Are you game? Spider-man is back
Marvel Studios and Insomniac Games have been working on a new Spider-man game – we get the insight from the team about just what we can expect. Darren Bevan reports.
With great power comes great responsibility.’’ Given the weight of expectation on game studio Insomniac Games ahead of its much-heralded launch of the new Spider-man game, it’s understandable that its community manager James Stevenson utters this infamous line from the comics and films during our chat.
To celebrate the end of the press tour in which he visited seven countries in 20 days, James was thrown off Auckland’s Sky Tower. It seemed a fitting way to farewell the global grind, given the titular web-slinger spends much of his time vicariously vaulting from building to building, crawling and flying through the New York skyline while dispatching as many quips as he does baddies.
‘‘I don’t even know how to gauge it, this is the biggest thing we’ve ever worked on; it could well be the biggest game Insomniac’s worked on, so it’s kind of hard to focus. It just seems gigantic,’’ he admitted as release date neared, clearly the reality sinking in of what being part of such a big property conjures up to those behind beloved Playstation icons, Ratchet and Clank and Spyro The Dragon.
Despite rave reviews of the preview at this year’s E3 (the annual LA based Electronic Gaming Expo, designed to hype and market up-coming titles) and last year’s early sneaks, there’s still much unknown about the Spider-man game.
During a hands-on preview with tight security and spoiler warnings, one thing’s clear – the game’s dynamics work well. From the moment it begins after a cinematic blockbuster start in keeping with the Marvel big-screen tradition (strict embargoes stop the revelation of too many plot points), it’s clear you are Spider-man as much as you are Peter Parker.
Beginning in Parker’s bedroom, it’s much the familiar tale of any 20-something making their own way in the world.
There are bills for unpaid rent scattered around, dumped haphazardly among the schematics for Spidey’s gadgets; a money jar for a holiday fund is empty, while another for a new computer is dizzyingly full of dollar bills and coins.
Post-it reminders of work deadlines decorate the walls. It’s clear Insomniac Games wants its take on the 50-plus-year-old comic book to be as much about the collision of the personal as the superhero.
It’s a work that’s been in hand for three-anda-half years, some of that in secret, with developers beavering away in their Californian offices out of the glare of the fan spotlight.
‘‘Marvel wanted to work with one of the big studios and specifically mentioned us. Sony said, ‘Hey are you guys interested in working with Marvel?’ and we said ‘Of course, but what character do they want us to do?’
‘‘And they were like, ‘Oh no, they want you to pick. You guys can have all the choice of which one you want.’ It was like, ‘Oh wow. So huh, OK, that’s an overwhelming decision’,’’ Stevenson recalls.
Spider-man was the easy choice (‘‘the one that matched up very well with Insomniac and made most sense with the DNA of the games we’ve made, the types of games we make, the kinds of stories we tell, the character we felt closest to’’) and work began in earnest. The teams looked at all manner of games and mechanics past and present as inspiration and to see what worked and what fell flat. Key to it all, as with any game where you are the superhero, is ensuring that you feel like Spider-man the moment it all begins. And based on the few hours offered for playing, the dynamics just feel right in this newest iteration. There’s something joyous about you zipping and quipping through the Manhattan skylines, the familiar red-and-blue figure contorting and flying in the air with ease.
The mechanics feel familiar to those who’ve played older Spider-man games and the likes of Sunset Overdrive, yet offer a slightly new take on what’s to be expected.
The game is populated with side-missions, allowing these flights of fancy to help you even encounter some familiar Marvel landmarks, such as Stark Tower and the Wakandan embassy in the sprawling open world.
Based on the carefully curated preview, Spidey’s world is big (although one should always be wary of previews as they fail to offer the full experience and are all about building hype for the eventual release) but Stevenson’s cautious to point out it’s not big for big’s sake.
‘‘We wanted it to feel dense and populated, we wanted the city to feel like it was people on the streets. The other thing we knew was we wanted to have activities that have story ties.
‘‘It shouldn’t ever be a straight up challenge, there’s always a story for whatever you’re doing,’’
‘‘We wanted to have activities that have story ties; it shouldn’t ever be a straight up challenge, there’s always a story.’’
he explains, tying into Marvel Studios’ modus operandi that story is on a par with spectacle.
But equally, being part of Marvel’s world, taking on a globally beloved character and the internet age we live in, has meant each carefully orchestrated marketing release for Spider-man has seen fans rabidly poring over every single frame presented and speculating on story choice.
Stevenson concedes once the reveal of the game hit the world, it’s been a necessary evil.
‘‘I think there’s a lot of responsibility on fans, to guard themselves if they decide to, as much as there’s a responsibility on us to not show too much in some ways.
‘‘I don’t know, people debate spoiler culture and if it’s needed, it’s a relatively new thing. I will say this, we’ve been trying to surprise people and to shake things up in a way that’s rewarding.’’
Insomniac Games was determined to make sure that there was a female playable character in the game. Much like the upcoming Last Of Us Part II will focus around female protagonist Ellie, Stevenson says the decision to make MJ Watson part of it all was a creative no-brainer.
‘‘It gives you an interesting perspective on playing a non-powered character in a superhero world and lets you see the superhero from a different side eventually.
‘‘[Actress] Laura Bailey’s really awesome, the writing for her is terrific, and I’m really happy with people just raving about her and how much they loved her. She’s a great force to the story.’’
But, he’s painfully aware female portrayal in the video game industry is something that needs to keep evolving, after years of neglect.
‘‘If you’re focused on one type of character, you’re only going to get one type of story and so many of the great stories are because of interesting character choices. So having more bold character choices for games will only take us into more interesting places.’’
Stevenson won’t be drawn on whether there’ll be a sequel to this game (‘‘we’re just focusing on that extra DLC right now,’’ he adds) but says the studio’s been stunned by the high level of preorders.
‘‘It’s all very flattering people would put their money and faith in us already,’’ he says.