When Batman is flying around the room, beating a crowd of thugs unconscious one by one while barely even touching the ground, I can feel it in my soul. It’s fucking amazing.

I am immensely happy for any recognition Web of Shadows gets nowadays. Sorely underrated game

Web of Shadows is criminally underrated. That game while it is rough around the edges has the best spidey combat and arguably swinging.

I’m on board with your thesis, but there’s one thing I’ll disagree with, and that’s the comment on pacing in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Not about the MJ or Miles missions, mind you. Those sequences can go die in a fire. Rather, I don’t think the Spider-Man game would have worked nearly as well without the Peter Parker stuff. The Bruce Wayne/Batman dichotomy is such that you don’t really need to focus on Bruce’s life at all to have a good Batman story. Bruce has no real compunction about shredding his personal life or image in the service of justice as long as it serves a greater purpose. His personal life is so insulated by his crazy amount of wealth that he gets away with people thinking that Bruce Wayne is a jerk or just a vapid playboy. On the other hand, great Spider-Man stories balance the cost of being Spider-Man with the sacrifice it takes on being Peter Parker. The toll on Peter and the conflict of what he wants to do vs. what he needs to do IS the story. Spider-Man can’t be interesting without Peter Parker.

Spider-Man Web of Shadows is simply not talked about enough, and that's considering I played it on the Wii for HOURS.

I’m happy to see someone give Arkham Knight the respect it deserves. Marathoning the Arkham series is always a good time for me, that gameplay is smooth as butter!

I agree about the Spider-Man PS4 combat. It was ok but I felt like something was missing in the combat plus I ended up using the gadgets to fight the enemies most of the time in that game which I shouldn't be the case in a Spider-Man game. The Batman games the combat was so much fun it felt like I was fighting as Batman.

Hey now, don't sleep on Web of Shadow's web swinging. My personal favorite in the series because of the incredible animations and the depth that is offered if you experiment with it enough. There are tons of hidden mechanics that make swinging feel really personal.

Batman Arkham(Knight specifically); Complex, Grounded, and Focused. Spider-Man Web of Shadows; Powerful, Fast, and Creative.

Arkham knight is a beautiful looking game. It was ahead of its time

Love how much recognition Web of Shadows has been getting lately, still play it after all these years and its just as fun

The Arkham series is my favorite iteration of batman. Period.

Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel as Good Playing Spider-Man in SMPS4 as I did as Batman in Arkham Knight. Still both amazing Games, Though Batman Arkham Origins is still my Favorite game Ever!

My vote for the next Superhero that should try to make the most perfect version of them in a game: Aquaman Make underwater combat different from surface combat. Give us proper twirling trident attacks, calling in aquatic life to maintain combos. If an enemy gets hit by you send them flying. Aquaman is strong! Plus what amazing open worlds could they build for you to explore!?

I would argue the Insomniac's Spider-man (don't forget the hyphen between spider and man) has a combat system that does make you feel like Spider-man if you use it effectively. Just using striking, countering won't get you that feeling. But when you add in the webbed based gadgets and are able to effectively switch between all of those gadgets in mid combat as well as flinging objects at the enemy is fun. Though being able to battle opponents on a wall would really make the game for me. Some of the gadgets throw off the flow of the combat for me though, like the gravity bomb only really has one good use and that's when your getting overwhelmed by enemies and I really enjoy the feeling of being overwhelmed and still coming out triumphant. And throwing objects at your enemy when your on the ground really throws off the flow of the combat. But that's really the only thing I don't like

Web of shadows is my favourite Spider-Man game because of both combat and story, and nothing could top the Batman Arkham combat

Dang, you just gonna ignore Arkham Origins like that? Sure it didn't make huge strides but the new look and incredible boss fights with the electro-gloves made me feel so damn badass. The new voice actors actually did a great job, considering they were following up Conroy and Hamill. Plus being able to play as Deathstroke with Arkham combat was just awesome

It really makes you feel like a giant bat like creature

I wished you also talked about the amazing X men origins: Wolverine game its the best Wolverine game out there and really makes you feel like you are Logan and has an amazing combat system

The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction and it's spiritual successors the 2 prototype games did a great job with their gameplay of making the player feel like a good among men something the infamous games never did for me

Totally agree. I love all of Insomniac games and got platinum on every of them (Spider man, Racket and Clank, Spyro etc), but Arkham is just on another level. Legendary projects

Finishing a combo by quick fire grappling an enemy and clothesline slamming him to the ground has always been my go to finisher in Arkham city and Knight.

Ah yes, Batman being the very combatant who can fight super beings without the need of being superhuman. Spider-Man is a formidable fighter as well. He's not strong as Superman, but that doesn't mean he should be underestimated. Both Spider-Man and Batman are great crime fighters for many good reasons.

I couldn’t agree more. Arkham has the best combat in gaming and while most of the games that try to emulate its combat are good, they have yet to do it better. Arkham Knight was the pinnacle of the combat with Origins being a close second. Personally, if a person says that the combat is just button-mashing, they are playing it wrong. The game gives the player easy to learn tools and makes it harder to master. After playing the Arkham games for over 10 years now, the combat is instinctual and I can still make mistakes. Spider-Man PS4 was not as fluid as it should have been and I felt that the gadgets were useless. The lack of a counter make it less fluid and quite frankly, it was frustrating at times. Glad to see someone recognises the brilliance of Web of Shadows, my favourite Spider-Man game to date.

Sir, I'm finally thankful that you counted Web Of Shadows. People always talk about who's the strongest, if it's Tobey, Tom, Andrew, or Yuri's version. But they never heard of this version, like this dude is OP asf

Always thought the Arkham series made you really feel like Batman.

I know it just came out, but please do a sequel to this on how Insomniac can improve Spider-Man combat

Paul Dini had zero involvment in writing *Arkham Knight.* Here's his response: "According to Dini: "The last talk I had with Warner Interactive about future games was while I was doing promotion for Arkham City last September. Naturally as there was such a rush of interest about Arkham City, everyone was asking me about a third game, and frankly, I had been wondering about that myself. When I asked about the possibility of working on a third game I was told that as Rocksteady had just finished wrapping the second one, it would be a while before everyone was ready to sit down and discuss future plans. That said, it was intimated that for future games, Warner and Rocksteady might not be looking as much to freelance writers, the message being, that if I had something else interesting coming my way, I might want to take it." So essentially Rocksteady moved to a writer who actually worked for them in house rather than a freelancer like Dini." By u/Batknigh12 from the r/batman subreddit.

Arkham Knight is still the gold standard for super hero combat mechanics. Arkham City has enough nuance and balance to make it complicated, but Knight truly took it to the next level. Spider-Man PS4 and Mile Morales are lacking, the stealth and gadgets are an afterthought, they don't mesh well into the environment, they're just your choice of a projectile. In Batman, there's always experimentation in the predator sections, along with each gadget having a quirk in free flow depending on your combo meter. Arkham Asylum is still playable, but without beatdown and variation, it's too simplistic.

I really wish Insomniac or some other developer took more inspiration from past Spider-man games for the combat instead of copying the basic aspects of Arkham's combat but not fully utilizing them. Web of Shadows shows what happens when developers let their creativity run wild.

This is why Affleck is my favourite batman. His fights are just perfect 😩👌🏿

Web of Shadows combat, though the game is a bit unfinished, is second to none in my opinion. Slamming 15 dudes into the pavement with your thick black goo makes me tingle inside.

I only played Arkham City and Origins. I love the fights, the puzzles, the character designs, the collectables, and the voice acting. They are two of my favorite games and that fight in BvS that was so much like those games was the peak of that movie. Also, the show Reacher on Amazon Prime has solid fights that remind me of the Arkham games. He often fights more than one guy, lots of elbows and knees, trapping and using the environment.

Playing Web of Shadows as a kid really put my bar of action beat-em-ups so high I couldn't enjoy much anything else.

Me seeing full fat videos praise the web of shadows combat in an unexpected review video: A surprise to be sure but a welcome one

Excellent video, but a little correction on 3:23 and 5:09, Treyarch didn't develop Web Of Shadows instead the project was given to Shaba Games as Treyarch was busy working on Call Of Duty and various other projects, although they did give Shaba Games there own custom engine which is why you can see some similarities between this game and Spider-Man 3, so while they might be listed as a "developer" they wern't the ones who actually worked on the game as your wording suggests.

Arkham Knight is literally the best game I have ever played. Every gameplay element from previous Arkham games elevated to perfection and then some. Arkham Knight's combat is an industry class melee based combat system with a lot of permutations and combinations. I challenge anyone to complete the game by spamming a triangle. It's impossible. Do you know why?? Because there are different enemy types. There's an enemy with shields, enemies with electric batons, enemies with electricity running through their body, enemies with knife, medics brutes etc. and all these enemies require a specific move set to defeat them. Also, contrary to what a lot of people said, Batmobile is just 20-25 percent of the whole game and not 50 percent. People who claim tank combat is 50 percent suck at math. There are videos on KZfaq that confirm this. The story is literally awesome. Give me a Batman story where Batman is trying to resolve his personal struggle over a court of owls story anyday. Arkham knight was also much darker and grittier than any other game. The ending felt so satisfying. People thought Batman died a heroic death and the way Batman conquered his fears at the end. And I am so glad that focus wasn't on the Batfamily but Batman. After all, the tagline of the game was "Be the Batman" not "Be the Batfamily".

I've been alive for 28 years, been playing games for 23 years, there's 200 games I like, 100 games I would recommend, 20 games that are classics, and 8 that are top of their genres. The Arkham series for me is top of the story driven counter combat genre

I grew up with the Arkham games, they’re amazing and I really hope you do a full video on them in general

Batman's combat is simple (sometimes frustrating) but satisfying. It feels so satisfying when you finally knock out an enemy and hear that *CRUNCH*

honestly, i know its the generic "button mash" easy to look badass combat, but i just adore the arkham combat. its the perfect system to be easy but still challenging enough to push you to get better. i wish more games had this style of combat

Couldn’t disagree more about the Spiderman PS4 combat

Glad people are noticing the greatness of Venom May Cry. The only SM game where fighting in the air and on the wall is as great as on ground

There is no game more awesome than playing Arkham City whilst wearing the 1970s adam west batman outfit.

You really have my exact opinion on the games. I did enjoy my time with Spider-Man but with Arkham City being my favorite game of all time I always found the core gameplay of Spider-Man hard to swallow. But the unfortunate part is that since Spider-Man came out it seems at least to me like the general public left the Arkham games in the past, praising Spider-Man as the best superhero game yet. I do like the game (especially its story, which I do think is genuinely better than what Arkham offered) but for me it just can't measure up. Thanks for the great video and here's hoping Suicide Squad and Gotham Knights can hold up Arkham's legacy.

I do agree that the Insomniac Spider-Man combat feels too grounded and repetitive which takes away that Spider-Man feeling in combat because Spider-Man does zip around and fights very agile rather than hopping around a little and being grounded or just being in one spot most of the time. After a while, Peter Parker’s combat moves got repetitive and I find myself actively pressing the triangle button and holding the square button just to get a punch mixed into the combo to shake it up a little because otherwise, Peter’s combo after the first initial punch is just kicking over and over.

As an Origins lover, it stings a little every time he says there's only 3 games. Great video though!

Love the timing of this. I just replayed Arkham asylum+city. I’ve never played knight but I think it’s time once I play through origins again.

That intro with the BvS and AK clips sums up exactly how it feels to play the games combat.

FINALLY SOME GOOD PRAISE FOR THE ARKHAM SERIES, THOSE GAMES I USED TO LIVE FOR AS A KID, AMAZING COMBAT AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS AMAZING

Arkham has 4 games. You completely left out Origins eventho it arguably has the best storytelling of them all!

While I definitely mostly agree with your statements on the Arkham games, I do think the insomniac Spider-Man games have kind of picked up where those games left off. The combat feels distinctly Spider-Man, to me at least, and most definitely the movement mechanics. I also do see how you could have the opinion do on the combat in insomniac’s games. I definitely started off the game thinking combat was basically Batman ripoff, but as I got better and gained more upgrades/gadgets something finally clicked. I found myself stringing together combos with so much variety and fluidity, using everything I had at my disposal, and you honestly can’t tell me you don’t feel badass when you get that perfect dodge on multiple gun enemies and take them all out with the instant ko follow up right after. I think, while Arkham definitely has better combat initially (and that it has pretty good variety), after trying all your options in Spider-Man it far exceeds and builds upon what rocksteady started.

I just beat Arkham City on the 5th of February this year. Love this series. Got Origin and Knight to play still.

Spider-Man web of shadows in my opinion still has the most exciting swinging gameplay there are so many things to learn how to do in that game so much variety and yes I'd say that about the combat as well the momentum felt I'm that game is unlike any other Spider-Man game even the new ones from insomniac aren't that free in their gameplay

I'm so glad you're taking a look at Spider-Man: Web of Shadows in regards to combat. For years it has held the title for best Spidey combat ever, it's so fluid and fast and it's the perfect thing for the character. I strongly disliked Spider-Man PS4's combat simply for one reason: It's Batman combat, not Spider-Man combat. All the gadgets, slow-feeling movements, punches, takedowns, etc. That's all from the Arkham games and does NOT belong in a Spider-Man game.

After watching The Batman and Batbert Battinson’s fight scenes, it makes me sort of upset that we couldn’t smack around criminals with their own guns like in the movie. Imagine instead of only being able to destroy the gun, you could use it like the bats. The sound of the gun breaking someone’s jaw or just hitting them in general would be so brutal and feel so much like BATMAN

Web of shadows web strike was unparalleled. Air combat in Spider-Man PS4 felt clunky and slow. Fighting the Sable agents with jet packs was annoying af because of it.

I feel like insomniac didn’t have peter punching dudes through concrete because they would prolly die. He’s prolly holding back but that not a good excuse

Web of Shadows is an underrated game. Loved switching from ground combat to wall combat to air combat seamlessly. So much fun. I will defend the Insomniac Spider-Man combat though. There is a rhythm to the combat, but the problem is that it’s more optional. You can go through the game easily without taking full advantage of it, but it leaves quite a bit to be desired. Being more experimental and diversifying your moves leads to more exciting gameplay. I can easily fight through enemies from the ground then switch to enemies in the air, dodging and weaving and web striking the whole way. And for me I can easily switch through gadgets in a split second that helps add variety and style to the combat. Launching an enemy into the air, shooting them with electric webs, bringing them back down onto a group of their friends, electrifying them all, then shooting a web bomb and blasting a concussive blast is so much fun. I also love shooting an enemy into the air, webbing them up then kicking them to a wall to stick them there then web striking an enemy on the ground for more combos. There is a lot of fun to be had in the combat. I really loved mixing and matching gadgets and suit powers (using Equalizer + gadgets is a sick combo). And Miles Morales added some cool new elements with the Venom abilities. I definitely feel like Spider-Man when I’m playing those games. But yeah Web of Shadows is a fire game as well. And Arkham combat slaps.

Just need to say that Captain America gameplay in Avengers has so much potential. They should make him a solo game 100%

Funnily enough, the Arkham combat system fits agile and reactive Spider-Man better than methodic Batman (who's approach really is more strategic: analyse->plan-> execute). I guess that's partially down to its core weakness being it's ability to make one on one fights interresting. That clashes a bit with a rather fitting defeat in detail approach.

Your thoughts on the Arkham games focusing on The Joker and setting each of them in one night are actually the main reasons why I think Spider-Man PS4 has a MUCH better story than the Arkham games. Putting aside how much it personally stretches my suspension of disbelief that Batman is able to pull off all the shit in these games in one night (discounting Asylum, that one felt reasonable enough), it forces the story to push forward at an awkward pace, never giving you the chance to get a feel for what's going on before things change. Arkham City would've been a cool place to explore, but the story never really does that, just taking you across the map. And I'd rather not get into a rant about how these games constantly giving Joker the spotlight are the specific reason why I can't stand the character at the moment, so I'll leave it with my biggest gripe with the Joker's overuse in these games: Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight, the villains that Batman: Arkham Knight spent its playtime building up, end up being footnotes to Batman dealing with the Joker again, despite him being dead.

I love that you highlighted Web of Shadows, that game feels so underappreciated thanks to its unfair reviews. That said, I do think Insomniacs' combat is good; it's easily the best Arkham clone we've had when compared to previous superhero games that also ripped of Arkham, but the Aerial Combat is lacking, whereas I think the ground combat is great and less button-mashy than Web of Shadows. I really hope we get wall combat and the Web Strike mechanic in Insomniacs' next installment, since that would be a perfect Spider-Man combat system, at least for me. Also, stop forgetting Origins, it's better than Asylum IMO lol

The Dark Knight and Burton suits are my go-to every time ❤️🤟

Another great video!

I'm by no means a big Superhero fan, but holy hell are the Arkham games so fucking FUN. The combat flows so well & feels so weighty and visceral. That shit makes you feel like you're goddamn BATMAN.

Yes let's goooo Web of Shadows love and I'm here for it!!!

I never played Web of Shadows but I everytime I watched a video on it I just loved the way the Web Strike looked. And I love that it's using the Todd McFarlane Spaghetti Webs.

The Vulture fight in Web of Shadows felt so epic since your just in the air the entire fight sometimes in that game too Idk I feel like the Spider-Man fights in Web of Shadows really made me feel flexible

I absolutely hate how people pretend that Spider-Man ps4 is the be all end all of superhero games, it’s a fun game and the traversal is amazing but that’s about it, the story is ok (if you disagree, tell me what stand apart moment you remember apart from aunt may dying ), the combat doesn’t flow well and the gadgets kinda break the flow even more

it’s so nice to see arkham knight getting praise. Arkham city used to be my fav in the series, then I got arkham knight premium edition a couple weeks ago for $8 and have been so addicted. it def surpasses city for me and this was a game I’d totally forgotten had come out cause I only got a ps4 last year and it’s just great. the combat’s so addicting, the game in general is awesome

Now you've just given me a bunch of new games to play

Perfect video

My dream is for insomniac to take heavy inspiration from web of shadows for their sequal. But considering Miles Morales, I think they'll stick to their guns. Which is a shame. I mean the games are solid. But the swinging and combat is too streamlined for me. I don't think web of shadows is perfect at all. But It does some things that can't compare to any other game

I remember I used to play web of shadows at my cousins house on his wii all the time then when he got an Xbox he gave me all his Wii games and I spent an entire year playing that game every hit felt powerful and you were always on the move

Almost missed this video in my recommendation & clicked solely from seeing Web of Shadows in the thumbnail. I desperately hope the next insomniac takes more inspiration from that game.

They really are the best that superhero games have to offer. Even with Spider-Man (PS4) rivalling them, they still have an argument to be on top

Personally I love the combat in the insomniac Spider-Man games, still I do absolutely love web of shadows, it feels like a classic beat um up.

no one can take my moment away from me, i was the first view

I'd love to see you do a video on how insomniac can improve the spider-man combat

I'm sure someone has already said it but Battison's outfit is available for Arkham Knight now!

18:58mans is so clean with editing

Absolutely love the arkham series all of them are amazing and incredibly immersive, spent so many hours on each game

For me the best combat is arkham Knight hand to hand combat. I know a lot of people didn’t like the tank and the story, but the hand to hand combat was the best out of the entire series in my opinion

What I would give for a web of shadows remake 😩😩😩😩

Glad to see web of shadow getting some love!!!❤

I loved this video it’s so trye

I agree with the sound aspects

great video

I hope one day rocksteady go back to Batman but before then I really need to see what they can do with Superman. Hopefully after suicide squad that will be there next game.

“I like to think of it as a running GAG!”

When I realized I could play as The Joker in Arkham Asylum I was absolutely stunned. I thought at first it would only be a reskin but no. He has his own fighting styles. It was nuts!

Full Fat, agreed 100%. My god please let them make a Web Of Shadows sequel! With Agent Anti-Venom and Red Goblin in it!!

Everytime I said Spider-Man fights to stiff and slow no one agreed. Glad to hear someone else saw it too

It made me really think this is how Batman would fight idk the comics and movies made his fighting skills seem casual sometimes

There is a campaign to release "The Batman Skin" I really hope they do. #ReleaseTheBatmanSkin

Web of shadows was really fun, i just didn’t like how they added the sparks when he hits someone. Makes him look like he’s shooting hadoukens and kamehehas out of his hands and feet

when is this meant to be released i found it in playlists

Loved arkham knight Tanks are my personal hell tho because i got stuck on a tank level with the fear gas everywhere and quit and have never gotten past there, tho it has been several years Also i wish that there were at least one or two bruce missions ngl

Sorry about the sponsor dude