Games
At Sony's Paris Games Week, we take a closer look at Insomniac's PS4 exclusive Spider-Man, and chat with community manager James Stevenson. We also ask about those QTEs - just how prevalent are they?
I'm in the thick of it at the Paris Games Week event today, and so far Sony's delivered some champagne gaming (plus snails). The show floor opens up to the public tomorrow, but I've already been heads-on with a bunch of great PSVR titles (Bravo Team, The Inpatient and Blood and Truth), and playing Shadow of the Colossus (re)made my day. In addition, I'm still processing that trailer from The Last of Us II, and I've been given an opportunity to get a better (spider)sense of how Insomniac's Spider-Man game is coming together. James Stevenson, Community Manager, was more than happy to detail the great power of their new engine, and the great responsibility of doing right by this iconic character.
“So we've been in development basically since the end of Sunset Overdrive,” he tells me. “And [what we have here is] the same engine we used for that game, and then Ratchet afterwards on PS4, plus all our VR games too. It's the Insomniac engine that we're always working on, with a team dedicated to improving it and making it better. I mean with Ratchet and the PS4 Pro we were able to go 4K and HDR, and I still feel that it's still one of the top five examples out there to show off your Pro and TV. So we have all of that greatness coming to Spider-Man. We've also worked a ton on our open-world tech to allow us to draw this super dense, vibrant city. Plus, gameplay-wise we're just getting better every day. We've been working really hard on it since day one, and we've had the benefit of a lot of support from Sony and Marvel, too.”
Speaking of that outside influence, this is new ground for Insomniac Games: the first licensed game developed by this talented team after 22 years of crafting its own intellectual properties. The pessimists out there might be wondering whether or not this may create a case of too many cooks in the creative kitchen, however, it seems those fears are unfounded.
“It's kind of awesome, to be honest,” Stevenson enthuses. “It's a collaborative dream to work with both Sony and Marvel. I mean Marvel is just around the corner from the studio, and so we talk to a team of theirs that is very passionate about Spider-Man. They just come over to our office all the time -- almost daily, and it's been a great partnership at this point. Our goal is just to do right by the character in what will be a fresh story, but also an authentic one for fans.”
Paris Games Week has offered quite the insight into this rather mysterious title. The gameplay I'm shown offers me the first glimpses at the beloved Aunt May, long-time nemesis Wilson Fisk (AKA Kingpin), and a sharper focus on the man behind the mask, Peter Parker (who seems to be a facial mix of Garfield and Holland). Interestingly, when I mention this theory to Stevenson he diplomatically won't pinpoint the exact inspiration. “I wouldn't say it's based off of one specific source,” he explains. “There's been a lot of variations of Peter over the years, and he's many things to many different people. We're pretty happy with how he's turned out. A lot of work went in there. Lots of iteration. But we're happy with how people are reacting to him, and how they're reacting to MJ, too.”
A certain orange window with a very distinct logo can be made out. Fans of Doctor Strange will know it as the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Mary Jane is perhaps the coolest new reveal of the day, what with her being confirmed as a playable character. MJ will have a significant role here, too, as she's been cast as a smart, savvy reporter with The Daily Bugle. “She'll have moments where she's working with Spider-Man,” details Stevenson. “Because she's got a nose for news, she knows the city, and she's just an all-round talented reporter. It's a cool wrinkle to the game, and putting another playable character was, admittedly, a big ask for the team. But it's something that we felt really passionate about.”
At this point in the proceedings I cause a slight bit of PR panic by pointing out something I was supposed to miss. In a blink-and-you'll miss it shot of the city, a distinct building catches my eye. A certain orange window with a very distinct logo can be made out. Fans of Doctor Strange will know it as the Sanctum Sanctorum. Which gets me to asking: clearly this game has no relation to the Spider-Man Homecoming film, and the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe it's connected to, but does that mean Insomniac is pulling back on the references?
“No way,” says Stevenson, allaying my fears. “This is 100 percent a Marvel New York City. And [laughs] I was hoping nobody would spot that in there. Clearly we didn't hide it well enough! Expect to see Marvel landmarks, because there are other major characters who inhabit that city. You'll see their buildings, but that's not necessarily saying we'll be focusing on them, because this is a Spider-Man game and a Spider-Man story. But we definitely wanna have references for the fans.”
Being a Spidey super-fan, any in-universe reference that gives me a heady sense of nostalgia (or a tingling sensation in my arach-nads) is always welcome, and is something that has been floated in the past as important to selling that suspension of New York-based superhero disbelief. But what of the most important part of this city, it's sense of vibrancy, life and gameplay purpose? Is all of Manhattan really ours to explore, and does Insomniac grasp the importance of having decent side-mission content that's packed with variation?
“It's very much a free-roam New York City,” Stevenson asserts. “Size-wise, it's the biggest we've ever built, being several times larger than our last one. There's tons of stuff to do, too. Obviously you can chase those main storyline moments, or you can just go play in the city to explore and... uh, do a lot of stuff we're not talking about yet. But rest assured: it's a populated, living, breathing New York City. Cars on the streets, people on the streets, and yes, you would assume that Spider-Man will be handling some crimes throughout the city. Absolutely. More on that at a later date.”
For now, the team at Insomniac still has quite a lot of tricks tucked up their spandex sleeves. That said, with every showing of this title, the more I become caught in its web. The assurances I'm given relating to quick-time events (or QTEs) – Stevenson is extremely keen to point out how isolated and sparingly used these moments are – make me feel like Insomniac has taken fan-feedback well on board. With that potential peccadillo in hand, the combat, traversal, and narrative sides of Spider-Man all seem to be slinging in the right direction. I for one cannot wait to suit up, fight crime, and bust out some super-sweet Peter parkour.
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