The 85 Metacritic PlayStation Game With Better Superheroes than Spider-Man

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Few modern, high-budget superhero games rival Marvel’s Spider-Man. Getting the rights to popular characters like Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman is tough, and fans always expect a lot. So, when Insomniac announces a new game based on Spider-Man or Wolverine, the need to deliver a hit is immense.

Superhero video games haven’t always been what they are today. Early games were often based on arcade experiences, and later many were quickly made to coincide with movie releases. This approach was hit or miss – while games like Spider-Man 2 were great, many others were disappointing, and players started to become skeptical. Sony, now a leader in superhero game adaptations, responded to this by creating original characters and storylines with the Infamous series, which many still find more innovative and engaging than even the Marvel’s Spider-Man games.

The First Infamous Introduced Players to a Whole New World

Playing as Spider-Man and swinging around New York City, fighting crime, is a lot of fun, but sometimes the gameplay feels like it’s copying other games instead of being truly new. The game focuses more on looking impressive with exciting visuals and action than on offering complex or meaningful gameplay. When making games based on popular characters like Spider-Man or Batman, developers face challenges – especially the need to stay true to the character’s existing story and style.

The 2009 game Infamous allowed Sucker Punch Productions a lot of creative freedom, building on their experience with the Sly Cooper series. Set in the fictional Empire City – a clear stand-in for New York City – the game benefited from not needing to be realistic. Because Empire City didn’t exist in the real world, players couldn’t criticize its accuracy, giving the developers more room to experiment.

What really made Infamous stand out was its creative freedom. The characters, like the main hero Cole McGrath, and the game’s world weren’t tied down by existing stories or traditions. Cole’s powers and the villain’s motives could be completely original. This allowed Infamous to tell a fresh, inventive story and offer exciting gameplay that still feels impressive today.

The ideas about being original also hold true for Prototype, another game from around the same time that features superhero-like characters.

Infamous’ Superpowered Gameplay Is Clever and Thrilling

Many people don’t fully appreciate how good Infamous is when it comes to gameplay. While it might not be as refined as games like Batman: Arkham Asylum or Marvel’s Spider-Man, it’s definitely more inventive. From the beginning, the main character, Cole, has electrical powers, and he gains a huge range of abilities throughout the game. Because his powers are all based on electricity, Cole can eventually perform some really impressive moves, like:

  • “Grinding” on electric wires and train tracks
  • Turning bodies of water into electric traps
  • Calling down pillars of lightning from the sky (controlled with the DualShock’s gyroscope)
  • Forming blades from concentrated electric energy

I always loved how Cole MacGrath in Infamous could control electricity! Later games added powers like smoke, fire, and ice, but his electric abilities felt the most polished and unique. It’s not like he was the first electric superhero – Static Shock definitely came to mind – but those types of heroes weren’t really common in games. Plus, most superhero stories aimed at a younger audience just didn’t give characters like Cole the chance to be as complex, both in their story and how they played.

Infamous Is Darker Than Most Superhero Stories, and That’s a Good Thing

Choosing Between Good and Evil Is Central to the Infamous Experience

Cole McGrath doesn’t have to be a traditional hero—saving people and avoiding harm. The game Infamous lets you decide how he acts; you can even play as a ruthless, superpowered villain if you want. Cole’s morality is shaped by your choices, like whether you make difficult decisions that cost lives or choose to fight with deadly force. For example, you might have to sacrifice someone to finish a mission, or rely on lethal attacks during combat.

Choosing to make morally questionable decisions in the game will visibly change Cole’s appearance and the color of his electrical powers – he’ll use blue lightning if you play as a hero and red (eventually black) lightning if you play as a villain. More importantly, your choices will unlock different abilities. If you’re a ‘good’ player, you’ll gain powers focused on accuracy and disabling enemies. If you’re ‘evil,’ you’ll get access to powerful, widespread attacks that cause a lot of destruction. This system makes the game highly replayable, because your moral choices affect both the story and how the game actually plays.

Infamous’ Story Is Free from Marvel, DC Oversight

One thing I’ve always found frustrating about Marvel’s Spider-Man is its reluctance to explore more complex or mature themes. The characters tend to be very black and white – either purely good or purely evil – and the main heroes are always saved by convenient plot twists. Even potentially intense storylines, like the invasion of the symbiotes, lose their power and impact, feeling watered down instead of truly unsettling.

Without giving away any plot details, Infamous is quite different from many modern superhero stories. While it does show some of the darker, grittier trends from the late 2000s, that actually feels refreshing compared to today’s often overly-safe superhero narratives. Infamous creates a genuine sense of danger and consequence, and the game’s freedom makes the hero’s choices feel truly meaningful. This results in a compelling and impactful story that, despite breaking many superhero tropes, still feels authentically like a superhero tale.

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2026-01-13 14:06