SPIDER-MAN
Sandbox superhero swings into sight looking Marvel-lous in motion, facing enemies who force him to think fast
Now that’s how you end a conference. Spidey swang by for a brutally brief trailer at E3 2016, but his latest cameo certainly makes up for last year’s tiny teaser. Insomniac rocked up to the show of shows with no less than nine minutes of gameplay footage, running in real time on PS4 Pro in glorious 4K. And boy, did the ensuing arachnid action show off some truly wondrous web-slinging heroics.
The E3 demo shows Spider-Man is an absolute master of the… um, sticky stuff. As our hero battles Kingpin’s goons on a New York rooftop, then later the Inner Demons gang and their deadly energy weapons, he shows off all manner of kickass tricks. Webbing a dude to the floor; leaving another to hang upside down; remotely triggering a web line that sends a thug crashing into industrial crates when the sap hits a tripwire. And that’s just the first 90 seconds.
There’s a lot more to this heroic open-world effort than fancy web tricks, mind. Just as the Dark Knight’s Arkham trilogy is built around three brilliant pillars – slick stealth, crunching fisticuffs, ace gliding mechanics – Insomniac’s Spider-Man has its own triple threat of treats. For creative director Brian Allgeier and his team, it’s crucial the studio delivers improvisational combat, screen-shaking set-pieces, and most importantly, an elegant web-slinging system.
SWING CITY
That last part was especially important to Allgeier. “Traversal, we know it’s the number one thing we’ve got to nail when it comes to Spider-Man,” he admits, speaking to OPM at E3. “Swinging through that open-world New York City, you’ve got to feel that fluid momentum, and that sense of skill and mastery.”
He’s right, too. Creating a winning movement system is the webbing that glues the whole piece together. Spider-Man 2 on PS2 was bogged down by rote mission design, but no-one remembers that. All people look back on are those awesome web-swinging powers. “I think I should do PR for Spider-Man 2,” Allgeier tells us with a grin. “I’ve spoken about that game so much. I think [the comparisons] are okay, because there are a lot of people where that was the first game that really made them feel like Spider-Man.”
Not that circa 2004 Peter could ever compete with the sharply suited Parker Insomniac is bringing to PS4. Peter pirouettes through the air with absurd grace, flipping, twisting, and scrunching up that lithe frame to wall-run, swing, and catapult himself around New York’s concrete jungle. There’s even one moment in the demo when Spider-Man contorts his body to squeeze
“PETE PIROUETTES THROUGH THE AIR WITH ABSURD GRACE, FLIPPING AND TWISTING.”
through the twisting steps of a fire escape; a feat he pulls off mid-swing, all without losing momentum or even breaking into a sweat.
Allgeier admits Insomniac’s previous work on Xbox cult hit Sunset Overdrive helped in the early stages of making its swinging sandbox a reality. “Having built an open world that was based on traversal helped a lot,” he says. “It gave us a leg up to start with.” That said, there’s nothing in Overdrive that can match the set-piece spectacle seen in the finale of Spidey’s E3 demo.
SET THE STAGE
Even though the section Insomniac showcased in LA is set early in the game, the demo’s final few minutes are still thrillingly epic. As Spider-Man pursues a helicopter through downtown Manhattan, the whirlybird inadvertently dragging a dangling power generator from its chassis, it’s hard not to be reminded of Naughty Dog at the top of its game.
There are so many spectacular visual payoffs popping all over the screen, it’s the sort of effortless flair you rarely see outside of Uncharted. True to the wise-ass Peter’s always been portrayed as, the web-slinger even finds time to banter away with police captain Yuri Watanabe over the radio. Nate would be so proud.
From a story standpoint, Insomniac is keen to stress that Parker has this whole Spider-Man schtick down. Unlike past games, this ain’t no rookie. “He’s 23 years old, and he’s already been Spider-Man for a year when you start the game,” says Allgeier. “There’s a level of mastery he’s accumulated over the years; think of an athlete in the prime of his career.”
Allgeier also confirmed this is a completely unique Spidey story that has nothing to do with any comic series, nor the movies. It does share one big similarity with Spider-Man Homecoming, though: this PS4 wall-crawler and Tom Holland’s teen hero both rock retractable eye lenses. According to Allgeier, Insomniac added them to to help Spidey convey more visible emotion, and he playfully claims the studio popped the lenses in way before he saw Homecoming.
EASY AS QTE
If there’s a concern at this stage, it’s that the game may overindulge in quick-time events. Most of the last two minutes of the E3 demo see Spidey matching onscreen prompts as he sprints up the side of a collapsing crane in a sequence that looks barely interactive. The odd sprinkling of QTE dust can elevate a set-piece, but let’s just hope Insomniac doesn’t take too much direct control away from you when the big story mission moments swing by.
Can Spider-Man live up to the hype? The web-slinging signs look good. One thing’s for sure: if Insomniac can deliver a game up to the standards of its Ratchet & Clank remake, you’re in for one hell of a heroic ride.