Spider-Man: The City that Never Sleeps

Marvel's Spider-Man: The City that Never Sleeps is a collection of downloadable content (DLC) developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the 2018 video game Spider-Man. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man, it is inspired by the long-running comic book mythology and adaptations in other media. Released in three distinct chapters, The Heist, Turf Wars, and Silver Lining, The City that Never Sleeps' main storyline takes place after the events of Spider-Man, and follows the titular character as he confronts a crime wave led by the physically-enhanced mob boss Hammerhead. He is aided throughout the DLC by the thief Black Cat, Police Captain Yuri Watanabe, mercenary Silver Sable, and reporter Mary Jane Watson.

Marvel's Spider-Man:
The City that Never Sleeps
Developer(s)Insomniac Games
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)
  • Brian Horton
  • Bryan Intihar
  • Marcus Smith
  • Ryan Smith
Designer(s)
  • Cameron Christian
  • James Cooper
  • Mike Daly
  • Joel Goodsell
  • Mark Stuart
Programmer(s)Joe Valenzuela
Artist(s)
  • Jacinda Chew
  • Grant Hollis
Writer(s)
  • Jon Paquette
  • Benjamin Arfmann
  • Kelsey Beachum
Composer(s)John Paesano
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
Release
  • The Heist
  • October 23, 2018
  • Turf Wars
  • November 20, 2018
  • Silver Lining
  • December 21, 2018
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The game is presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on Spider-Man's traversal and combat abilities. Spider-Man can freely move around New York City, interacting with characters and undertaking missions, and unlocking new gadgets and suits by progressing through the main story or completing tasks. The player is able to complete side missions away from the main story to unlock additional content and collectible items. Combat focuses on chaining attacks together against numerous foes while avoiding damage, using the environment and webs to incapacitate foes.

The City that Never Sleeps was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 beginning with The Heist in October 2018. This was followed by Turf Wars in November and concluded with Silver Lining in December.

Gameplay
See also: Gameplay in Spider-Man

The City that Never Sleeps requires the base Spider-Man game to be played. It is accessed from the main menu and takes place in a separate instance of New York City, excluding the main game's story, side missions, and random crimes; and certain facilities, such as Otto's lab and the F.E.A.S.T. shelter, are no longer accessible. Instead of the random street crimes from the base game, the DLC introduces crimes committed by the Maggia crime families, including Maggia hideouts, brawls, and crime scenes. In Turf Wars and Silver Lining, the Maggia have stolen technology from the Silver Sable's mercenary organisation, Sable International, to improve their fighting capabilities.[1] As such, the DLC introduces new enemy types, including gatling gun- or jetpack-wielding mobsters.[1][2]

Most of the DLC's side content revolves around the social media-using villain Screwball, who returns from the base game to deliver various challenges, including EMP challenges, defeating enemies in certain areas to earn points, defeating enemies using specific gadgets, and taking stylish photos of Spider-Man's web-slinging or combat to achieve higher scores.[3] Other side missions include looking for stolen pieces of art that former thief and Black Cat's father Walter Hardy hid around the city,[3] and using Spider-Bots to look for bombs hidden under cars. Each episode introduces new story missions, Screwball challenges, enemies types, and trophies.[4][5]

Synopsis

Characters
Tara Platt in 2013
Laura Bailey in 2016
Platt and Bailey voiced Yuri Watanabe and Mary Jane Watson, respectively.

Spider-Man: The City that Never Sleeps features a large ensemble cast of characters from the history of Spider-Man comics. Spider-Man (Insomniac Games) (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal)[6] is a 23-year old research assistant,[7][8] who gained superhuman abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider. Employing a secret identity, Parker uses these abilities to protect the citizens of New York City as the superhero Spider-Man.[9][6] Taking place shortly after the main story of Spider-Man, The City that Never Sleeps follows Parker, who is coming to terms with the loss of his Aunt May to a bioweapon released by his former friend and mentor Otto Octavius.[10] Parker has also romantically reunited with his ex-girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Laura Bailey), a reporter for the Daily Bugle, who occasionally aids Spider-Man and is aware of his secret identity.

The City that Never Sleeps introduces the first appearances of Parker's former lover and master-thief Black Cat / Felicia Hardy (Erica Lindbeck, who has a voice-only role in the main game),[11] Felicia's father and retired thief Walter Hardy (Daniel Riordan),[12][13] and mob boss Hammerhead (Keith Silverstein),[14] who is taking advantage of the power vacuum left by the absence of villains to attempt to seize control of the city's criminal underworld from the other Maggia crime families.[1] It also features several returning characters from the base game, including NYPD Captain and Spider-Man ally Yuri Watanabe (Tara Platt),[6] Silver Sablinova (Nichole Elise), leader of the private military company Sable International,[8] and the social media-using villain Screwball (Stephanie Lemelin), who escaped from prison.[2]

Plot

The Heist

Few months after the events of the main game, the Maggia crime families are looking to fill the void in the criminal underworld after Wilson Fisk's capture and the fall of Mister Negative. MJ informs Peter that one of the bosses is looking to steal a painting that is being displayed in a museum. There, he encounters Felicia Hardy/Black Cat, who steals a USB drive hidden within the painting and escapes. Watson later informs Peter that the Maggia family led by Hammerhead now has the drive, implying that Felicia is working for them. Hardy continues to gather other USB drives from the other Maggia families as Spider-Man follows her. After catching up to her, she reveals that Hammerhead is holding her son hostage. Believing himself to be the father, Peter agrees to help Felicia rescue the boy. Meanwhile, MJ learns that the drives contain the Maggia families' collective fortune. She also learns that Hammerhead has recently purchased a large impregnable vault that could be used to hold Felicia's son, and informs Peter. He and Felicia storm the warehouse where it is being kept, but Felicia traps Spider-Man inside, and reveals that she lied about having a son to convince him into helping her steal the drives before making her escape. After escaping, Spider-Man races after Felicia, having overheard Hammerhead ordering his minions to rig Felicia's penthouse to explode after she arrives. He arrives too late and sees Felicia engulfed by the explosion, but later tells MJ that he learned that her body wasn't found among the wreckage, implying that Felicia may still be alive.

Turf Wars

Soon after Felicia's apparent death, a full-blown gang war between the Maggia families erupts. Spider-Man assists Yuri Watanabe and her police task force in a raid against Hammerhead, but it turns out to be a trap and Spider-Man and Yuri are the only survivors. The loss of her men under her watch leaves Yuri emotionally compromised, and Spider-Man asks her to take a leave of absence to grieve and recover, promising to apprehend Hammerhead in her absence. Spider-Man learns that Hammerhead and his gang have been stealing Sable International's equipment and weapons to help them in the gang war. After abducting the other Maggia dons, Hammerhead's forces attack police convoys across the city. While Spider-Man is dealing with his henchmen, Hammerhead attacks the police precinct which is holding Sable International's "Project Olympus", killing police officers in the process. Frustrated by her men's deaths and Spider-Man's lack of progress, Yuri decides to go after Hammerhead personally. Later that night, Hammerhead decides to execute the other Maggia dons on live television to achieve his goal of terrorizing New York City into submission. Spider-Man foils Hammerhead's plan and fights him, Hammerhead now powered by Project Olympus armor, but despite Hammerhead's advantage, Spider-Man defeats him. As police are about to take Hammerhead into custody, Yuri arrives and shoots Hammerhead dead. Yuri is then suspended from the police force, but it doesn't stop her from hunting down other Maggia members and later becomes a ruthless vigilante. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man and the police, one of Hammerhead's henchmen infiltrated the police van holding Hammerhead's body and revives him.

Silver Lining

With Sable International's advanced equipment and weaponry, Hammerhead's gang rules over the city. Silver Sablinova, head of Sable International, returns to take revenge on Hammerhead for stealing her supplies. Spider-Man, worried that Sablinova's violent methods would result in more chaos, tries to convince her to work together with him. Hammerhead, who has now upgraded himself into an advanced cyborg exoskeleton, leads Spider-Man and Sablinova into a trap and overpowers both of them. Felicia, who is revealed to be alive, saves Spider-Man from being killed, though Sablinova is captured by Hammerhead. Felicia gives Spider-Man a USB drive containing information on Hammerhead before disappearing again. Spider-Man rescues Sablinova and they learn that the carbon steel plate inside Hammerhead's head is sensitive to heat. Sablinova takes Spider-Man to her stealth carrier on the Hudson River to bait Hammerhead into following them there. They work together to outfit Sablinova's VTOL fighter jet with a heated laser array; finishing just as Hammerhead attacks them. Spider-Man holds Hammerhead in place while Sablinova continues to blast the metal plate. Eventually, Hammerhead is weakened, and Sablinova crashes her jet into him, defeating him. With her business finished, Sablinova plans to return to her home country of Symkaria to deal with the civil war there. MJ informs Peter that she plans to go to Symkaria to cover the story on the civil war and raise awareness. In the aftermath, Peter begins to train Miles Morales on how to use his newly acquired abilities, starting with web-swinging, which he eventually puts to good use.

Development

Release

The first episode, The Heist, was released on October 23, 2018.[15] Set several months after the end of the main game,[14] the story follows the physical return of Spider-Man's ex-girlfriend Black Cat to New York for a heist, which draws him into conflict with the Maggia crime families.[1][16] The Heist DLC expansion includes three unlockable costumes: Spider-UK, Scarlet Spider IV (dubbed as Scarlet Spider II in-game), and the Resilient Suit, an original design by artist Gabriele Dell'Otto.[17][15][4]

The second episode, Turf Wars was released on November 20.[18] The story follows Spider-Man's and his ally Yuri Watanabe's efforts to stop Hammerhead taking over the Maggia crime families, and seizing control of crime in New York.[14] Turf Wars includes three new costumes: Mangaverse Spider-Man, the original Iron Spider, and the Spider Armor MK I.[19]

The final episode, Silver Lining, was released on December 21. Its story features Silver Sable's return to New York City to reclaim her technology that has been stolen by the Maggia. She teams up with Spider-Man to confront Hammerhead, who has used her technology to make himself virtually indestructible. Silver Lining adds three new costumes: Into the Spider-Verse (based on the concurrently released film), Cyborg Spider-Man, and the Spider-Man armor created by Aaron Aikman, an alternate version of Spider-Man.[20]

The "Digital Deluxe" version includes access to The City that Never Sleeps' three story-based DLC chapters.[21][22] The Collector's Edition includes The City that Never Sleeps DLC.[21]

The events of The City That Never Sleeps were later adapted in a five-issue comic miniseries, Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes, released in 2020.[23]

Reception
Aggregate review scores
Game Metacritic
The Heist 76/100[24]
Turf Wars 70/100[25]
Silver Lining 75/100[26]

The City That Never Sleeps received generally positive reviews from critics and journalists. Critics called The Heist, the first piece of the three-part DLC saga, a "fantastic continuation" of the core game, praising its character work and story missions.[27][28] However, critics noted that its gameplay, particularly the side objectives, felt "fun but repetitive", describing the DLC as "more of the same", but enjoying the story nonetheless despite its short length.[28][29][30]

References
    1. Gach 2018.
    2. DornbushOct 2018.
    3. Ramée 2018.
    4. Erskine 2018.
    5. Williamsc 2018.
    6. Tucker 2018.
    7. Intihar 2017.
    8. Marnell 2018.
    9. Dornbush 2018.
    10. Fahey 2018.
    11. Loureiro 2018.
    12. PoloB 2018.
    13. Stone 2018.
    14. Whitbrook 2018.
    15. Wales 2018.
    16. Ramee 2018.
    17. Smith 2018.
    18. Smithb 2018.
    19. Carter 2018.
    20. Santangelo 2018.
    21. Reed 2018.
    22. Stevenson 2018.
    23. https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/marvels-spider-man-black-cat-strikes-1-preview
    24. Metacritic 2018.
    25. Metacritic 2018b.
    26. Metacritic 2018c.
    27. "Spider-Man: The Heist Impressions – A Fantastic Continuation". Game Informer. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
    28. "Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) - The Heist DLC Review". IGN. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
    29. "Spider-Man's Heist DLC Is Fun But Familiar". Kotaku. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
    30. "Marvel's Spider-Man: The Heist Review". Push Square. Retrieved October 25, 2018.

    Further reading
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