Marvel’s Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps Review — A Strong Final Swing Through 2018

Review originally dated: December 28, 2018

Marvel’s Spider-Man was already one of my favorite games of 2018, so the idea of getting three additional story chapters before the year was even over sounded fantastic.

Now that The Heist, Turf Wars, and Silver Lining are all available, The City That Never Sleeps feels like a strong extended epilogue to an already incredible game.

It isn't another full Marvel’s Spider-Man campaign, nor does it need to be.

Instead, the DLC takes characters and storylines established throughout the main game and gives them room to breathe while setting up some potentially very interesting developments for the future.

And yes, it gave me another excuse to spend several hours swinging around New York.

I'm certainly not complaining.

The Heist

Of the three chapters, The Heist immediately stood out because of Felicia Hardy.

Black Cat's history with Peter gives their interactions a different energy than many relationships in the base game.

She's clever, dangerous, unpredictable, and knows exactly how to mess with Peter.

Their chemistry is incredibly entertaining.

The Heist also succeeds at making the DLC feel connected to the larger world rather than like an isolated side adventure. We're dealing with consequences and characters that belong within this Spider-Man universe.

And by its conclusion, there is clearly much more trouble coming.

Turf Wars

Turf Wars picks everything up and escalates it.

Hammerhead's war with the Maggia becomes increasingly violent, while Yuri Watanabe gets a much larger emotional role.

That became one of the most interesting parts of this chapter for me.

The base game already established Yuri as one of Spider-Man's closest allies within the police department, but Turf Wars begins pushing her toward darker territory.

Seeing what this war does to her adds another layer to the story beyond simply stopping Hammerhead.

Gameplay-wise, you're still getting everything that made Marvel’s Spider-Man so much fun: combat encounters, new challenges, crimes, suits, and plenty of opportunities to swing around Manhattan.

Some of the encounters can become chaotic, but Spider-Man's combat remains so enjoyable that I'm rarely going to complain about another room full of enemies.

Bring them on.

Silver Lining

Then Silver Lining brings the story home.

Silver Sable returns as the conflict surrounding Hammerhead and stolen Sable technology reaches its conclusion.

Of the three episodes, this feels appropriately like the finale.

There are bigger encounters, escalating stakes, and a satisfying sense that this entire post-launch story is finally coming together.

It also continues developing threads that could become extremely important later.

That's probably my favorite thing about The City That Never Sleeps as a whole.

It isn't afraid to leave pieces on the board.

Peter's world continues changing.

Yuri is changing.

Miles is becoming increasingly important.

And it feels like Insomniac is quietly preparing for something bigger.

More Spider-Man Is Still A Good Thing

There isn't a dramatic reinvention of the formula here.

You're still swinging through the same Manhattan.

You're still completing crimes and challenges.

You're still using the same core combat system.

But when the foundation is this good, I didn't need the DLC to rebuild everything.

I wanted another reason to put the suit on.

That's exactly what I got.

The additional suits are fun, the new storylines expand this universe, and the three-part structure essentially gives Marvel’s Spider-Man one final adventure before 2018 comes to a close.

Final Verdict

The City That Never Sleeps is a worthy extension of one of my favorite games of the year.

The Heist gives us a fantastic Black Cat story.

Turf Wars pushes Yuri into fascinating territory.

Silver Lining delivers the larger finale.

Together, they create a strong epilogue that makes me even more excited about wherever Insomniac takes Spider-Man next.

The base game remains the star of the show, but if you loved Marvel’s Spider-Man anywhere near as much as I did, spending another several hours inside this universe is an extremely easy recommendation.

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

A fantastic encore for an Amazing Spider-Man game.

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Archive Add-On 2026

I've returned to these chapters numerous times since 2018, including through Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, and they remain an important part of the first game's story for me.

What stands out even more years later is how much groundwork these seemingly smaller DLC stories were doing for the characters and the wider universe.

I originally wanted more Spider-Man.

Years later, I'm glad we got it.