Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Gameplay Reveal

[Darth Vader]

Yesterday, Playstation released the first gameplay video for Spider-Man 2. I have to admit I was not immediately impressed by the live stream and even commented in our discord that I felt like it looked the same as Miles Morales. Now that we have access to higher resolution video, here's what I found that distinguishes it from the previous game, and that takes it one step ahead.

• Streaming - Seems like they are putting that SSD to good work. The fast section with Miles would have not been possible previous gen, and shows that transversal is now much faster than before.
• Lighting - Lighting is much improved. This is especially apparent in indoor sections
• Ray tracing - Either my eyes are massively deceiving me, but the whole gameplay seems to have ray tracing reflections. I'm more than happy to admit I'm wrong here, but a lot of places lacked the obvious occlusion issues visible with SSR and seem more accurate than cubemaps
• SFX - Depth of field, particles, even small touches like camera shake and enhanced depth of field and motion blur during combat, it was all improved.
• Combat - Combat has always been stellar, but it looks somewhat improved as well.

These are just some of the things I noticed. Your thoughts?

 

[Johnic]

I'll say this again, it looks strange. I'm not sure if it's the art direction but it looks off. Too flashy and cartoony? Just look at this comparison:

 

[Gediminas]

Yesterday, Playstation released the first gameplay video for Spider-Man 2. I have to admit I was not immediately impressed by the live stream and even commented in our discord that I felt like it looked the same as Miles Morales. Now that we have access to higher resolution video, here's what I found that distinguishes it from the previous game, and that takes it one step ahead.

• Streaming - Seems like they are putting that SSD to good work. The fast section with Miles would have not been possible previous gen, and shows that transversal is now much faster than before.
• Lighting - Lighting is much improved. This is especially apparent in indoor sections
• Ray tracing - Either my eyes are massively deceiving me, but the whole gameplay seems to have ray tracing reflections. I'm more than happy to admit I'm wrong here, but a lot of places lacked the obvious occlusion issues visible with SSR and seem more accurate than cubemaps
• SFX - Depth of field, particles, even small touches like camera shake and enhanced depth of field and motion blur during combat, it was all improved.
• Combat - Combat has always been stellar, but it looks somewhat improved as well.

These are just some of the things I noticed. Your thoughts?

What water reflex with those rays?

 

[Darth Vader]

What water reflex with those rays?

I'm not sure where you saw me saying that. But ok.

 

[Darth Vader]

I'll say this again, it looks strange. I'm not sure if it's the art direction but it looks off. Too flashy and cartoony? Just look at this comparison:

Screenshot at 4:51 pretty much confirms ray traced reflections.

 

[Shmunter]

Not a big leap, no pun intended

 

[Darth Vader]

Not a big leap, no pun intended

The side-by-side shows a pretty big leap.

 

[Shmunter]

The side-by-side shows a pretty big leap.

2 of them even

 

[Darth Vader]

2 of them even

No, for real. Every single area is improved, some of them substantially, lighting being the main one.

 

[Gediminas]

I'm not sure where you saw me saying that. But ok.

Ray tracing - Either my eyes are massively deceiving me, but the whole gameplay seems to have ray tracing reflections.

can you show ray tracing reflections on water? or you want to say that water don't reflect anything?

 

[Darth Vader]

Ray tracing - Either my eyes are massively deceiving me, but the whole gameplay seems to have ray tracing reflections.

can you show ray tracing reflections on water? or you want to say that water don't reflect anything?

Why would I show ray tracing reflections in water when I didn't specify that water had them? I think it's actually unreasonable to expect that from the PS5. But the indoor and outdoor sections have Ray Tracing, just like Miles and Remastered, with the difference that it looks like some other materials actually have them as well.

 

[Shmunter]

No, for real. Every single area is improved, some of them substantially, lighting being the main one.

I’m sure there are, but as a sum of its parts I’m not blown away by some generational leap which is a shame

 

[Gediminas]

Why would I show ray tracing reflections in water when I didn't specify that water had them? I think it's actually unreasonable to expect that from the PS5. But the indoor and outdoor sections have Ray Tracing, just like Miles and Remastered, with the difference that it looks like some other materials actually have them as well.

• Ray tracing - Either my eyes are massively deceiving me, but the whole gameplay seems to have ray tracing reflections. I'm more than happy to admit I'm wrong here, but a lot of places lacked the obvious occlusion issues visible with SSR and seem more accurate than cubemaps

don't be offended, i am just about discrepancies of the statement

water looked so bad, it is like Starfield Trees. it was like WTF moment

 

[Nhomnhom]

The Symbiotes costume looks so bad, like the texture didn't load properly or something.

This game needed a big leap since Miles Morales already feelt too similar, this is just more of the same. Insomniac once again will fall short of making a great game and will just make another good game.

Feels like a mistake to do Spider-man 2 now instead of Wolverine.

 

[avenovah]

 

[Gediminas]

The Symbiotes costume looks so bad, like the texture didn't load properly or something.

This game needed a big leap since Miles Morales already feelt too similar, this is just more of the same. Insomniac once again will fall short of making a great game and will just make another good game.

Feels like a mistake to do Spider-man 2 now instead of Wolverine.

nah, it is okey. Wolverine coming. SM2 is logical follow up.

 

[On Demand]

While there are improvements i didn’t notice at first, the game still doesn’t look next generation overall. Maybe all the new effects are affecting being able to push the graphics? I don’t know but the game looks unfinished.

 

[Darth Vader]

don't be offended, i am just about discrepancies of the statement

What discrepancy? There are ray traced reflections. I never claimed water had them. Like, if you're gonna pick on something, pick on something real.

 

[Red2Radio]

It makes me sad to see that people seem to be disappointed by the showcase. If anything, the gameplay presentation just made me want the game even more.
I still pop in Spidey Remastered and Miles Morales into my PS5 every now and again just to swing around Manhattan and it's still an absolute joy. The gameplay trailer shows that swinging is easily 1.5 times, if not 2 times faster than in the first two games, gliding adds a new dimension to the traversal mechanics, both Miles and Peter have already shown far more new moves and abilities to hopefully make the game feel as fresh as the first two games.
Adding Queens and possibly Brooklyn doubles, if not triples the size of the map and the lower built neighborhoods will certainly challenge the movement of the two Spideys. Kraven and the Lizard are a fine addition and with Peter struggling with the symbiote suit, that makes for some nice drama. Looking forward how Yuri's/Wraith's story will continue, there is just a lot going on with this one and the new lighting makes the game look more natural.
I know I'm excited, sad to see that many apparently aren't.

 

[kyliethicc]

game design is yup.. thats more spidey. scripted missions, QTEs and all

graphically it looks good enough. story? meh

overall its the standard cookie cutter 8/10 insomniac game as the last 2

they do work fast at least