With Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5 just around the corner, we take a look at how the sequel can be greater than the already amazing first game.
Over the years, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has appeared in many different video games that have been enjoyed by fans all around the world. While there was an argument to be had as to which one was the best, (with Spider-Man 2 being regarded as a serious contender) it wasn’t until 2018 when that debate was finally settled once and for all.
When Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 launched, it instantly became a critical and commercial success. Critics praised the game for making you feel like the wall-crawler, not only by letting you explore his full range of powers but by also allowing you to experience the burdens that Peter Parker has to face in his daily life. The game managed to mix engaging combat, fun traversal, and a heartfelt story in a way few other superhero games can. So now that we are getting close to the release of the sequel, we have to ask ourselves: How Insomniac Games will manage to surpass what the original game managed to achieve?
More traversal options
If Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales proved something, is that Insomniac can definitely improve upon the traversal established in their first game. While Peter Parker could do tricks mid-air, swing through New York’s skyline, and run through the walls of buildings, Miles Morales could do all that and more. New animations were added to Brooklyn’s hero, making the web swinging feel more dynamic and seamless. Not only that, but the developers also took advantage of the character’s powers and allowed players to perform electrically charged jumps. This meant you could jump (or double jump) mid-air without any restrictions.
Even when the option to fast-travel was there, many of us preferred to swing our way across town just because of how fun it was. However, Insomniac can’t use the exact same traversal for Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5 and expect it to still be fresh and interesting. Because of this, the swinging formula established in the previous games will need to be improved upon once again, and there are a few ways that can be achieved.
Now that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is using underarm webbing to glide across the city on the big screen, perhaps it’s time for Insomniac’s games to follow a similar road as well. Sure, it can feel a little derivative of the traversal used in the Batman Arkham saga, but it can always have its own unique spin. Spidey could web zip while gliding to achieve greater speeds than those of the Dark Knight, or in order to make sudden turns when maneuvering through the city landscape. Our friendly neighborhood hero could also seamlessly combine this new ability with running through the walls or web-slinging, making the traversal even more dynamic.
Many have also looked to Fortnite for inspiration as well. The wall-crawler first made an appearance in the battle royale game as a playable character back in 2021. It was there that a brand new web-slinging system was also introduced. Players had to manually aim and shoot towards a spot to perch the hero’s web, jump, and then choose another spot to swing from. This could be introduced as an alternative swinging method in Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5 too. Maybe you could perch your web on a car and slide through the roads of the city. Not only that, but you could also perch on helicopters in order to gain altitude and speed too.
Multiple playable characters
It’s true that there were multiple playable characters in Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4. However, while you could play as Spider-Man, Mary Jane, and Miles Morales, there’s an argument to be had that only the wall-crawler got to have all the fun. Miles and Mary Jane’s missions were stealth-based, and enclosed in relatively small spaces. You never got to fight enemies or travel through the world map while controlling either of them. Because of that, it was hard to get excited whenever you stopped playing as the superhero and had to play as a normal citizen. But that could all change for the new entry in the saga.
Now that Miles Morales has developed superpowers as well, it is all but confirmed you’ll get to play as two different Spider-Men for the sequel. But why stop there? Back in 2005, an action-adventure video game called Ultimate Spider-Man was released. In it, Peter Parker had to face its greatest foe yet: a dangerous symbiote attached to a revenge-seeking student named Eddie Brock.
The game not only allowed you to be a gracious hero by saving the lives of New Yorkers when playing as Spider-Man, but it also allowed you to inflict chaos and mayhem as Venom. The human-eating symbiote had its own set of gameplay mechanics that were completely different than those of the wall-crawler. For example: while you had to use high-reaching jumps as Venom in order to travel through the city, Spidey could web-sling across it.
Because the supervillain is confirmed to be a part of Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5, it could be the perfect opportunity for Insomniac to let us wreak havoc as the iconic Lethal Protector. That would allow for 3 different playable characters, with 3 different move sets and combat styles. At the very least, we should get that gameplay variety in the form of Spidey using the symbiote (just like Spider-Man: Web of Shadows did back in 2008).
A bigger, and richer open world
New York is a big focus in Marvel’s Spider-Man saga. Many believe Insomniac delivered one of the best representations of the city that never sleeps in any videogame at all. In Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4, the map even changed depending on how much you progressed through the story. You could see the city go from being a beautiful and relatively peaceful place, to an all-out warzone with escaped inmates taking over every building they could. Not only that but there were also many different activities scattered throughout the world in order to keep players entertained.
However, just using the same map and side quests from the previous games is not going to be enough for the sequel to become a success. The world needs to be bigger this time around, and a way this could be achieved is by allowing players to explore Queens. In Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4, Peter was evicted from his apartment and was forced to find a new place to live at the end of the game. While it’s not clear where the web-slinger moved to, it could very well be to his childhood home back in Queens. That would give us a narrative reason to explore a new area of New York in the upcoming game. But why stop there? Brooklyn could be explorable as well, allowing the new open world to be even twice as big as the original.
New activities should be added too in order to keep things interesting. This is where things get a little bit tricky since Insomniac has already given us many different side-quests in the previous two games. These ranged from racing through the city, taking pictures of important locations, and even scouting the map looking for unique sounds in order to compose songs. However, fast-paced persecutions with supervillains could always be added, along with quests where you need to catch citizens falling mid-air.
Take advantage of the power of the PS5
Finally, Marvel’s Spider-Man Sequel should take full advantage of the power of the PS5. While it’s true a remaster of the original game launched back in 2022, Marvel’s Spider-Man was designed around the old architecture of the PS4. So while the framerate, resolution, and loading times were improved for new-generation consoles in the remaster, that’s pretty much where all changes end. Sure, things like haptic feedback and raytracing were added as well, but let’s face it: they aren’t huge design leaps. However, things could be different this time around.
Let’s take a look at Insomniac’s latest game for the PS5: Ratchet and Clack: Rift Apart. In it, the main characters used dimensional rifts to instantly travel between completely different worlds. This is an amazing mechanic that could very well be used in the web slinger’s new video game as well. Let’s say a certain spotted supervillain that could open portals made an appearance in Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5. This could allow players to go from one point in the city to another with no loading times involved. Insomniac could use this to create interesting set pieces and boss fights that would have not been possible with the PS4. Besides, It would also be nice to capitalize on the Spot’s fame now that he will be the main antagonist in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Buildings could also be explorable on the inside without the need for a loading screen too. Just imagine you are fighting Venom, and the supervillain throws you against a window. The glass breaks and the fight seamlessly continues inside the building. This mechanic could be implemented dynamically at any point in the game and without the need for a planned set piece. The game could also make use of a new A.I. that controls Peter Parker’s Spider-Man if you are playing as Miles Morales, or vice-versa. Dynamic weather could also be introduced, and a day and night system as well (which was missing from the original game).
While Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 was an amazing game, the sequel could improve upon it in many different ways. Let’s hope it’s not too long before Insomniac breaks the silence on what they have in store for the sequel that’s set to release in the Fall of 2023. Are you excited about it? Let us know in the comments below, and stick around Bam! Smack! Pow! for more news on our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.