Hardcore and casual gamers alike are still enjoying Marvel’s Spider-Man. As with most games that see a wave of post-launch content, specifically single-player games, this is where the vision of the game truly shines. The developers have refined their toolkit, and the Turf Wars DLC is the ultimate Spider-Man experience.
Turf Wars, the second chapter of a three-part DLC plotline, is a damn near perfect three-hour escape putting you back into the tights of everyone’s favorite wall crawler. At this point, the game’s mechanics are second nature, and the DLC unfolds in a similar fashion to The Heist. After the first story mission, you unlock additional Maggia bases around the map, followed by random crimes and, of course, new Screwball missions.
Turf Wars is definitely the middle of a three act story, taking on a dark and serious tone only skirted in the main story. Hammerhead makes his presence known right from the outset, and he is absolutely terrifying compared to the more silly nature of people dressing as angry animals. This threat feels real, and the horrors Hammerhead brings takes its tole on both Spider-Man and Detective Yuri Watanabe. After the first mission, the remainder of the DLC feels like a battle for Yuri’s soul.
There is a new enemy type in the DLC, combining the specific dodging mechanics of the shield-type enemies and the jet-pack enemies from later in the game. Unlike the Minigun Brutes from The Heist, these enemies mix well with the other enemy types and add the right amount of challenge to already complex fights. Minigun Brutes do show up to complicate things, but they have received some tuning to make them less frustrating.
There are also three cool costumes added to the game to collect!
The coolest one is the Armored Suit (left), and this picture does it no where near justice. In game it is wrapped in a full reflective texture that looks like those old shinny chrome like plastics from every 80’s toy ever. The Magna Verse suit (center) is fun to swing around in, especially because it looks like a straight up cartoon in motion. The original Iron Spider suit (right) is solid, but even if you equip the extra arms special ability, they still show up in the blue, gold and red from the MCU version of the suit.
The Verdict:
Buy it! The Turf Wars DLC feels like more of the same, but tuned to perfection. The story is dark and presents something different compared to the rest of the game. Where will Marvel’s Spider-Man take us in the third piece of DLC coming in December? Who knows, but Turf Wars leaves the story in an exciting place for a dynamite conclusion.
