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Two of the best superhero games released in the 2010s, and possibly of all time, are Batman: Arkham Knight and Marvel’s Spider-Man. The former was from developer Rocksteady, which saw the culmination of the developer’s six-year run on the series, and finally brought the Arkham trilogy to a close.
The other was a Marvel property, with Insomniac Games developing a new Spider-Man game after 2014. It served as the start of Insomniac's take on the wall-crawler’s story, leading into a spin-off Miles Morales game. The developer also seems to be opening itself up to a large Marvel universe, with a Wolverine game currently in development.
In this versus feature, both these superhero games are pitted against each other and judged based on five different categories. The ultimate objective is to evaluate and determine which of these two games is the better superhero title, based on their final scores in each round.
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Note: This article reflects the writer's opinion.
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Best superhero game: Batman or Spider-Man
1) Visuals
The first category to tackle is visuals. And technically speaking, Marvel’s Spider-Man should get the point based on its graphical prowess. Even if one were to disregard the significant improvement in lighting in the remastered version, Insomniac’s Spider-Man was released three years after Arkham Knight, and features better technology.
Yet, Batman: Arkham Knight has some great visuals and is also a significant improvement from previous games in the series. Gotham looks splendidly realistic, with its different districts and rain-drenched streets. Each district has its own distinct look and feels like a different environment.
However, when comparing both games, Arkham Knight will take the point in visuals, as despite being three years older, it depicts a fully fictional city in splendid vibrancy. While Marvel's Spider-Man certainly doesn’t look horrible, its environment is pretty straightforward and doesn’t do enough in terms of lighting and establishing an esthetic.
2) Gameplay
While the gameplay in the Arkham series has been great since its inception, it is in Arkham Knight where it reaches its full potential. No combat encounter feels the same, as Batman is constantly evolving his arsenal and making the combat as fluid as ever. While the Batmobile controls were criticized by many, getting a little used to it solved that problem.
The best aspect in Marvel’s Spider-Man, however, had to be its swinging, which was done so spectacularly well that it was fun just to swing around the city sometimes. Combat was also decent, incorporating Spidey’s acrobatic abilities into the mix along with his spider sense.
Out of these two superhero games, Arkahm Knight will have the win it in terms of gameplay, purely due to its combat system. In comparison, Spidey’s combat is somewhat unresponsive and just a tad bit clunky.
3) Story
Coming to the narratives, Arkham Knight certainly delivered, with a story that was hinted at since the very first Arkham game. Although new characters like the Arkham Knight were introduced, the reveal was less than shocking.
Scarecrow, too, was a less imposing villain compared to the Joker. The Clown prince of Crime was of course still the main antagonist, while technically being dead. The finale even left many people’s jaws on the floor.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is a superhero game that took a slightly different route, as it sported a much lighter take on the story, at least in the beginning. As the game progresses, things do get slightly grim. A true Spider-Man story, showcasing humor, loss, grief, and ultimately courage. Insomniac’s game was a masterpiece in that sense.
Marvel’s Spider-Man will take the win for a better story. It is just more in line with what a superhero game should be, leaving audiences with a sense of hope in new beginnings. It is one of the best Spider-Man stories ever told.
4) Open world
As Spider-Man doesn’t have a fictional city all to himself, and hangs around New York most of the time, Marvel’s Spider-Man took place in a great recreation of Manhattan, albeit a scaled-down version of it.
While players can visit iconic locations such as the Empire State Building and Central Park, various fictional comic book locations such as the Avengers Tower and Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum are also present in the MCU-made fictional borough.
Meanwhile, in Arkham Knight, players got to visit Gotham CIty for the first time, created from the ground up by Rocksteady. As already stated, the visuals in this environment are stunning and leave little to the imagination. Certain iconic Gotham City locations like The Blackgate Prison are also included in the world.
Hands down, Marvel’s Spider-Man gets the point for best open world in a superhero game. It is extremely fun to swing around Manhattan, with countless tiny details that make interacting with it all the more fun. One big point in its favor is that it is a truly bustling metropolis, with pedestrians and vehicles lining the streets all around.
5) Collectibles
Marvel’s Spider-Man has a ton of collectibles, which is a key feature of a good superhero game. While these have no upgrade effect, each collectible (and side activity completed) earns players different types of tokens.
These tokens can unlock new suits and suit powers. It is also fun to collect many of these, including taking photos of iconic locations around the city, and finding Peter Parker’s long lost backpacks.
Arkham Knight, on the other hand, features the return of Riddler's trophies scattered about in the world. Collecting these finally nets the players a one-on-one with this psychotic character (who has taken Catwoman hostage to motivate the Dark Knight) and give him the beating he deserves. Aside from the Riddler challenges, this superhero game does not feature any collectibles.
Thus Marvel’s Spider-Man takes the win for best collectibles as these are not too cumbersome to get to and they reward the player with some fun but brief information pertaining to Spidey or New York. In contrast, the Riddler challenges become quite mundane and there is little motivation to collect them aside from the necessary ones to get Catwoman out of the Riddler’s hands.
Conclusion
From the above analyses, it can be determined that based on the set parameters, Insomniac Games' Marvel’s Spider-Man is a better superhero game when compared to Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight. While it lacks a little in visuals and gameplay, it more than makes up for it with its excellent story, along with its impressive open world and fun collectibles.
With 2023 set to witness the releases of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, we will see whether Insomniac Games retains the crown of best superhero game.
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