How New York City in ‘Spider-Man’ for PS4 compares to the real New York City

It’s the tallest building in Spider-Man’s Manhattan, just like in real life:

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And here is One World Trade in real life. A slightly different design, but not too different.

Phil Dolby/Flickr

The Battery Park in Spider-Man’s Manhattan is slightly smaller than the real thing:

Sony/Marvel

In reality, Battery Park is much larger — it spans the majority of Manhattan’s southern tip, and bleeds into the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

The Staten Island Ferry Terminal is notoriously missing from “Spider-Man,” though its ferries can be spotted in the harbor next to Battery Park:

Sony/Marvel

Here’s the real thing — if you’re visiting NYC, don’t miss the free ride from lower Manhattan to Staten Island (and back):

The Staten Island Ferry is a great way to see Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. It’s also free, and there’s even booze served on board!Shutterstock

Speaking of, the Statue of Liberty shows up in the right place — off the coast of southern Manhattan, not far from Ellis Island:

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In reality, the island housing The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island aren’t directly next to each other:

The statue is a bit further away from Manhattan than Ellis Island is.Alex Davies / Business Insider

Governor’s Island gets a surprisingly accurate depiction despite being relatively unknown:

Sony/Marvel

Governor’s Island was used as a Coast Guard outpost until the mid-’90s, when it was converted to a recreational space. The entire perimeter of the island is a track for running, walking, and cycling. It’s accessible from Brooklyn and Manhattan via ferry, which is free.

In “Spider-Man,” you’re only able to swing around Manhattan. No Queens, nor Staten Island, The Bronx, and Brooklyn. It’s a real shame, but also Manhattan is gigantic.

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It’s hard to convey how much I want to swing around my borough as Spider-Man, but I understand why “Spider-Man” maker Insomniac Games didn’t re-create all five boroughs of New York City: It would be an absurd task!

As it is, Manhattan in “Spider-Man” is gigantic — and “Spider-Man” features a heavily truncated version of Manhattan. If players could swing all the way from Jamaica Bay to East New York to the West Side Highway, it could be overwhelming. 

From bottom to top, here’s the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge — a close match to the trio of bridges connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan.

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In reality, there’s much more space between the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge, but the game’s approximation is quite close.

Google

The general shape and layout of NYC is spot on:

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Aside from the missing ferry terminal and a general scaling down, “Spider-Man” nails lower Manhattan — just compare the previous image to this one from real life:

Moving uptown a bit, Union Square is pretty dramatically shrunken in “Spider-Man”:

Sony/Marvel

The real thing is far more grandiose and vast — it’s a large park that stretches several blocks in all directions:

For some bizarre reason, the game replaces the statue of George Washington that usually stands in Union Square with this gentleman in a chair:

After some serious Googling and inquiring with “Spider-Man” fans on staff, I still don’t know who this is. I know it isn’t Abraham Lincoln, despite the resemblance. If you know who it is, please feel free to let me know.Sony/Marvel

Moving further uptown a few blocks on Broadway is the game’s loving re-creation of the iconic Flatiron Building.

It’s just across the street from Madison Square Park, which is less perfectly re-created.Sony/Marvel

The Flatiron Building divides Broadway from 5th Avenue, and sits just below Madison Square Park at 23rd Street.

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Madison Square Park is far smaller, and completely excludes the original Shake Shack location:

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In reality, Madison Square Park is larger and more detailed. Where the chairs are in-game is where a fountain usually sits. Where the sculpture is, you’d see a massive line of people stretching from the original Shake Shack location.

Even the shape is different.Shutterstock

The shrinking continues as Spider-Man swings up Broadway toward Herald Square.

This tiny little square is all you get for the massive area that is Herald Square in real life.Sony/Marvel

Herald Square in reality is a major intersection at 34th Street and Broadway in midtown Manhattan. It’s the unofficial beginning of mid-town.

The flagship Macy’s store is in Herald Square, among many other things.Flickr/NYCDOT

Perhaps the glitz and glamour was saved for Times Square, which is resplendent in “Spider-Man”:

Sony/Marvel

Massive screens with advertisements surround Times Square in-game, just like the real thing.

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You probably don’t need a comparison here given that it’s Times Square, but here you go just in case:

Justin Sullivan/Getty

Not that Madison Square Garden is much of a looker in real life, the in-game version is somehow even less exciting:

Sony/Marvel

In reality, Madison Square Garden is atop Penn Station — in the game, it’s above “Square Station.”

For all the direct re-creating “Spider-Man” does, there are loads of bizarre facsimiles.Shutterstock

The Empire State Building (right) and the Chrysler Building (middle) are both in looking very similar to their real-life counterparts.

Sony/Marvel

Here’s a closer look at the Chrysler Building:

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As always, the Empire State Building is striking against the bright blue sky behind it:

Sony/Marvel

The two buildings are staples of the NYC skyline, and it’s smart that Insomniac didn’t change anything for these two icons:

AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis

But the MetLife Building above Grand Central Station is different. Instead of MetLife, it’s a Colexco building.

Colexco is the Apple/Google-like telecom/tech company of the “Spider-Man” world.Sony/Marvel

Here’s the real thing, towering above Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan:

Thompson Reuters

Alongside the East River, the United Nations Headquarters is near-perfectly modeled. It’s a striking building, both in-game and in real life:

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral is also given the re-creation treatment, and it’s stunningly accurate:

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Here’s the real thing for comparison:

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Rockefeller Center gets the shrinking treatment as well, with the whole area getting shrunk down to a much smaller version of the real thing. Here’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where “Saturday Night Live” (and many other shows) are filmed:

Sony/Marvel

The NBC Studios marquee is nowhere to be found, to say nothing of the Nintendo World Store and the gorgeous golden statue of angels.

Sony/Marvel

The ice skating rink itself is much smaller as well:

Sony/Marvel

The flags are all absent in the game, as is this bright gold statue:

Radio City Music Hall is another example of a near-perfect re-creation. It looks almost exactly like the real thing:

Sony/Marvel

It’s bigger in real life, but that’s about it in terms of differences:

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The same goes for Lincoln Center, which looks incredibly close to the real place:

Lincoln Center is known for opera and classical music performance.Sony/Marvel

The differences are slight at the most:

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Columbus Circle, unlike Herald Square, is a large and serious attempt at re-creating the real life Columbus Circle — it’s on the corner of Central Park, just like in reality:

Sony/Marvel

Admittedly, the statue in the middle of Columbus Circle is far shorter in the game:

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Central Park is sprawling, just like the real place. It spans dozens of blocks in the middle of both Spider-Man’s Manhattan and our own:

Sony/Marvel

It’s not actually possible to fit all of Central Park into a single image in “Spider-Man”:

I tried.Sony/Marvel

Even the general layout is pretty similar to the real place:

iStock

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a distinct icon of NYC. It’s located on Museum Mile, in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The building is directly re-created in the game:

Sony/Marvel

No catches here — the game perfectly re-creates the Guggenheim Museum. It’s small enough and straightforward enough that such a thing is possible.

Shutterstock/F11 Photos

Unfortunately, the even more iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art is missing — it’s replaced with this monstrosity:

The MMoCA — the Manhattan Museum of Contemporary Art — is not a real museum in New York City.Sony/Marvel

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a gorgeous, classically designed building — it’s not clear why it’s replaced:

Luciano Mortula / Shutterstock.com

And finally, here’s a gorgeous re-creation of Grand Central Station’s magnificent, voluminous interior:

Sony/Marvel

It’s not a perfect re-creation in-game, but it’s damn close — having been inside Grand Central many times, it was bizarre exploring the location in a game:

The Manhattan of “Spider-Man” ends in mid-Harlem. There’s no Marcus Garvey Park, and no Apollo Theater, to say nothing of entire neighborhoods like Washington Heights.

Sony/Marvel

The further north you go in Manhattan, the less alike the map is to actual Manhattan. But in general, the re-creation of Manhattan in “Spider-Man” is more detailed, more thorough, more downright impressive than any other game I’ve ever played. 

It’s a genuine marvel.

And now, a few bonuses — like The Avengers building, which is nearly as tall as One World Trade:

Sony/Marvel

And Doctor’s Strange’s Sanctum Santorum:

Sony/Marvel

And the Embassy of Wakanda:

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Oh, how could I tell that this building was the Embassy of Wakanda? Simple:

Sony/Marvel

There’s so much more about “Spider-Man” that feels like a love letter to New York City, including Spidey outright riding the subway while staring down at his phone — like a true New Yorker.

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I didn’t include much of Wall Street here, or The High Line, or The Whitney Museum of American Art, or Chinatown, or … there’s a lot. “Spider-Man” does an incredibly impressive job of re-creating a Manhattan very similar to the real thing. 

Do yourself a favor and play it! And then come visit New York City.