Following its big gameplay reveal the other week, one of the most talked about elements of Insomniac Games’ “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” is one’s ability to play as Peter Parker in the Venom symbiote suit.
That suit offers gameplay abilities and powers that seem similar to the under-appreciated 2009 Activision title “Prototype”. The footage also hinted at a darker turn for Peter’s character when he has the suit on and becomes addicted to the power.
At the same time the suit is changing Peter Parker’s personality along with enhancing his powers, offering increased strength and black tendrils that allow for more aggressive combat.
Insomniac’s Creative Director Bryan Intihar, and Game Director Ryan Smith, recently sat down for an interview with Eurogamer to talk about the gameplay footage released and how it fits in with the overall game itself.
The pair discussed voice actor Yuri Lowenthal’s dark performance, and Intihar says Insomniac’s take on the material finds a “balance” between darker themes and the humor of the first game:
“We have those human elements, both on the serious side of where we see the Symbiote affecting Peter, but also on the lighter-hearted side. They [the narrative team] do a great job, but it’s very, very difficult.
But that’s what we owe to the players. We owe that to them to find that balance between these darker themes with the Symbiote and Kraven and Venom, and maybe others. But also, you know, to make people laugh.
When Peter gets bonded with the Symbiote, it’s not a joke. It’s not something we want to make fun of. Yuri will forever be my Peter Parker, you know. When I hear Spider-Man, I hear his voice. That’s how well he does as Peter. So I think it can be pretty jarring to hear him talk like that, like he does in the gameplay reveal.
So, it’s about really playing into those themes of addiction, how that can impact someone’s personality, impact the people around them, and you’re going to see that it’s not just how it’s impacting Peter on his own, but also those close to him. You’re going to see that play out throughout the game.”
That doesn’t mean this is going to be a fully Peter-centric adventure. Rather he and Miles will get a fair balance of screen time as each character has “their own story, but with a bigger story as well”, says Intihar.
Then there’s the fact the game is built from the ground up for PS5 and thus is able to take advantage of the more serious hardware – especially in terms of traversal and speed via not just web-swinging, but web wings that can utilise wind tunnels that crank up your speed to explore the new boroughs of this open world New York City.
Finally, they also confirmed the footage we saw was far from the final version, so expect overall visual quality improvements along the way. “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” is due out this Fall.
