Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4 was the fastest-selling game of 2018. There are so many things to love about the game as Insomniac made sure that the web-slinging dynamics were a blast for fans. Gamers can effortlessly swing their way through the city, navigating obstacles with both speed and grace - and it only gets better as they work through the game, earning dazzling new skills and abilities. The game is packed with the main campaign as well as plenty of side missions and collectibles to keep players busy.
It all takes place in the open, sandbox setting of New York, in one of the most accurate digital versions of the city ever conceived of for a game. Lucky for fans, there are more than a few dedicated explorers who have done just that, finding some of the out-of-the-way places and attractions in the game. Some of these exotic locales are Easter eggs that are not obvious at first but were meant to be found eventually. Others are glitches or gorgeous points of interest that players have to work to find.
Updated December 21st, 2021 by George Chrysostomou: Spider-Man PS4 is perhaps more popular than ever with the updated version hitting PS5s alongside a wildly popular Miles Morales spin-off. There's still so much to explore throughout the title and newer players may be looking for some hints of where to check out while swinging around the impressive city of New York, which has been painstakingly designed by Insomniac.
The Secret World Beneath the Bridge
In the Southern area of Manhattan in the Financial District, there is a bridge near the water. If players navigate Spider-Man to walk over a particular corner, he will fall through the bridge and splash down in the ocean underneath the city. From there, Spidey can look up and see the floor above him as an invisible surface.
There is nothing to collect or unlock, but it's fun to check it out. People (and squirrels) appear to walk on thin air, and Spidey can crawl on the underside of the sidewalk and explore things from this unusual point of view. Several YouTubers have found the glitch and are encouraging players to explore it while they still can, as designers will most likely patch it pretty soon.
The Unplayable Borough Across the Brooklyn Bridge
Yes, the New York of Spider-Man is open to explore but the gameplay is limited to Manhattan. The other boroughs are off-limits and unplayable, such as the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens - or at least they are supposed to be.
Some gamers have exploited a glitch that allows them to cross the Brooklyn Bridge by swinging underneath it. However, this setting was only meant to be seen and not played on. Because of this, it looks unfinished up close, with no detailed textures. None of the ground surfaces are walkable so players will fall through to the ocean and none of the buildings are tangible so Spidey will fly right through them.
The Dark Warehouse With Amazing Lighting
Marvel's Spider-Man makes great use of Peter Parker's camera skills. Players can enter "photo mode" and take amazing third-person shots or close-up selfies of Spidey in different poses and locales. There are even options for different kinds of cameras, filters, and angles, so gamers can capture Spidey at his wholesome best.
However, one player caught some amazing shots of Spider-Man in a dark warehouse with dramatic lighting. There are a whole set of photos, including ones of Spider-Man hanging upside down, crouching, and shooting webs at the camera. The dark warehouse is part of the main mission, but many players may not realize that they can use photo mode here.
The Museum of Contemporary Art
The fictional Manhattan Museum of Contemporary Art is set in Central Park, and its location appears to be based on the real-life Metropolitan Museum of Art, as its outside grounds are similar to the actual Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Spider-Man can visit the exterior of the museum and mill about with tourists and security, but players cannot use the doors to take a look inside. However, there is a secret access point.
If Spidey goes to the gated roll-up garage door and climbs to the top while pressing "X," he can fall through the door and enter the museum. Unfortunately, it is not meant to be a playable area. Gamers can climb on some surfaces but the interior is mostly blank and there is no art to be found.
The Sanctum Santorum
There are all kinds of references to the other Marvel superheroes that reside in New York. Spider-Man doesn't get to meet all of them, but the game definitely gives a nod to many of them. One such landmark is the Sanctum Santorum, which is Dr. Strange's spooky residence in Greenwich Village.
If Spidey takes a picture of the iconic Sanctum Santorum window, he says "cool window, but... I always get the feeling that something strange is going on in that place." Taking a picture of this location earns Spidey a landmark token, which he can collect to unlock suits, gadgets, and upgrades. Unfortunately, the interior of the Sanctum Santorum is off-limits, and Dr. Strange does not make an appearance in the game. However, it's fun to know that he might be in there, perhaps even having a drink with Thor.
The Original Ghostbusters Building
Ghostbusters and Spider-Man don't really share the same universe, but they are both set in New York City, and the Ghostbusters firehouse is based on an actual location: Hook and Ladder Company 8. It's located at the intersection of Moore Street and Varick Street in Tribeca. As seen above, it's a great place to take a selfie.
If Spidey explores the building, he'll find a ghost painted in graffiti on an exterior cement wall right near the recycling bins. It looks like a street variation of the ghost from the famous Ghostbusters sign.
Swim Across the City
There's more than one way to get to supposedly "unreachable" areas. Some adventurers have found several ways around the game's limits by exploiting glitches, like swinging under a certain bridge. Another way to reach some boroughs that are normally off-limits is by diving into the water and letting Spidey swim around.
However, bear in mind that Spider-Man is not Aquaman. He's a bit of a slow swimmer so it might take a player a while to get to an off-limits area. Once there, there's not much for players to do. Just like other forbidden areas, the ground is not solid and the buildings are intangible. So even when a player arrives, you will still be stuck looking at it from the water.
Ben Parker's Grave
Though it's not marked on any map, players can find the grave of Peter Parker's uncle, Ben Parker, in a small graveyard in Northwestern Harlem. Fans know that it was the tragic demise of Ben Parker that led to Spider-Man's favorite adage about being a hero: "with great power comes great responsibility."
The site of Ben Parker's grave is a secret photo-op spot, which means that if you take a photo here, you will earn a special reward. In this case, it's the "With Great Power..." trophy. Players must find all of the secret photo-op spots on their own, as the locations are not marked on the map. However, there are several user guides already available to help players find the complete collection if they'd rather not swing around and discover them the hard way.
The Nelson and Murdock Law Firm
Daredevil and Spider-Man are great friends in the comic books, and sometimes they team up on adventures to catch the bad guy. They are natural crime-fighting partners, with both of them having incredible acrobatic skills.
Sadly, Daredevil doesn't make an official appearance in the game. However, players can find a reference to his real identity, Matt Murdock, at the Nelson and Murdock law firm. Murdock and his friend and legal partner "Foggy" Nelson represent a lot of the underdogs in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, these underdogs are usually not wealthy and many have trouble paying on time as there is a pink eviction notice posted on the door. Players can find the law firm next to Josie's Bar in Hell's Kitchen.
The Wakandan Embassy
As seen in the comics and movie, Black Panther eventually establishes an embassy in New York to help integrate the advanced nation of Wakanda with the culture and politics of the wider world. Black Panther himself does not make a cameo in the game, but at least players can find a reference to him.
Gamers can identify the Wakandan embassy by the flags hanging in the front of the building and a plaque by the front door. Unfortunately, just like most buildings, players cannot enter to see what is inside. Players can find the Wakandan embassy near the United Nations headquarters in midtown. Taking a photo here will earn players a landmark token.
The Apartment With The Symbiote
Older comics fans may remember that the first appearance of Spider-Man's black symbiote suit occurred in the original Secret Wars limited series in the '80s. The suit was super-cool at first, but later caused a huge headache for Spider-Man and eventually led to the appearance of Venom.
Unfortunately, the iconic black and white symbiote suit is not one of the 28 playable suits in the game. However, this is due to certain reasons. Regardless, it still does make an appearance — sort of. If players peer into one of the windows of a building somewhere in the Northwest portion of the city, they can see inside a room that has a symbiote action figure on the shelf.
The Tops of Bridges or the Tallest Buildings
One of the greatest joys of this game is simply taking in the view of gorgeous New York City. It is not really part of any official mission (outside of finding a few landmarks), but players really owe it to themselves to explore the highest locations in the game and take a look around.
Great vantage points include the tops of several of the tallest buildings, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, or the Avengers Tower. In fact, Avengers Tower is actually the tallest building in the game. The tops of suspension bridges also give a great vantage point of Manhattan and some of the other off-limits boroughs that surround the city.
The Insomniac Games Studio
This was a little cheeky on the part of Insomniac Games, as the company doesn't actually have an office in New York City. However, that didn't stop it from including a fictional presence in Spider-Man's New York. After all, it designed the game, so Insomniac was able to add in whatever buildings it wanted.
Surprisingly, it didn't list itself as a landmark that players can find on the map. If players listen to crime reports in this region, they can hear a reference to a crime being committed near the Insomniac location. Eagle-eyed fans pointed out that there's a cutscene where one can find the Insomniac name printed on a policeman's shoulder radio. Players can find the studio in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The Tunnels
As mentioned before, Spider-Man can't really explore inside of most buildings. However, most of the tunnels that Spidey encounters are fully explorable. Some of them are subway tunnels, while others are underpasses. A few are just out-of-the-way locations that require some tricks to navigate through but are still fully explorable.
The tunnel above is from a mission involving Officer Davis. Spider-Man can't crouch low but he can climb on all the walls and use his webs to move some debris out of the way. It's important to find creative ways to get past obstacles.
Jessica Jones' Office
Marvel's Spider-Man has a knack for including awesome little details. Fans appreciate that the game pays homage to the other Marvel superheroes of New York whenever it has a chance, even if they don't make a direct appearance.
Much like the fact that Spidey can visit Dr. Strange's Sanctum Santorum or find the Nelson and Murdock law offices, he can also swing by the site of Alias Investigations. Fans recognize this hole-in-the-wall business as Jessica Jones' private investigation firm. Alias Investigations is also in Hell's Kitchen, just like Nelson and Murdock's law firm.
The Former Location of a Famous Seinfeld Soup Tyrant
Some fans, especially New Yorkers, have made it their mission to find attractions from other fictional stories inside the game's version of the city. For example, some players might look for points of interest that appeared in Ghostbusters, like the firehouse or places in the park that Louis Tulley runs to.
One Seinfeld fan wanted to find the location of a certain famous soup tyrant's restaurant from a famous Seinfeld episode in the '90s. Sure enough, players can find the street location where the famous soup deli was located in the TV show. However, the soup restaurant is not there anymore and has been replaced by a Money Grows series of ATMs.
Hamilton's Grave
Marvel's Spider-Man attempts to recreate New York City as accurately as possible. Though some of the proportions may be a little off and a few names might be slightly different, this version of New York is probably one of the most true-to-life recreations ever made for a video game.
Both history and Broadway fans will appreciate that the developers included the grave of Hamilton in the game. It's in the same place it is in real life, which is right next to Trinity Church in the Financial District, just as any locals would expect if they walked around that area in real life.
The Site of the Avengers Battle in New York
It's hard to believe that it has already been so long years since Marvel released The Avengers. For some fans, that's long enough to make it worth reminiscing about, since so much has happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since then.
If you're feeling particularly nostalgic, it's possible to take Spider-Man to some of the locations where the Avengers took their stand against the aliens during the invasion of New York City. The scene in question occurs when Banner hulks out and Iron Man "brings the party" to the rest of the Avengers. It's also the location where the famous rotating shot of all of the Avengers grouped together in a circle happens.
Lockjaw's Statue
The developers of Marvel's Spider-Man wanted to include the iconic Wall Street Bull statue that can be found in real life in the Financial District. Unfortunately, there was a rights issue, so the developers were informed that they would be unable to include a likeness in the game.
One creative developer had a bright idea and thought it might be fun to replace the bull with Lockjaw, the teleporting dog from The Inhumans. Bill Roseman, Marvel Games Creative Director, explained in a tweet: "We weren’t allowed to include the Wall Street Bull because #lawyers, so @insomniacgames asked @ermonacelli & I if they could create a Lockjaw statue in its place & we said “Yes, Please” because #doggos."
Exploring The City At Sunrise or Sunset
The game goes through cycles of day and night, and as gamers progress, there are ways to choose what time of day it is. Players should definitely take advantage of swinging around during sunrise or sunset. The golden hue of the city takes is breathtaking, and Spider-Man looks dramatic swinging around with the sun behind him. It might be a good idea to take advantage of the time of day and shoot some amazing stills in photo mode.
The best way to take advantage of this view is to climb one of the highest buildings, such as The Avengers building or The World Trade Center. From there, players can improvise a few acrobatics and enjoy life as Spidey living large.