Marvel’s Spider-Man, The City That Never Sleeps: Turf Wars – Review

Insomniac Games delivered a brand new episode of DLC just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The second entry in The City That Never Sleeps DLC is called Turf Wars, and features one of Marvel’s most iconic mobsters, Hammerhead. This new episode only takes a few hours to complete, but it’s of a good quality and is the perfect way to spend some extra free time.

The Story

Turf Wars picks up pretty quickly from where the last DLC, The Heist, left off. Spider-Man joins up with his cop buddy, Yuri Wantanabe, to take down Hammerhead. This mobster goon bears more than a passing resemblance to Frankenstein, thanks to a large metal plate in his cranium that lets him headbutt people to death. He really is a classic comic book bad guy and, while the writing does a good job of putting personal stakes on defeating him, Hammerhead never elevates past his role as a well-dressed brute.

This episode really engages with Yuri Wantanabe, whose backstory gets fleshed out much more. Yuri goes from being an interesting Commissioner Gordon type, to a character with a little depth. The scene that ends this episode leaves Wantanabe’s development in the air. Hopefully we’ll see much more of her in the upcoming episode, Silver Lining, or we might just have to wait for the inevitable sequel.

Yuri’s meatier role in Turf Wars, and the high quality of writing through-out keeps the relatively simple plot from becoming too generic. The DLC maintains the standard set by most of the base game, and is almost as good as The Heist, but Black Cat’s charm is definitely missed.

Side Content

Turf Wars adds very little in terms of side content. Random crimes return, and are largely similar to the base game, with the exception of one new crime that involves escorting a police convoy. The mechanics for the new crime are straight forward, tail the SUV’s,and then beat up any goons who are dumb enough to go toe-to-toe with the wall crawler.

Screwball challenges make a return from The Heist. As a character, Screwball is a little shallow, but the tone breaks up the relatively serious nature of Turf Wars. Screwball has some new stealth challenges that now feature motion sensors, meaning Spider-Man will have to be a little more conscious of his surroundings. Little changes like that help keep the challenges from being too repetitive. Returning as well are the gadget challenges that require Spider-Man to defeat waves of enemy with only two specific gadgets. This is a fun way to emphasize the versatility in combining gadget effects.

There are also new enemy bases in this episode. This is definitely a case of “more of the same,” but the new bases are great for brushing up on combat and stealth techniques. The bases also provide a good place to practice against a particularly annoying new enemy type. The motivation to complete these is provided in the form of encrypted hard drives stashed in each location. This hard drives reveal some interesting back story on Wantanabe that is not provided during the critical path.

The Suits

Turf Wars adds three new suits: Spider-Armor MkI, Iron Spider Armor, and Spider-Clan. I enjoy the Spider-Armor MkI a lot more than I thought I would. There is a level of detail on the spandex parts that make it more interesting to look at, and the way the armor pieces catch the lighting is great. The Iron Spider Armor is very welcome in the game, as its absence was felt by fans of Marvel’s Civil War story-line. This suit is sleeker than most armor variants, and the glowing chest, hand, and feet pieces look especially cool at night. The Spider-Clan suit is only the second animated-type suit and, while it’s not my cup of tea, I can see a lot of people enjoying the cartoonish aesthetic. It’s a pretty decent selection, and I think a lot of players are gonna find their new favorite among the bunch.

Recommendation

Turf Wars definitely elevates a little beyond a standard DLC. The new characters are well done, old characters get a little more interesting, and the world of Marvel’s Spider-Man continues to move forward. As part of the season pass, its worth the time to play through, and at a price point of 9.99 USD, it’s a must-buy for anyone who enjoyed the base game. We recommend picking up this game and its post-launch content if you haven’t already.

As always, we want to know what you think! Is this DLC suite maintaining quality and interest? How do you like the new suits? Which suit do you need to have in the game? When will we see a damn Spider-Cop suit? Let Handsome Phantom know your thoughts, and be sure to check out our Platted That! for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, or a ruminations on the pacing of Red Dead Redemption II!

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.