game has to offer and unfortunately I feel as though in many ways the DLC came packed with the lowest lows of the overall Spider-Man PS4 experience. Each chapter centered around one character and their interactions with Spider-Man and yet the only one of these three relationships that Spider-Man has that was the most interesting in it's respective chapter was his dynamic with Silver Sable in the finale chapter. The Black Cat storyline was fine but what was most compelling wasn’t Spider-Man's interactions with Black Cat but instead Peter's interactions with Mary Jane and how they handled the potential ramifications of actions Peter had taken while they were split up. Hammerhead played a fun villainous role in the second chapter but was entirely outshined by a vengeance hungry Yuri Wantanabe as she broke her own rules out of shear fury and desperation. The main focus of the first two chapters were completely overshadowed by supporting character's that stole the show.
But the flaws aren't simply limited to character dynamics with one another. Black Cat's involvement in the storyline felt disconnected and her motivations that had run so strong in the first chapter were so easily abandoned in the third chapter. Moving from chapter one to chapter two felt excellent as the first chapter ended on a high note and the second started at that same level before coming back down but the transition from the end of two to the beginning of three felt abrupt and almost as though it wasn’t meant to be played immediately afterward. Content that made up the side activities of the main game was haphazardly patched together within the context of the story making the actual summation of the story levels feel much more generic and phoned in. And the attention to detail was no where near the level of polish that made the main game so great: Black Cat is presumed dead at the end of chapter one then makes a short appearance in chapter three in which she completely abandons all her work from the first chapter without a second thought all while offering zero explanation as to how she survived. Hammerhead is presumed dead at the end of the second chapter yet none of the other characters are surprised when he shows up alive in the third chapter. And where the hell is Mary Jane going to be at the start of Spider-Man 2? Is she going to sit that one out?
If you watched my video on the main game you'll know that what I think made Spider-Man PS4 stand out was the level of restraint Insomniac showed. Well I'm sad to say that that restraint seems to have been thrown to the wayside during the writing and development of the DLC and it really does suffer as a result.
All of the negativity is fine but the DLC wasn’t a steaming pile of hot garbage. Chapter two in particular was very satisfying and provided a contained story arc and some of the most intriguing character development seen across both the main game and the DLC alike. Hammerhead made for an actually formidable villain and a great boss fight but the stand out of the entire package was Yuri Wantanabe. Seeing the chapter start with the NYPD raid on Hammerhead's hideout that ended in tragedy gave Yuri something to fight for. And as she became increasingly consumed by her rage not even Spider-Man could control her. Yuri's arc and ultimate fall at the end the second chapter as she shot Hammerhead in cold blood was one of the most interesting and believable declines the game has to offer. While the second chapter still would have been my favorite of the three even without Yuri's subplot it was that desperate, angry, and sad police captain on a rampage that pushed the entire chapter into excellence.
Overall I am sad to say that I don’t feel as though the Spider-Man DLC pass is worth the $25 asking price. While the second chapter stands out as the highlight its just not enough to justify spending money on and playing through the other two. What I found most interesting though is the fact that even after not being thrilled with this particular DLC pack I think I'm now significantly more likely to buy DLC for other games moving forward.
What are your favorite DLC packs and which ones do you think I should play? Let me know in the comments down below.
If you liked what you heard and you just cant get enough hit that subscribe button for a new video every week. Also don’t forget to check out our video game podcast HardReset on iTunes, Spotify, iheartradio, SoundCloud, and right here on YouTube for more free form video game discussion. And our movies podcast NoRefunds the podcast that watches bad movies so you don’t have to! On iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube! I'll be back next week talking about Tom Clancy games so until then just go play some games.
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