SPIDER-MAN PS4: All The Biggest Moments And Reveals In The New "The Heist" DLC - SPOILERS
The first chapter of The City That Never Sleeps DLC for Spider-Man is now available and if you're curious about how the story plays out, then hit the jump to check out our in-depth breakdown...
Earlier this week, Insomniac Games released the first chapter of Spider-Man's The City That Never Sleeps Downloadable Content. Titled "The Heist," it puts the spotlight on Black Cat and is set after the events of the main campaign as the Maggia steps up to fill the void left by the arrests of The Kingpin and Mister Negative.
Taking around three hours to complete, there's a host of side missions and new characters as well as fresh gameplay additions which make this DLC feel both very familiar and also like something totally different.
Here, we're taking a look at all of that along with all the main story beats to bring you your definitive guide to "The Heist." Regardless of whether you've finished it and need a recap or are just curious about what to expect, you can find this new Spider-Man breakdown by clicking on the "View List" button down below.
Spider-Man Has A Son! (Not Really)
When Spider-Man realises that Felicia Hardy is back in town, he attempts to figure out what she's up to and soon realises that the Black Cat has got mixed up with Hammerhead and the Maggia. She explains to the wall-crawler that she doesn't have a choice because the villain has kidnapped her son, something which immediately makes Spidey wonder if the boy could be his.
For a significant duration of the DLC, poor Peter Parker is left wondering whether or not he could be a father (confirming that he and Felicia were more than just friends way back when) but we soon learn that the Black Cat was lying and she doesn't actually have a child...much to the shock and relief or her former flame.
The Black Cat's Father
During the course of this DLC, an ageing police detective asks Spider-Man to help him track down pieces of artwork which were stolen by Felicia Hardy's father (the original Black Cat) years before he was imprisoned and ultimately died attempting to escape.
As we learn he sacrificed himself to keep his daughter out of harm's way from the Maggia, it quickly becomes clear that this "detective" is actually the current Black Cat's father and he faked his death in order to protect Felicia. Spidey doesn't realise this until it's too late, of course, and it will be interesting seeing if this has any sort of ramifications in future instalments of DLC.
Screwball Returns
The Dan Slott-created Screwball had a very minor role in Spider-Man's main campaign mode but she's back here for a fun series of challenge missions which are infinitely more enjoyable than those which were spearheaded by Taskmaster.
Whether it's blowing up EMP devices, taking on bad guys with just your gadgets, or standard combat challenges, these are all fantastic, especially as you can earn bonus points by posing for photographs at just the right time. By the time you finish them, Screwball is still on the loose, so expect more of these to feature in the subsequent chapters (well, here's hoping anyway).
New Villains And Mission Objectives
In order to make this set of missions feel different to what's come before, a new type of heavy thug is introduced (he wields a minigun and is infuriatingly hard to defeat, especially when there are two or three of them coming after you at the same time).
We also get a new take on stealth combat as Spider-Man and Black Cat team up to take down a group of Maggia thugs in a shipping yard; you're able to instruct her to take men out which adds a whole new layer to these adventures. Plus, when you're trying to take down some of Hammerhead's men as they rob a museum, there are some bad guys you have to stop before they run out with artefacts.
These little things make a big difference and are sure to be appreciated by fans of the game.
The Black Cat's Death
In the DLC's most shocking moment, Felicia Hardy returns to her apartment and despite Spider-Man's warnings that Hammerhead has rigged the place with explosives, she opens the door and is seemingly blown to smithereens. The Black Cat does seem like the type to fake her own death (especially after stealing Hammerhead's fortune) but her fate does seem somewhat grim.
There's a chance, of course, that she'll return in a future chapter or even the Spider-Man sequel because killing the character like this would be a total waste of someone with an awful lot of potential based on the compelling and hugely enjoyable dynamic between Spidey and his ex-girlfriend throughout this DLC adventure.
The Big Bad
I've mentioned Hammerhead a lot here and, in case it wasn't already obvious, he is the big bad of this DLC. After Black Cat's apartment is destroyed, we see him watching from a distance and it's clear now that the plan is to build to a battle between him and Spider-Man. Like his comic book counterpart, he has a head which looks like it will be extremely problematic for the wall-crawler.
Assuming that boss battle is saved for the third and final DLC drop, it will be interesting seeing if any other bad guys from the source material are introduced during part two to hold off on that.
A Little Bit Of Jealousy
A very minor detail in the DLC is that Mary Jane Watson starts to get seriously jealous of Spider-Man's past romance with the Black Cat but Peter is somewhat taken aback to learn that she had some flings of her own when they weren't together a few years back!
And yes, for those of you wondering, there is another MJ mission in this DLC but it's somewhat brief as we sneak through a yard full of Maggia goons in order to try and find out what Hammerhead is up to. It's fairly straightforward but still good fun.
The Other Spider-Man
Miles Morales doesn't make a physical appearance in this adventure but Peter does talk to him on the phone a few times as the youngster finally manages to convince Spider-Man to train him despite being only 15-years-old.
This could be setting up a sequel or the next batch of DLC but seeing as the Spider-Geddon comic book series revealed that Peter left New York in his hands, I'm betting on the former. It's entirely feasible that by the time all is said and done, Miles will have suited up as a new Spider-Man but whether or not he'll become a playable character is hard to say (I'm guessing that'll be in the sequel).
What Comes Next?
Insomniac Games is keeping that a secret but as I've mentioned above, common sense says we'll see more of Miles Morales as he takes a step closer to becoming a new Spider-Man and a battle with Hammerhead is inevitable. With any luck, the Black Cat will pop up again because the scenes featuring her and the web-spinner are tremendous fun and make this DLC worth the prices of admission.
The New Suits
There are three new suits to unlock over the course of the game. You'll get the first (an original creation by Insomniac which, honestly, doesn't look great) almost straight away and then Kain's version of the Scarlet Spider suit once you've completed all the Maggia crimes in a select number of districts (which isn't as time-consuming as in the main campaign).
The third and final suit is Spider-Man UK, a character introduced in the Spider-Verse event who has the combined abilities of Spider-Man and Captain Britain. You'll unlock that for completing the story missions on offer here and it looks pretty damn spectacular.