As superheroes have risen in popularity in recent years, the Box Office successes of Hollywood movies have finally crossed over into the world of big-budget video games. The two games which stand out, in particular, are the PS4's Marvel's Spider-Man game from 2018 and the more recent Marvel's Avengers released in September 2020.
Both of these games had their strengths and weaknesses. While the fan reaction to Ps4's Spider-Man was better received overall, there are a few ways that Avengers came together as an even stronger product.
10 Spider-Man: Writing
Spider-Man is probably Marvel's greatest character and the PS4 Spider-Man game is absolutely worthy of his great power. The jokes are genuinely funny, the dialogue is sharp, and all of the characters fell fully formed and alive.
Beyond this, there are constant plot twists that build with increased tension through the narrative. Time and again, Peter Parker has his heart broken in new ways, even as he is given new reasons to hope and to care. And players who beat the game know that the ending scene is enough to bring one to tears.
9 Avengers: The Opening
The Avengers took a bold original step in how it opened. Rather than focusing on combat or high-stakes adventure, the story opened following Kamala Khan, a young fangirl from New York attending the Avengers fan expo in San Francisco.
Fans know Kamala will eventually become the hero Ms. Marvel, but by seeing the world through her eyes, all of her excitement and wonder is imbued into the narrative of the game. This encourages players to explore the world to uncover every hidden secret waiting to be discovered.
8 Spider-Man: Boss Fights
Every boss fight in Marvel's Spider-Man is memorable. The very first level culminates in the webhead taking on Wilson Fisk, New York's Kingpin of Crime. Fisk might not have any superpowers, but that fight is one of the toughest of the game.
Other memorable battles include chasing Shocker all over the city, battling Vulture and Shocker at the same time, and Scorpion's venom causing Spidey to hallucinate as he swings through a psychedelic dreamscape.
7 Avengers: Multiple Play Styles
As Avengers has multiple playable heroes, each one comes with their own play styles. Admittedly, not all of these are perfect. Some characters feel so dramatically underpowered it actually ruins a lot of the gaming experience or have mechanics so clunky players may avoid using them entirely.
However, there is a pure sense of delight to be found in the way Kamala Khan moves through an environment with her stretchy limbs, Hulk hurls boulders through the air to smash distant opponents, and Iron Man whizzes through the skies while shooting lasers.
6 Spider-Man: Movement
One of the greatest delights of any game on the PS4 is Peter Parker web-slinging across New York. The sheer joy of going from one point to another often is so great that arriving at the destination feels like a disappointment.
Running along the glass sides of buildings or banking hard while swinging around the corner of a skyscraper also add to the experience. Sure, the plot and fighting are amazing, but honestly, no game can beat Marvel's Spider-Man when it comes to movement. One of the best parts of Avengers is when Kamala Khan's parkour moves come close to emulating Spidey's web-slinging.
5 Avengers: Reasons to Fight
One part of Spider-Man that was uncomfortably regressive was that he spent a lot more time beating up people for drug deals and break-ins than actually protecting anyone in danger. In short, he was injuring people for nonviolent crimes or to protect property, caring more about inanimate objects and abstract drug laws than the living breathing people he was beating the snot out of.
Contrast with the Avengers, who fight to stop terrorists, to protect civilians from harm, and to free people from the concentration camp-inspired conditions of AIM detention facilities. Unethical medical experiments performed on Inhumans echo horrific procedures from real life, and so the Avengers rescue all who they can save at any cost, damaging property to save people. Clearly, they have their priorities straight.
4 Spider-Man: Combat
Peter Parker is like a ballerina of combat. There is something truly beautiful in the way he flips over enemies, shoots blinding webs at their faces while dodging incoming gunfire, and manages to leap into the air with someone and strike them four or five times before they hit the ground. And that's without even getting into his trick webs and gadgets.
A lot of the fighting seems inspired by the Batman: Arkham games. Whereas Batman's fists can knock an enemy unconscious with one hit, Spider-Man is a more vulnerable character, making even minor street criminals into real threats.
3 Avengers: Diverse Perspectives
The MCU gave fans a chance to see their favorite characters assemble on the big screen for the very first time. Now, they have a chance to experience something similar in a video game.
Iron Man's ego and impulsivity mix with his commitment to building a better future. Bruce Banner is weighed down by his guilt, insistent on taking responsibility for the monstrousness within himself. Meanwhile, Kamala Khan's optimistic vigor is tempered by the hardships she's witnessed firsthand.
2 Spider-Man: Plot Twists
The narrative of Spider-Man is absolutely breathtaking, but several times throughout the story, it proves particularly shocking. When Peter Parker is reduced to homelessness, the hero finds himself sleeping in the shelter his aunt runs. The moment he and Otto Octavius finally make a breakthrough in their scientific work, their projects are snatched from them by Mayor Norman Osborn.
Of course, the best plot twists all come in the game's climactic finish, a tear-jerker of tragedy and betrayal that no one is likely to forget.
1 Avengers: Comic References
One of the coolest features of Marvel's Avengers is the ability to collect comics. Some of these are classic issues written by Stan Lee in the Marvel Bullpen, while others are relatively new stories that fans very well may have bought in recent years.
While video games, movies, and TV shows have replaced older forms of media like comics, it is nice to see the original material is still being treated with respect.