A Critical and Serious Analysis of NYU Locations in Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4
I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.
Marvel’s Spider-Man PlayStation 4 game was released last month, and its photo mode was the subject of many listicles and viral tweets. However, no one was brave enough to look closely to make sure Insomniac Games did its homework in recreating our beloved city. Local’s crack video game team (read: just me) investigates:
It might come as a surprise to some, but Peter Parker does actually grow up to be an actual adult, rather than reincarnating into the same reboot-ready high school student whenever Sony Pictures needs money. Did you know Spidey actually met Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy after enrolling in a certain Ivy League university located just off of Washington Square Park named after the Empire State?
Wait. Ivy League?
Yes, yes. Okay. Empire State University is a fusion of NYU and Columbia, but I just need an excuse to both gush and poke fun at a video game, so let’s move on.
The high-rises of Midtown are faithfully recreated in Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man, tasking the player with photographing New York landmarks to unlock new suits. These pictures are taken using the brilliant camera mechanic in-game, a marriage of the former journalist Peter Parker with the photogenic visuals of the virtual New York.
Almost immediately after gaining free-roam of the city, I swung off to Washington Square Park, to see if my favorite NYU-adjacent locales were executed with grace. First was the arch, which was beautifully rendered. The park is not recreated, but reimagined in the game, and it surpasses its flesh-world counterpart in all but one aspect: the dog park, which is tragically not present.
The street numbers and structures are also a bit jarring for an annoying New Yorker like me. The southwest corner of WSP is labelled as 1st Street and MacDougal. Wild.
After jumping around the two block distance between Union Square and WSP (yes, I know) for a little while, I was wondering where exactly Insomniac Games had placed Bobst, Tisch, or the famous Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
I finally stumbled across the Stern building, before realizing that the game created a tiny one block “quad” for the fictional university, placing the striking Stern building on one end, and flanking it with the Tisch equivalent on one side and what seems to be Silver on the other. We don’t have a quad, Insomniac, what do you think we are? Any normal school?
That said — Spider-Man is a brilliant game, with movement and game-feel rivaling my favorite games from the past 15 years. While its layout isn’t up to my absurd standards, I must say that the Stern building looks gorgeous. So congratulations Insomniac, you got me to compliment Stern. Won’t happen again.
