GOTY
Can't wait to touch catwomen with my black tentacles
Can't wait to touch catwomen with my black tentacles
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Gameplay Reveal
- Thread starter Darth Vader
- Start date
Well, you have to blame it on the people wanting 4k/60fps, you're not getting extreme fidelity this gen because the priorities have shifted.
And I still think y'all will be eating crow when the game releases, just like you did with R&C, HFW and Ragnarok.
Same song and dance, every single time.
Quick Thoughts:
-Visually, I think overall the game looks quite good already. It's not the visual fidelity leap most of us were probably expecting, but that doesn't mean it looks "bad". In fact there are spots where it clearly looks like an actual superhero film IQ-wise, and that's down to a mixture of technical details and great art direction (including lighting). I think currently the issues with some of the finer details up-close or just small things that would go a long way to really selling an even stronger visual impact.
For example, there are the stairways and dead fish in the warehouse where IMO the former looks too "clean" and the latter not sporadic or messy enough for what it is. There should've also been some volumetric dust throughout with parts you could see as light hits it, just small details like that would go a long way. There's another section where Miles is going through a seemingly damp area of the warehouse; I think more volumetric/atmospheric effects to make that area seem more damp (maybe with some things like dew dripping off the chains) and maybe even a slight haze effect from a busted pipe letting out gas would have been small but impactful touches.
Another example is the water; it looks great at a distance and semi up-close but there's no real physics going on when characters land in the water. There should be more volume and form to the water in terms of it actually reacting to the player and objects on it, or landing into it. All of the things I mentioned are stuff you'd get in the final phases of visual polishing, and this game is a few months out at the least, so I get the feeling they will add these things closer to final polishing stages.
-I think the enemy AI could be a bit smarter, just going off what was shown. Maybe they were playing on Easy difficulty but there's a spot in the warehouse where Miles is on his makeshift web-line, and grabs two mooks from below. It's swift, but not so fast that the other two enemies literally feet away couldn't have noticed the movement with their peripheral vision, and react accordingly. However, they do nothing of the sort, and given the warehouse is still somewhat decently lit up it wouldn't be impossible for them to see him up where he's at if they naturally looked upwards after catching their buddies getting pulled away through their peripheral vision.
Again, could've just been the game on Easy Mode, but if not then I hope the enemy AI is made more sophisticated before launch.
-The set piece moments where they were fighting Kraven were really cool. Some of the into-the-screen parts gave me Crash Bandicoot vibes, and the freneticism was tight. It reminded me in ways of older action games like Treasure's MegaDrive/Genesis shooters Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier, or Super Contra, and games like those, in terms of intensity anyway. However, I hope the degree of player control is to a point where in those segments you can actually feel like it's your skills allowing for those cool moments, instead of it mainly being scripted button prompts. Again, that kind of stuff can be saved for easier difficulty modes but for Normal and up, those sections would feel immensely rewarding if player agency is relatively high.
Overall my thoughts on it a quite positive and higher now than at the time of the showcase. I'd suggest more folks watch the gameplay on its own outside of the realm of the showcase; honestly think the gameplay coming at the end of an otherwise mid showcase (outside of a few gems) might've led folks to subconsciously channel their frustrations into their first impressions of the Spiderman 2 footage. Because having given it a re-watch, and seeing some of the more extreme takes, I simply can't see what some people are getting at or HOW they're getting at it. Almost feels like we've watched footage of two different games, at times.
-Visually, I think overall the game looks quite good already. It's not the visual fidelity leap most of us were probably expecting, but that doesn't mean it looks "bad". In fact there are spots where it clearly looks like an actual superhero film IQ-wise, and that's down to a mixture of technical details and great art direction (including lighting). I think currently the issues with some of the finer details up-close or just small things that would go a long way to really selling an even stronger visual impact.
For example, there are the stairways and dead fish in the warehouse where IMO the former looks too "clean" and the latter not sporadic or messy enough for what it is. There should've also been some volumetric dust throughout with parts you could see as light hits it, just small details like that would go a long way. There's another section where Miles is going through a seemingly damp area of the warehouse; I think more volumetric/atmospheric effects to make that area seem more damp (maybe with some things like dew dripping off the chains) and maybe even a slight haze effect from a busted pipe letting out gas would have been small but impactful touches.
Another example is the water; it looks great at a distance and semi up-close but there's no real physics going on when characters land in the water. There should be more volume and form to the water in terms of it actually reacting to the player and objects on it, or landing into it. All of the things I mentioned are stuff you'd get in the final phases of visual polishing, and this game is a few months out at the least, so I get the feeling they will add these things closer to final polishing stages.
-I think the enemy AI could be a bit smarter, just going off what was shown. Maybe they were playing on Easy difficulty but there's a spot in the warehouse where Miles is on his makeshift web-line, and grabs two mooks from below. It's swift, but not so fast that the other two enemies literally feet away couldn't have noticed the movement with their peripheral vision, and react accordingly. However, they do nothing of the sort, and given the warehouse is still somewhat decently lit up it wouldn't be impossible for them to see him up where he's at if they naturally looked upwards after catching their buddies getting pulled away through their peripheral vision.
Again, could've just been the game on Easy Mode, but if not then I hope the enemy AI is made more sophisticated before launch.
-The set piece moments where they were fighting Kraven were really cool. Some of the into-the-screen parts gave me Crash Bandicoot vibes, and the freneticism was tight. It reminded me in ways of older action games like Treasure's MegaDrive/Genesis shooters Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier, or Super Contra, and games like those, in terms of intensity anyway. However, I hope the degree of player control is to a point where in those segments you can actually feel like it's your skills allowing for those cool moments, instead of it mainly being scripted button prompts. Again, that kind of stuff can be saved for easier difficulty modes but for Normal and up, those sections would feel immensely rewarding if player agency is relatively high.
Overall my thoughts on it a quite positive and higher now than at the time of the showcase. I'd suggest more folks watch the gameplay on its own outside of the realm of the showcase; honestly think the gameplay coming at the end of an otherwise mid showcase (outside of a few gems) might've led folks to subconsciously channel their frustrations into their first impressions of the Spiderman 2 footage. Because having given it a re-watch, and seeing some of the more extreme takes, I simply can't see what some people are getting at or HOW they're getting at it. Almost feels like we've watched footage of two different games, at times.
I'm interested in what you are looking for with Spiderman 2?
Just the graphics or something more? this isn't a shit post I'm generally interested in your thoughts
How long has UE5 been in development though? A final version only launched last year, it probably had 5 years development before that
I don't know how Sony first party even keeps up with that
I'm looking for something that isn't extremely similar to two games I already played recently. The trailer shown did not impress me in any way and nothing stood out.
Honestly, people asking for sequels is the problem. What's new that they could bring? They already released two Spider-Man games. Whatever they could provide now are good story and exciting action set pieces which is what they are showing and looks good. After This Spider-Man 2 they should consider a new IP. Otherwise, they can't impress us with new sequals.
They chose to make the sequel this soon, I think they should've waited for some better central ideas that would justify it.
What differentiates this game from the other two? Graphics? Just another set of powers?
Doing the Wolverine game first seems like it would've be preferable. Insomniac needs to have more impactful stories.
This was my concern, what more can you do with Spider-Man without throwing ridiculous powers into the mix that cheapen it. So my only hope was a true next Gen focus. More photorealistic, a lot more world interaction - physics, destruction, all dynamic. But it’s just more of the same unfortunately.
Eh I don’t expect massive visual leaps with these consoles. Or any really?
Reminds me when someone at Nintendo, can’t remember if it was Miyamoto or Iwata, said something like “graphics have reached a saturation point.”
It kinda has? Games have effectively looked the same to me for three generations now but at higher res. To the point where I don’t really care about what presents as marginal improvements in clarity and performance.
New ideas are what I’m looking for. Not here tho. I have no interest in Spider-Man aside from assuming it’s going to destroy Starfield and Xbox this holiday.
Physics and world simulation can definitely take more prominence if no longer shackled to Jaguar CPU’s. We had better physics during 360/ps3 times than last Gen, and stupidly it’s never come back. Someone needs to do something here.
I find Zelda impressive for its physical properties even, and that’s running on 10yo phone cpu. No excuses for lifeless cardboard worlds if building for this gen exclusively.
Sony has/had a visual arts team that worked on advanced technology for next gen, I'm not sure if they were asleep at the wheel or what, but I'm not seeing any of their first party blow my socks off the way any UE5 tech demo has. Demon Souls is still the most next gen looking game that has been out and that is a launch title 3 years ago.