MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: SILVER LINING Review - The Best For Last

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

Despite having to tidy up after its predecessors, Silver Lining makes for a surprisingly satisfying conclusion to The City That Never Sleeps.

The Heist was a solid foundation that offered little else. Turf Wars almost dropped the ball. It was inevitable that Silver Lining was going to have to pick up some of the slack. Like many fans of Spider-Man, I was waiting to see how Insomniac Games was going to wrap up The City That Never Sleeps. In reviews of both previous instalments, I made it clear that I wasn’t particularly impressed. In contrast, Silver Lining is definitely impressive. Not because it’s an inventive standalone, although it certainly is that, but because it offers a conclusion that just about salvages the campaign and gives it an end with a bang.

Silver Lining has Spider-Man struggling to hold the city together. Crime boss Hammerhead, who survived a seemingly fatal shot to the head from NYPD Captain Yuri Watanabe in Turf Wars, has returned with a vengeance. His goons are running rampant across the city, equipped with stockpiles of dangerous military technology stolen from the mercenary firm Sable International. Head mercenary Silver Sable makes her return to New York in order to put an end to Hammerhead and reclaim her company’s property. In order to prevent Sable’s single-minded reprisal campaign from causing civilian casualties, Spidey reluctantly forms a partnership with her to track Hammerhead down.

Sable's own mission initially puts her at odds with Spider-Man

As a third act, Silver Lining succeeds beyond all doubt, wrapping up nearly everything that the base game and the DLC campaign introduced. Again, I can’t really say much due to spoilers, but rest assured that you get a resolution to Yuri’s character arc, an enjoyable story revolving around a great character and as icing on the cake, there’s a final showdown with Screwball, whose challenges you probably actively hate by now. The wrap-up is still a little uneven in places and fails to tie up a couple of plot threads which are left dangling unresolved. Hammerhead remains a thoroughly uninspired and ultimately forgettable villain. A single anti-climactic boss fight that requires neither thought nor strategy means that Silver Lining does nothing to change your impression of him. The campaign as a whole suffers from his inclusion. I cared less about beating him, and more about putting Screwball behind bars, completing Yuri’s story, and seeing what they were setting up for the sequel.

However, they soon team up against their common enemy

Despite a non-threatening main villain, the story does show off intelligent writing and adds depth to the Silver Sable character. While she’s hell-bent on stopping Hammerhead, there’s more to her than that. She wants to use everything he’s stolen to help a rebel movement in Symkaria, her home country, in their war against a brutal dictator. In a relatively short time, I came to sympathise with Sable’s plight. Running alongside the main story is a standout side mission that not only gives Sable backstory but blends the game’s enemy base mechanic with a subplot about locating humanitarian supplies, so it’s no longer tedious filler material. This DLC allows Sable’s voice actress Nichole Elise to deliver a fine performance. Sable aside, the developers have also teased more than enough involving MJ, Miles and others to have you waiting for a sequel with bated breath.

Spidey also forms a partnership with David, a former Sable employee, to locate stolen humanitarian supplies.

The devs have also done a little shake up of the game’s district crimes and Screwball challenges. There are new crimes for Spidey to intervene in, which have been altered just enough to present a challenge to experienced players. I criticised the previous two DLCs for simply copy-pasting the base game’s district crimes, but Silver Lining adds just enough variation. They no longer feel that stale. Screwball challenges are few and far between now, and to my relief, it wasn’t long before the game allowed me to force a confrontation with her.

Screwball runs rampant while Hammerhead's thugs commit violent crimes across the city. Silver Lining gives you the chance to finally put a stop to both.

Silver Lining also maintains the difficulty of Turf Wars, one of the few aspects of that DLC that I praised. Like with the district crimes, combat is a consistent challenge even for veteran players who’ve maxed out all their skills and mastered the gadgets. It’s fun, as it has been since day one. The only drawback of all of this is the way new mechanics are introduced, such as fighting alongside an AI-controlled Silver Sable. The game will occasionally show off a new mechanic or two, before quickly taking them away. I felt like I was getting an accidental sneak peek at things the devs were prepping especially for a sequel.

New suits appear, including one from the highly popular Into the Spider-Verse film but despite that, they were overshadowed by the Raimi Suit which finally makes its debut.

Perhaps the final question to answer is whether The City That Never Sleeps is worth it as a whole. Ultimately, it depends on whether you’re willing to slog through the relatively low quality second act because most of the good stuff shows up in Silver Lining. It’s not unmissable or essential and is best suited to players who are craving more Spider-Man and are looking for any excuse to play more. Silver Lining functions as a short tale intended to prepare players for a very promising sequel but is capable of standing on its own two feet. It tidies up with remarkable ease and offers a satisfying, if occasionally uneven conclusion.