cormack12
Gold Member
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Plenty of Spider-Man stories recap his origins, but Marvel’s Spider-Man is going a different route.
“We're telling a unique, original story, where Peter is 23 when it starts. He's an experienced Spider-Man,” Smith said. “We wanted to make sure that the controls and the experience that you open the game with are action-packed, and it's not your first time web-swinging. We want you as a player to feel in control and in command and find that depth later.”
This experienced, battle-ready Spider-Man will have a host of villains to contend with. A unique version of The Sinister Six serve as the main antagonists of the story, helmed (at least from what we’ve seen in trailers so far) by Mr. Negative, a.k.a. Martin Li. While he may not be as well-known as some of Spidey’s other foes, like Kingpin or Rhino, Mr. Negative was a natural fit for Insomniac’s theme of powerful people grappling with two identities.
“So we have this theme of Peter Parker's world and Spider-Man's world colliding; Martin Li also plays into that theme. He's got this life at the F.E.A.S.T. center as a great guy, a philanthropist who helps homeless people,” Paquette said. “But then there's this other part that he's struggling with that is Mr. Negative, and he's got a plan. Those two sides of him fighting against each other at the same time that Peter's worlds are colliding makes for really juicy drama.”
A compelling character from a story perspective, Mr. Negative’s got a lot of video-game friendly characteristics too. And showcasing his powers in combat is going to be a great way to introduce him to fans who aren’t familiar with his abilities. “He's got an inner demon and we can introduce his negative powers there. So it's a great way to provide that over-the-top Marvel action in the core combat,” said Smith. “Even for people who are familiar with the franchise, Mr. Negative is going to feel new and fresh.”
Anyone familiar with the Spider-Man franchise probably wants one thing: to be Spider-Man. But comic books and movies and TV shows can only take the escapism so far. Smith thinks games offer the best chance to actually live out those web-slinging fantasies. “If people can say ‘I totally felt like Spider-Man, even while I was sitting on this couch holding a controller,’ that's something we can do as a game that other media can't do,” he said. “I would love it if people were able to say that.”
JUST THE FACTS
REVIEWS
Dualshockers 10/10
GameInformer 9.5/10
Eurogamer recommended
IGN 8.7/10
USGamer 4.5/5
MEDIA [4K Screenshots] captured from PS4 Pro, possibly PhotoMode