Examining Spider-Man's Boring Mary Jane Missions

Marvel's Spider-man on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 is perhaps Insomniac Games' greatest videogame triumph, but its Mary Jane Watson stealth missions are an absolutely terrible part of the game's campaign.
The stealth sections take you away from playing as Spider-Man and slow down the pace, don't play an anywhere near as well as well as the sections featuring Peter Parker himself and are generally the worst part of what is otherwise a fantastic PlayStation exclusive and a return to form for Spider-Man in videogames.
In this video, I take a look Spider-Man's terrible Mary Jane Watson stealth sections, to try and better explain why they're such a terrible idea as well as why you should have just been allowed to play as Peter Parker for the whole game.
If you enjoy the video, do consider subscribing and thanks for watching!
Contents:
00:00 - Intro
00:59 - Focusing On Swinging
02:26 - Art Gallery Awfulness
03:45 - Other Rubbish Stealth Stuff
05:08 - Grand Central Mediocrity
05:53 - Mary Jane What Were They Thinking?
#Spiderman #Marvel #Playstation

[@BenPlaysGames]

✅ Subscribe: kzbin.info Next I want very long underwater sections in a Superman game.

[@kwk111]

Here's my solution, pay attention Insomniac: dump the MJ missions, and replace them with Black Cat missions.

[@tfordham13]

That could be fun if they do it like a better cat woman from batman

[@Oldschool1943]

nah i still prefer activision over Insomniac

[@faeyzaihsanulfikri9975]

I don’t like how they underused black cat in both games story mode excluding the dlc this could be interesting

[@kwk111]

@@Oldschool1943 I suspect that Sucker Punch could make a better Spider-man game than Insomniac

[@Ikcatcher]

Just like Uncle Ben’s death, the stealth sections are a real mood killer

[@BenPlaysGames]

Hahaha true that!

[@Acast009]

MJ missions weren’t just the worse part of the game -MJ was perhaps the worse the character in the story. This interpretation of MJ was the absolute worse! Mary Jane Karen!

[@jasonsmith1606]

It felt like they had a completely separate team just for MJ's narrative as well as gameplay. The more I see her in the game, the more she annoys me. Her missions are rubbish. Her character is just plain obtuse and even unlikable. The writers produced a character that you just started wishing would get out of the way. They were trying too hard to keep her relevant. Meanwhile, you have other female characters that are written sooo much better and are actually relevant to the story (Yuri). Whoever wrote/designed MJ did a poor job. I hope they seriously overhaul MJ in their next game.

[@magmat0585]

yeah, especially compared to how Parker's so upbeat, MJ seems so bitter and jaded. Some of the comments she makes before the museum photograph section where you can check out different items has her coming off as disliking and belittling what Peter does as Spiderman.

[@tfordham13]

Yuri,sliver,black cat would all be better love interest

[@sleeper4635]

Oh you poor thing.. he has no idea.

[@mcglubbinfishworth3370]

Remember Spider-Man shattered dimensions? Remember noir? Yeah that’s what the stealth should’ve been. Instant consequences, high stakes, but still fundamentally Spider-Man esque gameplay

[@BenPlaysGames]

But why would you want to do that when you can slowly crouch walk around for ages as Mary Jane haha!

[@Oldschool1943]

yeah..... about that, those are Activision games.

[@WarrenValion]

Honestly, if they had to include these missions, they should've been Yuri. Then I could potentially believe she was able to sneak her way though military trained combative soldiers and gang members :/ And it wouldn't make MJ seem like such a petulant child, complaining that Peter doesn't trust her to handle herself as she is in the midst throw herself into incredibly dangerous situations in which she lacks the gear and training to succeed in doing to the point where it's obvious that she would need his help anyway.

[@nickb6425]

Yes! This is a great idea imo. And I completely agree about MJ.

[@faeyzaihsanulfikri9975]

If it isn’t yuri a stealth mission using black cat would be good too kinda like catwoman in the arkham games

[@VeraTheTabbynx]

Being an Xbox player, I have never had the pleasure of playing spiderman PS4. From this, my only knowledge of the game comes from seeing the incredible praise it got and the myriad gameplay clips online. I have *never* heard you could play as Mary-Jane at all. Fun fact for devs out there, if you make a feature in your critically acclaimed game *nobody even mentions,* you have done something quite badly wrong.

[@CodyKing45]

You also play as miles morales for 2 or 3 missions I can’t remember

[@jds8438]

Imagine using an Xbox

[@timekiller882]

@@jds8438imagine caring what other grown adults spend their money on.

[@dante_0962]

@@CodyKing45 I think Miles missions are better because you feel powerless when the demons attack but also to see how powerful miles becomes in he’s own game and the sequel to the previous one.

[@Chumpal]

You will never.

[@Arrowz_88]

This is the WORST iteration of MJ I've ever seen. Horrible character. I really hated her in this game for multiple reasons.

[@TrigonAZR]

Only type of mission I'd happily skip. If they're in Spider-Man 2 I hope they'll add an accessibility option "disable MJ stealth missions"

[@miscellaneous205]

This is the real reason I got the game on pc. To install mods that get rid of her missions.

[@TheMcChunky420]

I completely agree when I played them it just felt like filler for the main story

[@BenPlaysGames]

Exactly Bridger! Which is pretty crazy when you think about it, as the game already has a robust campaign without them and really doesn't need any filler.

[@bwill887]

Honestly, I think the idea was to provide a reason for the exposition Mary Jane provided. Basically, provided a reason why Mary Jane knew the information she had. I do think the game could have avoided it, but I think that was the reason. Plus, it makes her into a more flushed out character rather than a damsel only, although it arguably failed with the second.

[@theheardtheorem]

I’m here because I’m currently playing the remastered version on PS5 and have been wondering why this game hasn’t been accurately critiqued in my opinion. It’s a fun game, but it is extremely flawed and nowhere near the masterpiece that it tends to get hyped up as being. Stealth sections have ridiculously bad AI; the game has an over abundance of Quick Time Events and the NPCs chatter and talk to you through walls when they shouldn’t be able to even know you’re there. It feels like an Ubisoft game (I actually like Ubisoft games for the most part) and if people are going to be hyper-critical of Ubisoft, they should at least be somewhat critical of Sony for having a lot of the same game design elements. At least Sony doesn’t try to sell you “time savers”

[@kwk111]

I agree, most reviews have been downplaying many of the obvious negative aspects. I'd even say that the swinging isn't nearly as perfect as people make it out to be. Accessibility is a good thing, but it doesn't excuse a low skill ceiling. I'd like to get really wild and "radical" with it. As it stands though, it's a highly polished yet a very vanilla experience.

[@Ji99i3]

I simply can not tolerate a second playthrough. That should say a lot to it's quality. It's fun for what it is. But I too never understood the praise to masterpiece attitude.

[@stevenwoods5787]

if youre gonna make me do stealth missions, how bout let me do it with the guy who A) can crawl across ceilings and walls B) can snatch people up and web em to the roof and inside A/C vents and, most importantly, C) is the got damn reason i bought the game in the first place

[@BenPlaysGames]

Haha I couldn't agree more. I remember there being one part in particular that really takes the mickey inside the station. You're MJ and have to direct Spider-Man to web up bad guys. It's a Spider-Man game and you're having to watch while the AI does all the work! Absolutely bananas.

[@Stocky_The_Demi_God]

I hated the miles and MJ sneaking missions

[@tjjordan4207]

I don't mind making MJ a reporter and moving away from her supermodel design, it makes more sense that MJ would be more into Peter this way as they both share in the same things and are kinda geeks. But her character is annoying. I understand that she wants to be treated like an equal, which would be a great story to see if it was about Peter trusting her more, but she doesn't understand that he has superpowers, and she doesn't. MJ constantly blames Peter for saving her, even though she puts herself in those situations and was close to dying. She's ungrateful and not a good partner to Peter. In fact, I think Black Cat (in this universe) is a far better fit as both a partner and romantic interest.

[@dante_0962]

No I don’t think Felicia is a good choice because she uses Peter’s emotions for her own goals then pretends she dies for a long time. While taking things seriously. So when she apologises it doesn’t feel genuine like she’s putting on a act, and Peter says she has a good heart but we never see that side of her. In fact in the tie-in comic I think she was dual wielding guns even though she was working with spider-man and trying to be a hero.

[@tjjordan4207]

@@dante_0962 I meant in terms of comparison. If it came between Black Cat and MJ, I would say that Black Cat is better only because there is more potential between them and there is a case of her becoming a better person. That said, I agree that the relationship is still toxic.

[@BonzerMrT]

You deserve more subs and views. The content is always interesting

[@BenPlaysGames]

Cheers Bonze mate, appreciate that!

[@vibe3063]

Im very sad that this video doesnt have a lot of views.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Ha not to worry mate, it'll grow over time! Cheers for watching too dude.

[@Jangle666]

And then they throw in a Myles section. Which is just an MJ part but with techy stuff.

[@Dudestv1]

coulda been a cutscene

[@BenPlaysGames]

Completely agree!

[@um8778]

These Mary Jane stealth missions are probably the most infuriatingly thing anyone has ever done to a game. Mind numbingly stupid decision.

[@BenPlaysGames]

So, so boring to play after you've been having an awesome time swinging about and beating up bad guys.

[@AP90x]

Made me want to yank my playstation out the wall and throw it out the window everytime the camera panned over to her

[@Achilleas90]

Excellent! It makes you FEEL like Mary Jane!

[@BenPlaysGames]

Ha, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!

[@Achilleas90]

@@BenPlaysGames Sorry for missing the /s but i tried to parody the underwhelming "thrill" of being a plain human after playing as spiderman by referencing the most common journalism phrase about batman games. "It makes you feel like batman!"

[@mischajordacevic]

Totally agree.. they are rubbish and sooooo boring.. didn't understand the decision to put Them in. Also the massive amount of collectibles.. sjeessss.. but the game overall is sooo awesome! All those different Suits with different Powers.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Finished it recently and generally loved it, best swinging in a Spider-Man game since Spider-Man 2 on PS2!

[@mischajordacevic]

@@BenPlaysGames Definitely! 😁 and now Miles Morales? Haha

[@Thatlamekiddom]

Just bought the PS5 version and naively hoped they’d all be gone

[@ODST_Parker]

I think Russian Badger said it best: "Interesting idea, MJ... but, what about that whole part where... you don't have a FUCKING SUPERPOWER, you moron." It feels like they just really wanted to add in some scenes of, "See? MJ is just as cool as Peter, right?" and it's like, sure, but not as cool as SPIDER-MAN! I don't care if she calls herself Peter's "partner," she has no business sneaking around violent gangs and PMC soldiers to do something that Peter could do in a third the time, and in a much cooler fashion in terms of gameplay.

[@kreatur_]

Spider man would've been basically a perfect game if not for this stupid stealth missions

[@snarffles5687]

honestly glad Mile's spin-off game didn't have these missions because 1: the levels are just the least enjoyable parts of the game and that's saying something, cause this game is awesome, but seriously, the stealth sections, well, they sucked. and 2: I'd say if these missions were actually done with Felica/Black Cat, because like Therussianbadger said, she's way better of a Partner than MJ, sorry, but it's honestly true.

[@JV_inthemix]

I legitimately call them “MJ stealth missions” knowing full well a non-spiderpowered Miles does the same thing 😂😂😂

[@wilfredwayne7139]

I just ran through them as quickly as possible.

[@valdemarsimonsen9612]

The only thing I personally find redeemable or nice about them is how they give me room to breathe since the entire game is almost exclusively swinging, collecting, fighting and doing puzzles as Spiderman/Peter. Even though each of those things are either really fun or satisfying I find that these few MJ sections are the most relaxing during any playthrough but I do understand that this is probably how very few see it and I completely agree with everything being said in the video because yeah, it seems weird to include these sections with everything else the game offers

[@BenPlaysGames]

I can definitely see where you're coming from Valdemar, and I don't think a change of pace from the Spiderman sections is a bad idea at all. I guess my issue with them is that the stealth sections are really, really basic when compared to games which use stealth as one of their fundamental mechanics. And if you can't attain those standards, then the game as a whole is only going to suffer as, fair or not, people will compare them to other games which do it better.

[@valdemarsimonsen9612]

@@BenPlaysGames yep. Going from beam to beam is not exactly the most fun activity

[@bluenitethewarrior9332]

@@valdemarsimonsen9612 I dunno spiderman did it right with miles in showing yeah less mj moments are better. With very few moments as actually being miles. And when you did it was sort and sweet. Mj stealth missions are very very similar and bare bones and are drawn out. They slowed the pace too much. I'm happy we're moving away from that.

[@sparshbansal6624]

@@valdemarsimonsen9612 I looked at all the missions of Spiderman in a story mission walkthrough. The game has 44 main missions. Out of those 44 missions, 23 of them are a combination of puzzles, walking around, mj and miles stealth missions, introduction to side missions and cutscenes and only 21 of these main missions have proper spiderman action gameplay. Basically more than 50 percent of the missions are dedicated to unfun and unintelligent gameplay mechanics. What is so challenging about walking as Peter Parker in the FEAST center ? Or what is so engaging or intelligent about escaping bad AI as MJ or so engaging or intelligent about escaping bad AI as Miles? If you really enjoy those parts in the game more than being Spiderman, then y not play a game like Firewatch or Death Stranding? You clearly hate cerebral gameplay mechanics and would much rather just walk in a video game. Infact why not just walk in real life? Why do u need a video game to simulate walking for you? Our industry is evolving backwards by reducing gameplay in favour of cutscenes and pointless walking sections because people like you have a low attention span.

[@ViniciusAugusto-km5ge]

Hear me out peaple, i bring premonitions, in Marvel's Spiderman 2 Mary Jane will return, but now with combat mishions were she will be able to fight, and in the next Spider Man game, there wont be spider man, there will be only Mery ugly Jane.

[@PearangeProductions]

I got this game recently, as I played Miles Morales and loved the hell out of it, and this game is the same thing...until the game forces me to swap to Ms. Stealth Mission over here. I beat the first MJ mission outta pure luck, but the second one...it essentially made me rage quit due to how much it repeatedly kicked me in the balls. I'm actually fucking amazed at how much Insomniac Games made these missions absolutely SUCK. Everytime I see a quick fade cut whenever Peter is doing something, I groan in exasperation because that means I'll have to play as MJ. She doesn't have any means of protecting herself, she can't be seen by ANYONE or else the mission has to be restarted from the last checkpoint (no second chances), she only has her stupid camera and nothing else, and, what is quite possibly the biggest kick in the nuts: THE GAME DOESN'T GIVE YOU ANY MEANS OF SKIPPING A SECTION TO HELP OUT. I would've loved to have a system like what GTA V did, where if you fail a section of a mission, you can skip it at the cost of losing some rewards for completing it. But, of course, they didn't do that. I failed Uninvited so many times it wasn't even funny, AND I WAS ON "FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD" DIFFICULTY, THE EASIEST DIFFICULTY IN THE WHOLE DAMN GAME!!! I wish there was some kind of cheat code or something in the PS4 game that made it so nobody would detect me and I could just make a beeline for my destination without worring about anyone spotting me and INSTANTANIOUSLY making me fail. *_FUCK. THE. MJ. MISSIONS._* (Also, something to note: Suprisingly, I beat the stealth mission with Miles completely blind on my first attempt. I guess completing Spider Man: Miles Morales on both on a fresh save and a New Game+ before I played the original payed off...)

[@saltystick_99]

MJ (and Miles) could've been so better if they gave you an option to skip them like you can with puzzles. Why are the puzzles completely skippable but the stealth stuff is like *noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....* If they're afraid we're gonna miss plot details, then...That's a shame. Even then, its not like you get to know any more than you do at that current point. In fact, I feel like the only purpose of the MJ missions is so that they have an excuse for a spider to be on MJ and _conveniently_ not bite her, until she is near Miles to transfer the thing. Wow, the game kind of falls apart when I look at it more critically.

[@CLOUD_STRIFE2003]

Or worse the miles steath missions

[@SeanMather]

Honestly, I think Guardians of the Galaxy was a far superior game. I got bored and stopped playing Spider-Man after the release of all the villains, because at that point I felt good about clearing out all the bad guy hideouts, and now I have to do it again? Ooof! That and the story didn’t make up for the idea of repeating more of the same game cycle… I just walked away. Guardians, while more linear, was funny and engaging, and I really cared for the characters, and had a good mix of action and downtime moments. It’s an under rated gem and deserves to be bought and played by more people. I hope that now that the devs of it are under new ownership, it gets the sequel it deserves.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Guardians is actually on Gamepass now and I've considered playing it through a few times. Sounds like you recommend it?

[@Ji99i3]

I couldnt understand why on earth they made us play as mj and even miles. Man tbe game is about spiderman why on earth would they pull us away from playing as him or other "heroes"

[@TimelessWorldOfGaming]

It almost beat God of War for GOTY but the MJ and Miles missions cost it and God of War got it hands down. This has to be one of the biggest blunders in development history. It was so close to being a good spiderman game, instead of the stealth sections, they should have focused on the enemies and ai to provide a less artificial challenge that would become more and more satisfying as you improve and learn to fight. Instead, it just throws cheap artificial difficulty at you for a cheap shot here and there to make it seem like there's another learning curve when in actuality they just didn't know how to challenge anyone.

[@AP90x]

Now god of war made us play as atreus collecting fruit and skipping rocks.

[@jds8438]

@@AP90x fr ironwood was a boring ass walking simulator

[@arminxvs3372]

The only nice stealth mission was in the Central Station when Spidey was there. That was creative and fun. All the rest - SKIIIP!

[@joelivuso7351]

I bought this game to play as spiderman and half the missions I've been forced to play as Mary Jane

[@Oldschool1943]

tbf miles and mary jane stealth missions are both equally shit.

[@cube9862]

Spiderman Grand Central Station is one of the most boring missions, where in the Hitman Grand Central Station section, it is one of the best missions in the game.

[@BenPlaysGames]

That sounds awesome, which Hitman is that in? I've only play Blood Money and the first of the newer titles, so missed quite a bit.

[@guyiu809iuighyuihjgfvrtyu4]

that was my favourite stealth mission lol

[@AP90x]

The problem is im playing as mary jane

[@marcusblack99]

The Mary Jane sections made me rage quit this game so glad they didn't have this kind of shit in the second game

[@heshotfirst]

The only MJ stealth mission I enjoyed was the Osborn apartment, it was pretty cool.

[@gabrielakec739]

I agree not a fan of those missions

[@sparshbansal6624]

I have never played Spiderman. It is coming to PC and I am excited. But I have a question. I looked at all the missions of Spiderman in a story mission walkthrough. The game has 44 main missions. Out of those 44 missions, 23 of them are a combination of puzzles, walking around, mj and miles stealth missions, introduction to side missions and cutscenes and only 21 of these main missions have proper spiderman action gameplay. I also noticed that you have to compulsorily complete side missions to unlock main missions. Do you think the pacing in this game is very slow and do u think that the game should have had more action? You can check what I said. My information is accurate

[@AlexParkerEmcee]

I'm glad no one answered you

[@sparshbansal6624]

@@AlexParkerEmcee Yeah I am glad people avoided a harsh truth about their game to protect their silly feelings

[@thenomad4123]

Oh man I also absolutely hated these missions in this otherwise fantastic game. Hated the ungrateful delusional MJ too, but I could just accept her as an annoying character. I'd even be okay with the boringness, but the missions were entirely unrealistic. How the heck can this basic reporter sneak around 50 trained gangsters and top mercenaries as if she is the Black Widow? It makes zero sense. Atrocious.

[@robertwatling8570]

i totally agree i like mary jane watson but why why why did they have to put you in control of her andhave you doing pointless boring stealth sections. it would of been better if mary jane had been an npc character that you interact with or have it where you meet up with mj and do missions for her or even side missions where you do mj missions as peter parker spiderman also mary jane looks like claire redfield from resident evil 2 remake. i just done her mission with the art gallery and its s repetitive but i know i got the other ones coming up not looking forward to them. whoever came up with the idea of adding mary jane missions needs firing and or a good hard slap around the face hopefully we wont get them in spiderman 2 god i hope not

[@RAY_II]

I just started playing spiderman 1 and 2, mj missions make me want to stop playing. Pointless and boring as hell.

[@guyiu809iuighyuihjgfvrtyu4]

WAIT

[@BenPlaysGames]

WHY

[@Wertyber]

WHAT

[@thevoidwalkerbr]

I liked them...

[@mario7182]

Seem really boring to play

[@BenPlaysGames]

Rest of the game is generally awesome but they are a real struggle to get through!

[@Oldschool1943]

i have to agree with one of the commenters that mary jane should be swap out and replaced by black cat. mj is going to play a huge role in marvel's spider man 2 so no question that. however, i think what mary jane does should happened off screen and have black cat be a playable character so she can also have a primary role to the overall story.

[@TonyBonasera]

Why do address this now?

[@BenPlaysGames]

So, I only played the game recently for the first time after getting a PS5 and felt compelled to make a video about it I guess. Always nice to have a good old moan every now and then 😂

[@coffinmyface4237]

Dont need to tell us

[@BenPlaysGames]

I think I may have made this video to make myself feel better as much as anything else haha.

[@coffinmyface4237]

@@BenPlaysGames thats fair.

[@hereitcomes3912]

Karen

[@evingrindle1929]

I don’t really understand. I loved the MJ and Miles missions. Yes they’re slow, but they’re meant to give us more context and immersion into the city/world and honestly make playing as Spider-Man that much better. It allows us to get insight on what it’s like to be a normal person in a world with superheroes. Being a regular person in an environment filled with supervillains and dangerous people with guns instead of having the ability to just punch, kick, and web them down is a really cool concept and again makes playing as Spider-Man more rewarding.

[@colindowden2182]

Dude who gives a shit about playing a normal person the fucking game is called Spider-Man not MJ, I paid money to play as spiderman not this boring as character and her boring ass missions.

[@AP90x]

But nobody wants that. I just brought a SPIDERMAN “videogame” to have fun and play as SPIDERMAN not be forced to play as a regular and quit annoying human such as mj.

[@survivabill5206]

The Miles Morales game tells us exactly "why" Insomniac put the MJ missions in and portrayed her the way they did. They are simply a liberal game company that, like many others, is "woke." I enjoy the Spider-Man games enough to play them, but the woke sjw propaganda and pandering hurts the game and is something that is completely unnecessary to a Spider-Man game.

[@saltystick_99]

I hate the MJ missions, but...What's so woke/sjw about MJ and Miles exactly?

[@nudsu]

I completely disagree. I think Insomniac did a brilliant job with the story and obviously had a lot of thought put behind it. I don't think the mary jane sections were anything like you say. I found them to be a nice break in gameplay and more of an interactive way to tell this mary jane's story. I really like her character in this game, she isn't some unlikable, toxic love interest for peter parker like she is in the sam raimi films. She's a reporter who cares about her city just as much as spider-man, so much in fact she's sneaking around places she shouldn't be sneaking around to expose and investigate the corruption. Same for Miles Morales I think they were trying to introduce his character (they obviously knew they were going to make another game), and show what kind of person he was. They wanted to show that he's always had a hero's mindset before he got the powers, inspired by his father. It makes his spider-man a lot more believable. You don't get powers and poof now your a hero. You had to have always been that way. I will say though that even though I still value these sections storywise and don't find them to be THAT boring, I think maybe the studio could've put more effort into her missions to make them more fun. TLDR they wanted MJ's character to be likable and a fitting love interest for spiderman in this game unlike previous iterations of her character.

[@theamazingwebhead6453]

MJ has never had a good adaptation of her comics counterpart, and this one is second to worst, They put her into the standard reporter girlfriend role because it’s worked for Lois Lane, we should just completely change her character to be a reporter, and on top of that, she’s as dumb as a rock

[@letsget100subswithoutconte4]

The MJ/miles stealth missions could have been better if they weren’t liner and maybe had a bit of parkour. Also you can mostly run past guards on those missions, watch a speed run to learn how.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I didn't know that - I mostly just tried to grin and bear them until I could get back to being Spider-Man.

[@letsget100subswithoutconte4]

@@BenPlaysGames I hope if you ever have to go through those god forsaken missions you remember this

[@dante_0962]

I think Miles should only have the stealth missions because the first time he play as him. You feel powerless when the demons attack but in the spin off game Miles gets to be more power then in this game. Which shows Miles growth of being powerless and can easily get ganged on. To him getting spider powers and taking own the rhino two times in a fight