Spider-Man 2 previews have started dropping, and surprise, the sequel to the really good game is also shaping up to be really good. A much larger map encompassing more of New York, two swappable Spider-Men and new symbiote powers.
But the craziest thing I’ve seen from all these previews is actually from Mike Fitzgerald, Director of Core Technology at Insomniac who has shared how fast travel now looks in the game, a far cry from the “Spider-Man on the subway” transitions from the last one.
That’s uh, what…just happened? I need to watch this about fifty more times (which I have). Insta-morphing the map to the actual city where Spidey is already swinging/web-flying? I have really never seen anything like this before. Some are using this as “the power of the PS5!” evidence, though I’m not sure if it’s that or if it’s Insomniac just being extremely clever with their own tech.
The general sense of the previews is “it’s Spider-Man 1 but even more impressive and expansive,” at least from the limited preview playtime. We’ve seen circulated footage of a boss battle with the Lizard which looks pretty wild:
I’ve said before that Spider-Man 2 is a hugely important game for PS5, even if buzz around it has been somewhat muted due to uh, like 12 other incredible games coming out in the last few months. Spider-Man 1 was quite literally the highest-selling exclusive of the PS4 generation, and as such, Sony no doubt has high hopes for Spider-Man 2.
So far, it feels like all the pieces are in place for the game to deliver, as expected. Insomniac has become one of the most rock solid developers in the industry, delivering extremely impressive, innovative games with few or no delays. No wonder Sony has had them working on three or more projects simultaneously.
Spider-Man 2 is easily Sony’s biggest game of the year, even if Starfield has sucked all the oxygen out of the room lately with eternal debates about its quality and whether it signifies a new era for Xbox first party games. Of course, Sony has been in that era for well, forever, really, and Insomniac has been leading the charge as of late with both Spider-Man 1 and Ratchet and Clank. I have to believe that Spider-Man 2 is going to maintain their high quality bar, and then we can all turn our attention to what has to be an insane M-rated Wolverine game they’re working on next. Now that is going to be something to behold.
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