About that 'Great Web'

 

So to my absolute surprise it would seem that Insomniac had more stuff to leak pertaining to the many efforts their company worked on. Despite the blow-out leak which pretty much detailed every waking thought the company plans to have for the next decade, with everything from perspective release dates to expected Employee toilet breaks plastered across the internet for the perusal of all. Yet somehow in all of that no one bothered bringing up a supposed Multiplayer Spider-Man game that was conceived of, made it to the development of marketing materials, and then subsequently cancelled in short order. So unbelievable of a prospect that is that I honestly thought it to be an outright lie, but now I've see the actual trailer I'm only maybe 5% sure it's still a lie, just one put together by an extremely talented amateur filmographer.

But assuming what we saw was true, I guess that means Spider-Man 2 was originally conceived of to be the basis of a multiversal Spider-Man game called 'The Great Web', pitting Spider-Man against the threats of the multiplayer connectivity and enemy scaling complications. (I know how multiplayer superhero games work by now!) Spider-Man 2 lightly dabbled with some Spider-Verse adjacent side activities throughout it's story, but The Great Web was going to drag us kicking and screaming there to bask in the chaos of the multiverse split wide open. Or at least, that's what we're led to believe, but in practice it just kind of looked like a semi-competent multiplayer mod across the exact same New York map they've had for two games now. Although to be fair, the marketing material we've seen would appear to be excessively unfinished. Wherin lies a bit of my continued scepticism.  

How common is it for entire trailers for games to be constructed and voice acted, before you've finished the visuals? Because there is no way that these 'The Great Web' trailers were designed to be the final look, not with the animation quirks, the general lack of visual charm and the odd weird juttering. I mean- sure, throw a mock-up together so that the marketing team knows roughly what they're looking for when shipping off the trailer to dedicated third party studios- but to put this much effort into the mock-up? I can't help but wonder who exactly this was made to please. Was this supposed to sell the game to investors in lieu of a traditional pitch document? Or in addition to? There's too many unanswered questions for my liking.

Well as it appears this trailer was leaked as part of a Powerpoint pitch- not unlike one I've made myself when pitching ideas, but even when speaking to games industry professionals no one ever mentioned trailer mock-ups were a thing. Perhaps that's just one of those concepts everyone assumes you already know and so no one brings it up. My world is personally rocked, I want to see the trailer conceptual to all my favourite games now. What do you think the Baldur's Gate 3 one looks like? Do you think they just recycled Divinity 2 gameplay? (Actually, BG3 was an independent game so I guess they didn't need to pitch it to anyone apart from Wizards of the Coast- who probably didn't need a visual reference to remind them what games are. Shame.) 

Now if there's one thing which immediately struck me weird about the concept of The Great Web, beyond the fact it was cancelled despite being exactly what fans initially thought they were getting out of Spider-Man 2, it's the way they proposed to use the Multiverse. We actually see some special vorpal portals conjured in the air, teasing multiple earths, in a manner I find disconcertingly familiar. Yes... multiplayer superhero game where the progression is fuelled by dimension jumping? Why- that's just The Suicide Squad game, is it not? Wait- was this supposed to be one of those several dozen live Services that Sony was working on before the crumbling state of the genre scared off their investors? Is that what this is?

Yes, according to the PowerPoint from which the leak originates- this was very much meant to be Insomniac's live Service fuelled Spider-Man game resplendent with Seasons and battle passes and all those other hundreds of little things that Insomniac's series was initially praised for lacking. Which is why all those campaigning for the game to be put back into development are missing the point-  the reason this was cancelled is because the team looked at the writing on the wall and realised exactly where they would end up if the project entered serious development- which is exactly where most every other Live Service game ended up- squeezing out the development team between multiple projects- sucking creativity and resources until the live service dries up dead in less than a year.

It's galling to think of just how many Live Services the industry is hiding under it's skirt that are slowly being brushed under the rug and/or blamed on the guilty looking dog in the corner. Even the super-player darlings at Insomniac were briefly seduced by the apparent 'easy money' of a Live Service Spider-Man, and seriously pursued the possibility of sacrificing their reputation for some Whale Farming instruments. It's going to become a rite of passage for every company to at least plan out a Live Service before they're allowed to enter the 'big boys league' of the AAA space at this point. And I can't say I like the lack of integrity this field is synonymous with.

There's so many people out there that just see 'Online Spider-Man' and immediately start pining for what could have been, before realising the reality of the industry we're in and the obvious road to ruin which is the cost for doing business around these styles of games. Just a fun online title can't be considered anymore, now it has to be your new lifestyle that one's entire growth as a human is based around. Their children's births, their vacations, their funeral- all life events now have to be slotted around the Daily Great Web grind in order to get enough premi-bucks to shell out on that cool outfit which will only be around for the rest of this season. Does that sound like Spider-Man to you? Because to me, that sounds like abject hell.

New leak just dropped

 

What is this, a yearly occasion? I swear it was about this time last year that the Internet was gathering around to take a naughty look at the GTA VI leaks before swearing blind that they never once saw them for fear of being hunted down by Rockstar's team of elite assassins. And here we are again, discussing another leak of- would you believe it- even larger proportions! Not because this is a bigger company or a bigger game, per se- that would be literally impossible. Rather because this is perhaps one of the worst leaks of information I think we've ever seen, where there's so much floating around the web right now I'm genuinely fearful for the safety of the staff- yes, it goes that deep! And, well- someone is probably going to be losing their job for failing safety protocols- that one is pretty much for certain.

You've probably already seen the headlines, and it is fact- Insomniac games got themselves held ransom by a hacker collective who made off with 1.67 terrabytes worth of data that they held for a $2 million bounty. Paid in Crypto, of course, were it the case that Insomniac handed over the money. As it happens they didn't, whether out of bravado, fear, or because Sony told them not to, and the consequence has been the most horrendous tidal wave of leaked information one could imagine. If Grand Theft Auto's leak was like a natural disaster for the development team, you can call this a unnatural apocalypse- there is no way this isn't going to have a huge effect on the development process as the team scrambles to get ahold of just how much is in the public hands. And the biggest leak out of this mess? The unrevealed Wolverine game.

Well, 'unrevealed' is a bit of an overstatement. We had a gameplay-deprived teaser trailer announcing the team got the go-ahead to make the thing at some point- but I don't think anyone expected that our first glimpse of engine running footage would be unfinished pre-alpha testing stuff. This is pretty much the worst possible scenario for any marketing team, and I can only imagine the developers have locked away all internet access, for no other clearer reason than perhaps to save themselves from inevitable brain rot takes of' "Pff, this game dun look too good!" There's no saving it. Some truly unevolved strains of direct neanderthalian blood have already started their ragging on the visuals, animations and general aesthetic of this game that hasn't even made it to it's first ultrasound yet, let alone been born. Apparently these geniuses all looked like sculpted Michelangelo in the womb! I mean afterall, what was it that cretin said last time? "Duh, visuals are the first thing completed in game development! Everyone noes dat!" Some genepools have obviously spread too far.

Want to know what's even more depressing to hear? Apparently some of the files leaked were working builds of the early alphas. Of course none of this software has been published into workable executables outside of a developer kit PS5- but if anyone happens to have their hands on such a piece of hardware, (which isn't exactly common but you know how resourceful Internet people can be) then they could feasibly play this early build for themselves. What's worse than a leak of footage? A potential infinite font of leaks that are made fresh because of the stolen game files. That's enough to drive a man to drink, or maybe just early retirement.

Of course we've also heard news on general release dates of topics which has revealed some upsetting trends. I'm sure Hideo Kojima is just giddy to hear that this project we heard announced a year ago wasn't planning to make a debut until 2026! Isn't that just lovely? More games that get themselves fancy trailers when their still glints in their publisher's eyes, leading on people by a spaghetti thread of hype through most of a damned decade! Because that's a reasonable amount of time to expect to fill someone's headspace! Seriously- what is the benefit of these stupidly early reveals? Let other, closer, titles take the spotlight fully whilst you fiddle about with your overblown 200 million dollar masturbatory AAA why don't you! God, I'm sick of this industry's marketing stupidity. 

The leaks also reach out to Insomniac's entire release library for the coming years meaning we also know about Venom, their return to one of their beloved old school franchises and even another dream game that I won't spoil here, but provided the team make it until 2030- it will be quite the major Marvel gaming event. I would be excited but... well, I honestly expecting the Nuclear Fallout to wash over us and send us to Bethesda land before we reach the 2030's. (God, it is insane that gaming has reached the point where we're planning seven years ahead! How long do you think Bethesda are planning, considering they think Starfield is going to live on until 2033?) Oh, and we also know that the team aren't abandoning the Spider-Man franchise for their other key projects. They want to wrap that whole thing up before moving onto their next franchise. (At least that's job security for ya.)

But here's the crazy thing. Personal, identifiable information about the actual development staff at Insomniac found itself into these leaks, essentially doxing the workers of this project to the entire internet full of mount-breathing wierdoes who likely wouldn't pass a psyche evaluation to join the army. (And is it really hard to fail an army psyche eval.) I mean sure, 99% of people looking at all these leaks couldn't care less about that stuff. But the 1% who do look it up? Well, they're likely the same 1% who are only currently with the rest of us on the internet right now as a stop gap on their way to a small box in an institute. Penal or otherwise. Real people's safety has potentially been put into jeopardy hear and that is not a matter that should just be brushed over!

Overall, this has been one hell of a bad week for the fellows at Insomniac games- probably vastly out shadowing their recent nominations for best game of the year. You just really don't expect to receive a blow to the testes like this when you sit down to make a project, and I know that personally I would rather chew out someone's eyes than show them an uncompleted little draft of a piece that I'm writing. Nothing is worse than that feeling of all your insecurities laid bare before you've had to appropriately pave over them with professionalism and grit. I can't say I'm personally excited for the prospect of seeing some of these belated release dates get themselves knocked back as well, although considering Insomniac's track record I wasn't going to be playing Wolverine until 2031 anyway, so I'm not exactly weeping either. They still don't deserve this however, just to be clear.  

Spiderman Remastered on PC Review

 With great power comes a great game, it would seem.

Like many super-fans of my age, I grew with a pretty static vision of what the 'perfect Spider Man' game should be. A vision I carried with me so very far considering the fact that, again 'back in my day' Activision seemed to be publishing a brand new Spiderman game every 6 months or so. That vision actually formed for me quite a while before I'd ever seen it brought into fruition, because even when playing the PS1 Spiderman game from the 2000's (A cherished childhood memory of mine) the dreamer in me couldn't help but wish for a game where the swinging felt more... tactile. Maybe even a game wherein the city wasn't covered in a miasma-like fog that instantly killed you whenever you left the mission bounds, where 'swinging' actually connected to passing building and didn't just clutch onto the atmosphere (Which was actually used as an in-universe reason for what the webs were doing for one game), and the player could get the sense that they were just living the daily life of the Spider-Man. You know, swinging about the city as you please, rocking up to some criminals on the street and pounding them silly whilst making silly quips and swinging off as soon as it was done. It seemed a indistinct and wild dream. Then Spiderman 2 happened.

No, not the sequel to the 2000's game. (I've actually never played that game and seriously want to get around to it some day.) I'm talking about the movie licenced adaptation of the Spiderman 2 movie which held the crown for the best movie licenced game for an obscene amount of time. (Some would argue it still holds that crown.) Spiderman 2 was the dream for so many of us; open world exploration, a dive into so many of Spiderman's most famous villains and, of course, the swinging! Through a plethora of techniques including a rudimentary momentum system, speed effect visuals on the sides of the screen when swinging fast and the oft-forgotten rule of having Spiderman's webs actually connect to the buildings he was swinging from; (Thanks to an invisible fulcrum point present in the middle of all those buildings that Spiderman would stick to) players were sold into the web slinging fantasy like never before. That would remain the gold standard of Spiderman games forever more.

Even as we rocked past great to good Spiderman games from there on, the spectre of what Spiderman 2 accomplished in what it felt like to be the web-head, lingered on. Throughout the actually very underrated 'Ultimate Spiderman' game, the surprisingly influential 'Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions' (Which incidentally lead to the Spiderverse comic, then movie) and the somewhat overly ambitious and tonally confused 'Web of Shadows'. The giant of Spiderman 2 was tested, but never toppled by any one of these games; some from over a decade into the future! Having played them all (Except for 'Amazing Spiderman 2') I considered myself the expert on this trend of games failing to top what that glittering original set-up presented. Which is why it almost shocks me to say, even after all the excitement and fervour that Spiderman PS4 got when it launched, that this new Spiderman game (Which I played on PC) is the best Spiderman game ever made. On practically all grounds.

Insomniac Games knew the assignment exactly when the went into this game, tracking every single pressure point that each Spiderman game had suffered from over the years and hyper-focusing into resolving all of them and treating the property right. They made sure webs stuck to surfaces, Spiderman had a genuine walking cycle that didn't look ridiculous, and momentum built properly and felt satisfying to accumulate. And they were proud of their creation. You can tell how proud they were, given the fact that Insomniac designed the very beginning of this game to feature an iconic cutscene-to-action set-piece that transitions the player immediately into swinging with as little instruction as how to fire a web (with a trigger) and how to let go (by letting go of that same trigger) imparting immediately the inherently intuitive action of holding the web as long as Spiderman does. Simply elegant in it's execution.

I could probably dedicate an entire review just talking about the transcendent majesty of what Insomniac Games achieved with the swinging of Spiderman PS4, but that would be at risk of forgetting the other talents the game has. Such as the combat- a fantastic system obviously owing some connective tissue with the brilliant Arkham games for the fluid jump-around strike system with dodges, flips, special take-down build up meters and differing enemy types that require you to change up your strategy mid-stream. One big deviation is the exclusion of Batman's 'counter' button, which made it feasible for a player to take fights as a kind of defensives dance where each avoided attack stunned and hurt the offending enemy in an 'answer-response' pirouette of fists. Spiderman only dodges with each close call, meaning that you have to be on the offensive or else you'll never finish anyone off.

Spiderman's combat also doesn't link every combat gadget to a mixture of face buttons, which makes combat feel less like a mastery of a physical language of button prompts you have to memorise and more free-form- particularly in what these gadgets can do and how situationally versatile they can prove. Additionally, Spiderman's most useful alternative ability is his webs: the quickest way to take down anyone is to encase them in webs and then stick them to a surface, which becomes the meta making up most every fight once you get the hang of all your gadgets and movement abilities. Fortunately, the game provides just enough enemy variety that this is never as easy as it sounds, thus those few times when you can wipe out an entire street of enemies with a single web-bomb and then a concussion blast knocking everyone to a sticky wall, quite special. 

 

Another aspect of this Spiderman game that totally took me for a shock for how impressive it was: how the story is handled. Like all the most ambitious stories expecting to impress, Spiderman starts at the climax of another narrative, Spiderman's final battle with Wilson Fisk: The Kingpin. It's a short bevy of missions leading up to one explosive and destructive finale to a long standing crusade only ever hinted at. As this narrative takes place on year 8 of Spiderman's time in the suit, quite a lot of the previously established world and connections are conveyed by hints of the wall-crawler's illustrious crime-fighting history; which both works to the game's advantage in speeding past tedious and well-worn introductions to character's we've met a million times over and to it's disadvantage when it can leave you a little disoriented wondering where in Spiderman's life he currently is at with each of his friends and enemies.

By starting off in such a grand and impressive fashion, Insomniac were being clear with their mission statement. They wanted to show off the spectacle of the beginning and say "You ain't seen nothing yet" which is itself a bold challenge to make if the studio fails to live up to it; but then Insomniac are never 'under-achievers', now are they? Dealing with Wilson Fisk is only half of the intro, with the other half introducing a side to this Superhero story which is so often overlooked in these sorts of games that it genuinely surprised me when they showed it off: the human underneath the mask. Peter Parker and his personal struggles in life through searching for purpose in his work, fumbling through finances and potentially getting evicted and trying to navigate his breakup from Mary Jane; all play significant roles as important framing to the rest of the Spiderman package as Peter learns to "Accept that you're human, like the rest of us", as May puts it. Making a fine contrast to the Arkham games for which Rocksteady stubbornly insisted that Bruce Wayne had no place in their Batman story because this wasn't a "Business man simulator". Well Spiderman isn't a 'science guy simulator' either, but the human side of Peter plays a very important role in some of the genuinely effective emotional heights of Spiderman at it's best.

As an open world, Spiderman is, of course, full of side activities to keep the player busy and it's here where things could have gone really wrong if the developer's failed to provide good reason why the player should explore and care about the wider world and not just dedicate themselves to the core narrative. Here the team excelled with the introduction of 'activity tokens.' Essentially, every side activity, be it taking pictures of landmarks, tracking down old backpacks or beating up criminals in the street, all award you with a certain token representative of that activity; these count towards the crafting system allowing players to craft slotable perks or, more exciting, suits! Spiderman features dozens of unlockable and craftable alternate suits from newly designed costumes to comic book inspired outfits to faithful recreations of every single costume worn in each of the live action movies. Including the 4 different outfits that Tom Holland's Spiderman has worn throughout the MCU. (And his mechanical eyes even work in cutscenes) It's incredible work that the team achieved such a level of customisation potential. Identifying real reasons that players would want to do side activities and making that the sensible reward- simple genius.

The backpack collectibles are especially clever, as the various mementos that Spiderman collects tell the piece-meal story of Peter's early years, from Winning the Wilson Fisk science competition (and moralistically turning down that prize) to leaving the Daily Bugle in order to become a researcher- with the full image becoming clearer to the player with the more you collect. Kind of similar to the way that Miyazaki designs his narrative in his Souls' games. (Yeah, I found a way to drag his name into a Spiderman review! And what?) None of the collectibles are thrown out into the wild as just a nothing objective to keep players busy, as sometimes becomes the hallmark of less lovingly crafted open world games. This is how you ensure you're players want to stick around for the long haul, and is probably the reason why I actually ended up 100%-ing the game. 

One of the most effective design decisions, and one I've seen reflected in a few games starting to pick up on what a good idea this is, would be the inclusion of dynamic objectives whenever you enter a fight. Small side objectives that challenge you to do a certain combat action for an extra token, nudging the player to try out different moves and abilities so that they end up naturally expanding their moveset outside of just what works into what is fun to work with. This comes together beautifully in one of my favourite, whilst also one of the most basic, activities; the Strongholds. Throwing 6 waves of enemies at you can easily be a recipe for disaster (See: Watch_Dogs Legion) but when you have this many combat options, with distinct enemy variations per faction, coming together to make a dynamic and fluid combat system: waves just feel like the perfect excuse to let every strategy and gadget fly freely. (Although I do think the progressive 'String X number of combo moves together' challanges got excessive. The last one was 95 hits- were they high?)

My only real gripe with this would be two fold; firstly, I genuinely can't stand the design of one of the most important suits. And yes, it's the one on the front cover. It's actually not the bright white spider logo on the chest, I actually like that spider- it's the faded out red on the rest of his suit. Why is it such a faded red? Every other outfit picks a more royal and impressive red- why cheap out for the main game suit? And secondly, out of all the activities available to the player, the Harry Osborn stations are the most annoying. It's not that they're repetitive, actually each comes with it's own mini side mission designed to give the player differing tasks- it's honestly just the concept of helping these research stations be 'useful to Oscorp' which I can't help but find ultimately dull. I didn't care enough and the missions were too involved to not be brushed past without a care, requiring cutscenes and scene transitions and all that guff. 

One way in which Insomniac chose to change up their gameplay was with the inclusion of a few minigames, similar to the Arkham series; but I guess getting into the Yakuza franchise has slightly ruined by sensibilities because I found myself annoyed by how undeveloped and basic they were. The 'Pipes' minigame was so derivative I literally rolled my eyes when I first saw it (And the inclusion of 'directional' pipes is such a non factor I'm confused why the team bothered) and the spectrograph minigame just instilled me with dread everytime it came up. I think that was the dread of getting a relatively simple puzzle that my blockhead couldn't wrap itself around. (Which was often.) Overall, not the best minigames.

Another 'switch it up' gameplay idea would be when the game decides to take you out of the shoes of Spidey and put you in the powerless boots of Mary Jane Watson or Miles Morales for a stealth sneak section. As far as 'changing the pace' goes, I'll admit that these moments are conceptually good. However when the core gameplay of Spiderman is as good as it is, being ripped away for even one brief section of gameplay does start to feel like torture after a while. Especially considering how many times it happens; I counted something in the real of 5 separate 'powerless' scenes throughout the game! That being said, the team are creative with these moments, and I thought it was genuinely clever to have one scene as Mary Jane directing Spiderman through a 'Predator' stealth section; switching perspective to be the human working with the superhero- very clever.

Whilst I'm talking about them, let me cover the 'extended cast' for a little bit. Miles is great as the literal personification of a younger Peter, so we can get a mirrored origin narrative without rehashing the same beats we all know ad nauseum. Miles has such energy to him as a bright and excitable teen that he comes across as fun and easy to like. Mary Jane has actually undergone some alterations for this incarnation of her, becoming a journalist instead of a model. Now conceptually that is a little trite- she can now join the 'reporter girlfriends' club with Lois Lane and Iris West, but I understand why it's such a cliché. 'Journalism' is a sensible way to combine the super-hero activity of the hero with their crime reporting spouse. However I was a little disappointed to discover the reason why she and Pete broke up. The "You always baby me" plot point is eye-wateringly overdone in Super hero media; with the whole ''why won't you let me get myself killed going against a room full of armed gangsters?' sounding more like an exercise in jealous overcompensating at this point. But I'll admit that this Spiderman does at least frame it's writing well enough that this iteration of the idea doesn't grate too much, and the actual actress who portrays Mary Jane works wonderfully with her material to be likable despite the less-than-bountiful roots of the character sheet.

Yuri Lowenthal is the actor hired to fill the very tall boots of Spiderman throughout this narrative, and his role as Spiderman hits every single note you'd need it to and even touches on some emotional highpoints I didn't anticipate as Peter Parker. (And during the inevitable collision of those two identities.) Spiderman is quippy and juvenile in a mostly friendly way, circling on the verge of being annoying but never quite falling into that trap. (I really thought the 'Spider-cop routine would get stale quick, but it actually made me laugh near the end. And now I feel forlorn calling back to it!) And by the late act we really get to see the pain and pleading in Peter's voice as he's dragged to his limits. I seriously came away from the game wondering how on earth Insomniac is going to dig deeper into this character to justify a series they seem dead-set on following. Which is a good feeling to have, by the way, because it means I felt satisfied and happy with the extent this story alone explored!

Speaking of that third act, I was pleasantly surprised by the competency of this team to depict the rising stakes and tension of the plot through the state of the world. Act 2 being the rise of the police state looming over the freedoms of the city with Act 3 being the total break-down of every concept of 'order' that New York was clinging to. That third act was a total paradigm shift to the level of GTA San Andreas' final act world state, only I think that this game had something of a superior depiction due to Spiderman's web slinging deftness which allows him to navigate a riot-strewn hellscape without being a victim constantly in danger of it. The riots are an atmospheric complement to the heights of the plot rather than an overwhelming force deconstructing the player's ability to enjoy that atmosphere.

Spiderman seems to really understand the importance of allowing the player to be in control as much as possible, so that they can take everything in at their own pace. You're constantly being given the free reign to explore and do what you want, quests don't nag you to complete them every few seconds, you never have a timer to reach a location no matter how dire the supposed stakes are. One might suspect that such a freedom might sacrifice agency, but if you are invested enough in the plot (which a story as well written as this one should achieve with no problem) then the agency confers itself to the player without it having to hang around their neck like a noose. It's this sense of freedom that brings me back to the brilliance of the navigation, which really is the cornerstone of the entire game. The swinging being as good as it is, I honestly enjoyed going from A to B more than fighting. Which isn't to say that the combat was bad at all, because it isn't; but the navigation really is just that much fun!

If only I could extend the same gratis to the game's many boss fights. In their haste to be accessible, I think the team boxed themselves a little into a corner when it came to designing really mechanically distinct boss fights. Essentially every boss fight works like this: stun the boss and then wail on them until the stun wears off. That stun can be from throwing some debris in their face or webbing them up... and that's about it. Each fight is wreathed in so much spectacle and fantastic circumstance to fool you that this boss might be different, before devolving into that same pattern once again. It's all about just figuring out where the opportunity to stun lies, with the only fights that dares to slightly change things up being the Rhino fight and the literal last fight of the last DLC: Sliver Lining. None of these fights are challenging in the slightest. I'm not asking for anything to the level of Sekiro, I just want a boss I have to roll my sleeves up for and come away going "Phew, that was a battle!" Arkham didn't have the greatest boss encounters either, but at least they were all mechanically creative; Spiderman could learn a little something from the caped crusader.

Visually the city of New York looks incredible, even if we only get to explore one of it's islands. (No Statue of Liberty visit? I'm shocked!) The street feels populated, the sun glares gloriously, and I feel the need to take screenshots constantly. Speaking of- can I just thank the Spiderman team for including one of the best photomodes ever? Selfie options, stickers, filters, the ability to photomode in-engine cutscenes! For a 'screenshot junkie' like me this really is the dream scenario, as I'm sure you can see from the abundance of bad composition pictures I have stuck everywhere up and down this page. Graphically gorgeous without melting computer components; that is the mark of a solidly constructed game with a great art direction.

Music of course bears mentioning, as the many themes of Spiderman are often the only ambient sounds you have to accompany you through long stretches of swinging. I think the main overworld music is fittingly sweeping and orchestral, rivalling that sense of adventure and grandeur of my favourite Sam Raimi score. (I wonder if there might have been some small inspiration there.) Character themes didn't really start standing out to me until the DLC, wherein we had Hammerhead's 70's gangster movie motif and Black Cat's shrill and scene-cutting track which seems to make her the centre of attention wherever she goes. (Just like the character)

Speaking of, the 'City Never Sleeps' DLC presents a narrative much more inline with what the Spiderman games had been used to in my childhood. Traditional stakes, Spidey-centric narratives, bombast with only a touch of genuine pathos wound in there. I actually think that this slight divergence in tone helped wind down from the emotionally charged final act of Spiderman which doesn't really need to be met until a sequel. (Presumably with the Venom encounter which sounds a lot more juicy after seeing the tease at the end of the main game.) I also quite liked the small teasers for 'Spiderman: Miles Morales' that Insomniac managed to sneak in there too, edging me to play that game next as if the supremacy of the main game wasn't going to get me there anyway.

Summary

Spiderman is a well trodden character both in comics and games, such to the point I wouldn't have expected to be impressed either narratively or in gameplay by yet another 'fresh take' of the beloved franchise. But  this Spiderman slapped that preconceived notion right out of my mouth. It easily trounces all previous Spiderman games in almost every metric that matters, delivers the definitive swinging experience, the best combat any Spiderman game has known and the strongest narrative interweaving the stories of the masked menace and Peter Parker, with a little of Miles' origin story sprinkled on top for a balanced meal. Insomniac have proven their mastery of the action adventure genre once again by giving a full feeling open world where the navigation mechanic alone is worthy of the price of admission and 100% completion comes naturally as a course of loving being in this game world.

Through many years of attempts and reiterations and revisits of the concept, we've finally reached a game that nails the feeling of being Spiderman, even despite the few hang-ups I encountered with some aspects such as the wanting boss design I'd go so far as to call this a simply legendary game and a standard to which future super hero games simply must be judged. As such, you can probably guess that I'm heading towards a fine 'recommend' on Spiderman Remastered for PC. Additionally, I've only just about hit on the arbitrary grade of A+, falling short only because decent Boss Fights would have been the ribbon on this package that would have secured my first S rank review. Still, this is simply a must have for everyone who grew up loving the age of Spiderman media and hoping a radioactive insect would give them a bite. You know... without causing instant cellular breakdown...

Marvel's Spiderman 2

 Talk about getting busy

I'm swinging through the streets of New York, dangling nearly a thousand feet from the ground, swapping web for web  at speeds so rapid that the screen has that blurry effect on the character that we wouldn't all collective realise looks awful until several years from now. This is it, the greatest possible realisation of the webslinging dream, unbound by mission constraints, unafflicted with a non-existent street level, boasting webs that accurately pretend to stick to buildings- the only way this could feasibly be any better would be, oh wait: there it is! The voice of Bruce Campbell admonishing me for what I don't know, but gracing me with his presence all the same. See the many virtues that will forever make the 2004 Spiderman 2 game the greatest Peter Parker simulator known to man. (Although from everything I'm told I guess Marvel's Spiderman is a close second.)

And yet Insomniac games have the gall to try and dethrone my ageless king with their very own Spiderman 2! Such to the extent where, now if I type in 'Spiderman 2 game' into Google, theirs has already clogged up search results. (It won't even be done for another two years, guys, calm down!) I will not hide my utter repugnance at the very suggestion that Spiderman 2 can be bested, but perhaps that throne may be shared and if anyone could whittle away a comfy seat there, it would have to be Insomniac. (Unless they manage to finagle Bruce Campbell to show up in their game as well. Then I'd actually be having a crisis of faith) And they better live up the name they've built for themselves and put something out that's fantastic, because seeing two AAA Marvel games apparently be under development by them at the same time, I have to wonder if everyone knows what they're doing over there.

Marvel's Wolverine and Marvel Spiderman 2? So what- we talking simultaneous development here? My observations have always seen that companies who conflate their development schedules usually do so to the detriment of every single project that they're working on. Heck, look at Assassin's Creed back when they were still deadset on doing yearly releases, forcing them to overlap every game with the next one coming out. Every title started to become monotonous and samey, serious player feedback was so outdated that it became irrelevant when it was addressed and the heart of these games just felt absent, probably due to a lack of passion from overworking, alongside other big issues. Call of Duty slipped into the same pattern, although they were at least smart enough to try and rectify this with various different studios who would attack each game in rotation. But it only worked a little, the yearly schedule still did the series no wonders. So is that what we can expect from Insomniac in the near future?

I seriously hope not, because as I recently said in another blog about The Wolverine game; few companies have risen to the legendary status that Insomniac have managed over pretty much a single console generation. That's the sort of legacy that needs to be protected, the kind of legacy that demands everyone of their AAA games be treated like kings, and given the care, attention (and development space) they need to thrive as the best they can be. Spiderman Miles Morales was already a disappointment due to it's size and scope not really justifying the stupid full price on the tag. (Yes, I know Sony are deadset on convincing us that £70 is the new 'full price', but they can choke on that crap for all I care.) Insomniac have stated how that won't be the case again, but I look at this schedule and I worry. (What's the catch then? There's gotta be a catch!)

As for the game itself; sure I'm crazy excited for it. For all my jests, Marvel's Spiderman for the PS4 did the impossible and took a character who has enough games to choke a whale on and still managed to put out a definitive competitor to the entire subgenre. I mean sure, old hats like me will always rate the classics, Spiderman 2 (original), Web of Shadows and Ultimate Spiderman; but there's no denying the impact that Marvel's Spiderman had. The game looked beautiful, explored an original narrative, went in interesting directions with the character of Peter Parker and revitalised some old villains. And that was just the story stuff it did. The combat, which I actually do have experience with, is Batman Arkham levels of tight and the detail and design of the world is simply flawless. Although that final point would be a lot more impressive if New York wasn't one of those skylines that have been in more games than Nolan North.

Spiderman Miles Morales, on the otherhand, managed to dupe people into buying a half a game at full price, but also succeeded in bringing a hugely successful alternate Spiderman to life with his very own style and life to him. It also inspired a cringe game reviewer to utter a sentence commenting on how his unique animation quirks were "full of the exaggerated swagger of a black teen"; so this game granted us all kinds of entertainment. Spiderman 2 is going to bring both of these protagonists together in a confirmed co-op space which is, and I'm using effortless hyperboles here but I can't help myself, just incredible. Playing with the precision of Spiderman but stretched across two spidermen at the same time? Both with their different levelling trees and stuff? Man- Insomniac must have cancelled all of their holidays if they think they can got the time and space to meet their schedule. But heck, I'm rooting for them!

And none of what I've said so far is to even touch on the most exciting part of the game was saw teased. I mean sure, Kraven the Hunter was obviously narrating the thing; he's a character that a lot of fans simply love but I never really saw the appeal so that's 'whatever news' to me. No, I wanna talk about the big slobbery dude at the end, ducked in the shadows there; because Venom is my spiderman villain/sometimes Anti-hero of choice. He's literally just Spiderman reimagined as a monster with teeth, and who doesn't love an idea like that? He's miles better than ManSpider who- urgh, I hate that I had to google him to remind myself that was definitely his name. (Seriously, if you've never seen ManSpider before: he's a deformed human sized spider in a suit; there, now you don't need to look it up.) The Venom chapters were my favourite parts of Ultimate Spiderman, (both the proper version and the crappy gameboy advanced version which only I in the whole world played) now I get pumped for everyone of best-boi-symbiote's gaming appearances. (And doubly so when my man is being voiced by the legendary Tony Todd- Way to bring the talent, Insomniac!)

Spiderman has never been in better hands (in terms of videogames) than it is today, and given the number of hands that the franchise has gone through that really is a testament to it's current arbiters. Were this calibre of spiderman game coming out back when I was still a kid, I wouldn't have ever looked at another Superhero. However the concerns I have about the project, and Insomniac overworking themselves, still looms over the whole thing like a vulture, and I know just how easily everything can fall apart even from the height of near perfection, and so I can't just put those worries to the side. Still, Insomniac believe in themselves, and maybe that'll be enough to carry them through what's looking to be the most hectic two years of development in the company's history. (I'm excited for the results)

Insomniac Wolverine

 I'm the best at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice

There's something to be said about cultivating a reputation for quality. It's pretty much all that Sony have troubled themselves with for the last few console generations, and when you take a look at the returns it has granted them you can absolutely understand their reasoning. Countless units moved, top of console race for over half a decade now, fans beating themselves silly trying to get their hands on the new console; Sony is in a great place. And it all comes back to the way that they've secured exclusives so fine you could slice a leaf along a river bed with them. And it hasn't been this garish monopolisation move of running around and buying pretty looking games for their store, (like the bores over at Epic seem to think it's about) Sony have invested in studios, cultivated talent and homebrewed a generation's worth of classic games from loyalist studios. In doing so they've turned household name studios into absolute legends of the Industry. (Shame they refuse to do so for any indie studio out there, but I guess Sony it a bit 'elitist' in that regard.)

Now Insomniac games were by no means nobodies before the great Playstation renaissance, they has some absolute Classic Playstation franchises under their belt for years beforehand. Ratchet and Clank, Spyro, Resistance, those are the sorts of games that inspire armies of adoration from their darling fans. But even then they were just a teeny bit 'cult' in their following. Don't get me wrong, all of those series' have met with huge successes and spawned sprawling legacies to back up those success', but they weren't hitting the mainstream quite as hard as those flagships that everyone thinks of first when they think 'gaming'. Which was completely fine, of course, because back then that spot was only really reserved for the stupidly successful like Mario, Call of Duty and later Minecraft. But one Insomniac Games has always been is loyalist, and that has served them incredibly well these last few years.

Having not owned a PlayStation since the PS2, my last interaction with Insomniac's work wasn't really all that transformative for my opinion on them, considering it was 'Sunset Overdrive'. (One of only three games that Insomniac have allowed to be released on Xbox) Now I know that Sunset Overdrive has its fans out there, and I'll be the first to say that the game is beautiful and stands up even today for that regard alone, but my-oh-my I couldn't stand listening to that game for a second longer. The creator's tired to imbue the spirit of the game with the irreverent carefree unconventional chaos of inspirations like Tank Girl and... 'The Young Ones'? (I love that show) But it just never felt natural for me, more like a synthetic wannabe. I mean, how can you base the heart of your art piece around 'Counter culture' influences when your game is being paraded around by Xbox bigwigs and is flying from ever banner and advertising slot that Microsoft can afford. It spoke to a spiritual imbalance that really affected my time trying to get into the game. Still, the actual game itself was quality.

Around the time of Overdrive something was really siding into place over at Insomniac, that game alone had earned them a bigger spotlight then I remember them every really having, (which I think was simply because Microsoft was chuffed to have their talents) but they would never release another AAA game without a comparable or greater level of fanfare. Their next big console game would be the PS4's Rachet and Clank, a game which Sony rode as a system seller, followed in the next year by Marvel's Spiderman, which was a huge system seller! As they currently stand, Insomniac have reached that level of fame that I was talking about, where their games are now synonymous with the concept of  'gaming' for their sheer quality and cultural proliferation alone. (Although the millions in Sony-funded marketing did it's part to signal boost, I'll bet.)

Now, in the wake of what looks like a concerted effort to start a video game universe in order to compliment their cinematic one, Marvel and Sony seem to have definitively looked to Insomniac to be their trailblazer. (Not exclusively to Insomniac, mind. But it's pretty clear that the first-pick opportunities are arriving on their doorstep) Just think about how much of a responsibility that is, one of the world's largest and most successful entertainment franchises are putting their efforts on your door; it just goes to show you the absolute transformation which Insomniac has undergone from an already great studio into a truly legendary one. They are now the arbiters of Sony's oh-so-important Spiderman brand, and as was revealed during the last Sony event, they've just taken Wolverine under their wing too. (So comic's breakout star alongside X-men's breakout star. They sure know how to bag the best characters, huh?)

And even with that practically empty reveal trailer, which doesn't even do so much as tell us whether we'll be seeing classic short wolverine or Hugh-Jackman-inspired tall wolverine, there's not a single person out there worried about Insomniac's ability to nail this. (They've earned that trust over the years.) Wolverine has only ever seen one other game totally dedicated to him, and that was the movie tie in to that awful 'Origins' movie. At the very least that last game managed to bring the gore one would hope for from a Wolverine project. (or at least, I would hope for) Insomniac have been tight-lipped so far on the 'gore' front, although they have claimed this is going to be a mature rated game, and one that will be something closer to full length than their 'Spiderman Miles Morales' title. (So maybe gore-strewn hope abounds?)

What I hope for in this entry would be for Insomniac to do something similar to what they did with Spiderman, in that it was a story they didn't tell from the beginning. Although Wolverine's character origins aren't nearly as plundered poor as Spiderman's origins, I just think that telling the start of a heroes journey in general is overdone and devoid of opportunities for originality and pushing new storylines that take our favourite characters and put them in different lights. (Besides, which origin would they even tell? Would we go James Howlett and Alpha Flight? Does anyone other than me still remember that origin story?) That doesn't mean I'm demanding that Insomniac sit down and adapt Old Logan to their game, but that I'd prefer a Wolverine story closer to that side of the character than towards his boringly inconsistent origins. Let the lone wolf shine on his own being the unstrained murder machine that others try to stop him from being, do that and I have real optimism for what this new title can achieve.

So another notch is added to the Insomniac broach of excellence, as that once-little company swells to take on bigger and bigger challenges. They grow any more ambitious than this and we'll have to start worrying about the inevitable fall-off when greed takes over the desire to create quality. (It happens to everyone in time.) But until then we will all just marvel (hah) at a team forever redefining what it is to make a triple A game, and in some instance proving to be the great hope for lovers of single player experiences. All I wish now is that I could get genuinely excited about one day playing the game, but given the fact that the next generation consoles are about as mythical as planet Nibiru down in this sorry swamp of a county, I can't really get my hopes up. (Oh well, as least I can be excited to watch some cool second hand gameplay once the thing releases...)

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

This is Ratchet AF

Here's a game that I wasn't expecting, but then again I don't know why, it seems that the gang always make their way to Sony at least once a generation. 'Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart' marks the first time we've seen this dynamic duo since their movie debut which was actually just a stitched composite of the PS4 game's cutscenes into a 2016 embarrassment. (That came out on my birthday, urgh. As though that day needed to be even more cursed...) This marks a brand new opportunity for the franchise to serve as a showcase for all that the newest generation of consoles has to innovate upon, and to their credit, this is actually one of the first games which has managed to tease that very well. Extraordinarily well, in fact, to the point that I am genuinely impressed by what I've seen. (Huh, being impressed isn't really an emotion I'm used to, how strange...)

I'm not exactly a die hard purist when it comes to the 'Ratchet and Clank' games, but I do have some limited experience of playing them as a kid, so I understand the hype. These games came out in a time where action adventure roaming games were a dime a dozen, and yet this title still managed to stand out on the virtue of the unique offerings that it bought to the table. Namely, 'Ratchet and Clank' felt like a more mature take on the genre, with the cool sci-fi themes and a huge arsenal of exotic weaponry; and they also managed to nail the feeling of adventuring around new and exciting worlds that felt different and distinct from one another. Additionally, these were some of the first games wherein I experienced what it was like to search for collectables that actually felt worthwhile. They weren't just hear to fill a percentage completion bar, they had a marked effect on the way the game played and that made the search feel so much more special.

Of course, after the PS2 I've never owned a PlayStation (sad face) and so I've been missing out on the 'Ratchet and Clank' games ever since. But given the strength of the brand I can only assume that they've managed to keep up their unique brand of magic, especially as they remain and action adventure games in a world that seems thoroughly through with that concept. (They remain the celebrated exception.) As such I always smile whenever I see our favourite rodent (Wait, Lombrax are cats? I thought they were weasels all this time!) and his adorably compact metallic sidekick, these are never games that are subject to substantial dips in quality or avaricious tendencies. (With the obvious exception of that cash-grab of a movie.) Thus it was wise of Playstation to stick these guys so prominently in this event showcasing the future, because if Insomniac Games is shaping up to represent the face of PlayStation's future, then that means Sony is making a dedication to quality over quantity. (Hope you're taking notes, Microsoft.)

From the announcement, fans were greeted with a current engine rendition of their Lombrax protagonist, and it's safe to say that ol' Ratchet has honestly never looked better. His model alone seems to have finally shirked that strange 'shaved-cat' aesthetic that he faintly conveyed in earlier depictions, and the quality of his fur is honestly top tier. (I'm talking Sulley levels of fur modelling here.) But even more then that, the animation in general shines on a frankly astounding levels for a fully featured video game. From the smallest insect to the shape of the land itself, this game looks like one of those high-effort animations that Blizzard put out once every 4 years or a newer Pixar movie. It's insane the level of detail and quality that we're seeing here and I feel it makes a suitable testament to the quality of the team and even, at the slight stretch, the equipment that they are using to bring all this together. I think it's safe to say that 10 years ago no one ever thought they'd play a game that looked and breathed as well as a blockbuster animation would, yet here we are.

Of course, for this reveal the opening shots are very much just the appetiser, and the meat of the trailer contains the real eye-bulging content. After being ambushed by some shiny robots, Ratchet and Clank mount on a very seamless chase scene wherein they are thrown through a rift and into a whole other world within the blink of an eye. This entire sequence reminded me of that PS5 tech demo which everyone was losing their minds about a few weeks back, of the woman flying through high detail environments at Mach 5. I don't usually look to tech demos to being much of  a benchmark because usually their ideas are theoretical and rarely directly reflect the sorts of games you'll actually be playing. Looks I was in the wrong this time, however, because that is pretty much exactly what this rift-shifting scene showed off in explicit detail; high-speed loading and insane detailing.

As Ratchet is haphazardly chucked from world to world we see a showcase both of the variety and scope of the game in question and the nauseating possibilities of the next generation. We see drastic shifts in environment, colour palette and lighting situations, all rendered without any glaring hiccups or inconsistencies. We see Ratchet move fluidly from riding a small animal, to grinding a railing, to falling, to sliding down a building, to flying on a wyvern to fighting. And we see scale, depicted in some many fashions. Huge cityscapes, to bottomless chasms and ever-stretching oceans; it's clear what sort of image that Insomniac are trying to establish for their newest game, and what sort of reputation that Sony want to leech for their own tech. This is the platform built for endless exploration, for creating whole new worlds and for horizons that you never quite reach. That is the power of the Playstation 5.

With that, I can safely say that 'Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart' is one of the first games that I've seen during one of these events that I can say totally deserves it's spot at a next-gen reveal event. (I mean, 'Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2' looked impressive too, but this showcase actually had gameplay) From what we've seen, everything that this trailer showed off was quite frankly impossible on the current generation of consoles; loading entire worlds and switching between them simultaneously, holding a consistently unjittering framerate and keeping so much action on screen at once. Finally I'm starting to understand what to look at for in the newest generation of games and what I should be excited to experience, whilst before it was all just vague promises that the graphics kinda looked better probably. So good job Insomniac, for actually performing your job and drumming up excitement for the next gen unlike almost every other game which is just courting buzz for themselves.

 The trailer ends with a stinger of Clank coming face to face with a lady Lomrax. Again, I haven't played enough R&C to recognise the significance of this. I vaguely recall a plot point of Ratchet's species being rare, but that just be a cliche that my subconscious has transplanted from any number of similar stories. Irregardless, the trailer has done it's job and I, along with so many others, am now supremely interested in this title. (If only it wasn't an exclusive and I had any feasible chance of actually playing it. Alas.) As the second trailer of the event, this certainly did set a good precedent for the event and, in my opinion, is a big reason why folk came away sold on the PlayStation 5. (Insomniac did it again.)

Spider man: Miles Morales

Where is Peni's game?

Yeah, there was another video gaming event last week, only this one was on the Playstation 5. Yay. This time they spent a little more time showing off gameplay next to the trailers and did it make all the difference? Kinda, not really. People's outrage was pretty dumb in the first place, to be honest. (But I can't wait for all the videos of people saying "This is how it's done! I felt the games, woah!") But my biggest take-away from the event was thus; the PS5 looks like a modem, and I still don't like their controller's layout. (But I guess that's more of a trademark issue, so I can't fault Sony too hard.) To their credit, the digital version of the PS5 doesn't look quiet as awkward, but without seeing any price points it's hard to get overly excited. (Also, I do miss the idea of holding a real disc in my hands. Even though, I'll readily admit, the vast majority of current gen games I own are digital.)

But that's neither here nor there for the moment because it's time to talk about the vast array of new titles that Playstation saw fit to showcase at us during their bloated conference. (I know that word has inherently negative connotations, but given the games that Playstation had to show I mean that as an absolute compliment.) One such game, the first they showed in fact, was the sequel to game that had many sceptics when it was first announced (including me) but which turned out to be one of the biggest games that PS4 put out in it's entire lifespan. Of course I'm talking about the exciting 'Spider Man: Miles Morales' which takes the popular spider-verse character (Yes, I know he existed before that movie, I'm merely citing his most popular point of reference) and finally brings him to the digital forefront in his first video game appearance ev- oh wait, he was in 'Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3'. (Does this mean we're getting a Spider-Gwen game next? I am so freakin' down for that prospect it might eclipse my excitement for the game that were actually getting.)

For those who never had the pleasure, Spiderman PS4 was a free-roaming Spiderman adventure that finally broke the curse of substandard web slinging titles ever since 'Spiderman 2'. (Which seems insane to me. This concept lends itself to video games so well and yet there was so many Spider-duds that missed the mark. 'Amazing Spiderman 2', anybody?) The game brought fans a beautiful city, brilliant webslinging, dynamic action and controls, with a heartfelt narrative that ticked just about ever Peter Parker fan's boxes for the ideal Spider-game. (These spider-puns are getting out of hand. I need to stop.) What Insomniac achieved with Spiderman PS4 was much more than just a solid game, they created a baseline foundation for what a superhero game could be, and those foundations were so solid that even at the prospect of a new title built with those same tools people are fit to lose their damn minds.

The trailer itself isn't actually dripping in the way of details, but that's not really the point either. The world was so sold on the strength of the original that they could have just tweeted out a picture of speculative box art and they'd have achieved similar levels of hype that they have now. What we've seen so far, however, to really sell this title and the console behind it is hero-shots. Lots of hero-shots. Seems that both Microsoft and Sony have a point to prove when it comes to ensuring that their consoles are capable of rending materials and surfaces as accurately close-up as they look faraway, something that is largely unnecessary in most gameplay situations but if you insist on pushing that envelope your going to get there eventually! Something related I noted from this event is the way in which Sony's own marketing has pimped this as 'the biggest evolution between generations ever', but after the PS2 to PS3 jump I'm having a hard time picking up on that particular point. (Maybe graphical fidelity is the wrong thing to look for in that comparison.)

From a pure design standpoint there is one aspect that I can commend 'Spiderman: Miles Morales' on, over 'Spiderman PS4' and that's the team's decision to actually reign in their creativity. Admittedly, I don't read a great many comics anymore as the medium is practically dead to me, (So I actually missed Miles' comic debut) but as far as I can tell the video game rendering of his Spider suit is exactly the same as it is in the comics. (That is to say; sleek and slick as heck.) This is in stark contrast to 'Spiderman PS4' where the team took it upon themselves to make their own spider suit and the results were... a white spider? Yeah, I didn't like it. (Each to their own.) Of course, that game featured a plethora of extra suits with abilities and unlock conditions in it so that wasn't a problem, but I'll pat Insomniac on the back anyway, they did good with this one.

I'm less sold on the design of Miles himself, but they may come from my own attraction to the world of Spiderman and my closeness to it. None of the none-costumed faces in the first game ever looked quite right to me, and that's a mental hurdle that has appeared to have been carried on to this newer title. Miles looks fine, but I don't see him as an older version of the Miles we saw in 'Enter the Spiderverse', and as far as I'm concerned that's the definitive animated rendition of the character that we've seen so far. But am I nitpicking? Hell yeah I am. The game looks simply sublime from ever other part of the small gameplay snippet we saw and I'm struggling to find any foothold for critique. I will say, however, that I'm encouraged at the way the team have tried to shake up NYC by setting this game during the winter. (Not sure if that's going to be a perpetual winter 'Cold, Cold Heart' style, but I won't gripe if that's the case. Wintry New York is actually pretty iconic all on it's own.)

What more is there to really say considering how little we saw? The gameplay looks just as explosive as the first game's, I love the acrobatic movement- just like in the first game? Every expectation that has been raised for this game has been coloured by the example set from 'Spiderman PS4' and that is both a blessing and a curse. For the marketing team it's a blessing as it means they can get away with that 1 minute teaser reel, but for the developers it means that a lot of weight is landing on their shoulders to top what they did last time. Personally, I'm not sure how iconic Miles villains are, or how strong his unique powers are, to match up to the last game's offerings. But at the end of the day this may fall down to a question of strength of character through writing, and if that's the case then we can all breathe easy as insomniac have proven themselves adept in that field quite often of late.

Ultimately, I would say that this was a strong opening for Sony's little PS5 showcase round-up, although it did leave me the slightest bit dubious as to why this game needed to be a nextgen exclusive. (As I do believe that Sony, unlike Microsoft, are committing all first-party games to be next-gen exclusive, citing not wanting to hold back their developer's ambitions.) Honestly, 'Spiderman PS4' look about as good as anything we just saw, and the gameplay ran fine, so I suppose I'm left with the nagging question about whether this is a title that's being used as a carrot on a stick to lure people into that nextgen purpose unnecessarily. (I think there might be a fire to all that smoke.) But I'm digging where perhaps I shouldn't, for the time being I see a damn fine looking game and I want it right now please, thank you.

Sony vs Marvel

Battle of the licensing agreements

There have been some interesting developments in this recent week regarding the relationship between Sony and Spiderman. On the video game side (the excuse I have for writing this article) we have the recent acquisition of Insomniac games by Sony. Real shocker, that one. Insomniac games have been playing exclusively in Sony's backyard for so many years that I literally haven't played one of their games since Crash Bandicoot, because I can't. The signing of this deal just seems like formality at this point, like being adopted by people who are already your guardians, your response is just "Oh, surprised that hasn't already happened yet." I guess this means for people who lack the disposable income to buy a new console, (A la moi) we never will get to see an Insomniac game. (Great. I love exclusivity. Don't you?) Guess this means we're getting a Spiderman 2. (Which will again be PlayStation exclusive.) But hey, I'm happy for them or whatever...

But that was the real big Spiderman news of the week I think. Nothing else happened that is noteworthy in the slightest, or at least, nothing in the world of gaming. Look, I mentioned games, okay, I made my link; so I have free reign to delve into the recent MCU news and no one can complain. (That's the rule.) So there was a little bit of a development between Disney and Spiderman when Sony haphazardly cut Tom Holland's wall-crawler from the rest of the cinematic universe in spectacular fashion, that's something noteworthy, right?

I may not be the biggest movie buff around (Or even a movie buff at all for that matter.) but I do branch out and watch a few things here and there. One series I try to keep on top of is the Marvel Cinematic Universe for no more reason than the fact that I used to be a huge fan of comics back when I was a kid. (Oh god, did I say "Back when I was a kid" unironically? Existential dread time.) I have been surprised how most of the movies have managed to be rather good (The less said about Thor: The Dark World, the better) and the Spiderman Movies have been no exception. I've enjoyed every Spiderman film to some degree, but these recent ones genuinely have me interested to see where the character can be taken next; They managed to portray Peter Parker in a wholly unique light that no other adaptation had touched on before. I wanted to see where that would go.

Then along comes the money men to have a little dust-up in the boardroom and tear down everything that people were excited for. Artistic integrity be damned, this thing is going down because of some asinine dispute about 'cuts'. Go online and you'll find a bevy of articles and YouTube videos trying to figure just what the heck happened and picking a side between Marvel's greedy demands and Sony's pigheaded refusals. It is no great insight on my part to affirm that everyone is an idiot in this scenario and unfit to be running the most profitable endeavour in Hollywood. Now here we are, with our MCU family torn apart, supposedly irrevocably, and there is nothing we can do except wait for cooler heads to try and prevail. (Fingers crossed.)

"But how can Sony have the right to take a Marvel character away from Marvel?" you may ask, well it all goes back to the 90's. (Like all stupid things in this world do.) Marvel had just finished dragging themselves out of bankruptcy in 1998 and managed to liquidate some it's movie license by throwing them around to interested studios. This is how the Fantastic 4 and the X-men ended up with FOX, how Spiderman and his kin ended up with Sony and how Prince Namor ended up with... Paramount? Really? Since then Sony have capitalized on Spiderman's popularity to bring us 2 origin stories, 2 Gwen Stacy's, 3 green goblin's, 3 Aunt May's and 7 Spiderman starring movies.

After the flop of 'The Amazing Spiderman 2', during which Sony had hoped to set up their own Spiderman cinematic universe, Amy Pascal (Chairperson at Sony Entertainment) brokered a deal with Disney to share their products. Disney was on top of the world with Superhero movies at this point and everyone wanted to jump into bed with them, but Sony knew that Marvel would be willing to share the mattress if Spiderman was in discussion. And so a 'transaction' was made, in the words of Bob Iger during his earnings call for that year; Disney would be granted use of the character with rights to merchandising, and in return Sony would be permitted to make their own movies with that same character and keep a majority of the box office. If Spiderman were to appear as supporting cast in an Avengers movie, then the money would go to Disney, but if Spiderman is in top billing, then Sony pockets most of it whilst Marvel simply lends their creative talent, marketing, and name recognition. A good deal if you ask me.

During this time, Disney and Sony made 'super-villain' amounts of money together. Tom Holland's take on Spiderman seemed to resonate with almost everyone in 'Civil War', and 'Spiderman: Homecoming' proved to be grounded enough for viewers to relate with the hero; signalling him out in a lineup that can seem impenetrable. The joy didn't just spread to fan reception either, like I said, these movies made a mark in the box office. Homecoming earned just short of a billion, and Far From Home sailed past the billion-mark and quickly became Sony's most profitable movie of all time. (And the first Sony movie to cross into the billion-realm since 2012's Skyfall. Sony haven't been doing so good in the film department lately.)

Everything seemed good for a time. Too good. Hence it was inevitable that someone had to rock up and ruin it all on purpose. (Okay, maybe not on purpose, but greed always begets misery.) Marvel showed up at Sony's door months after 'Far From Home's success with an unwelcome revision to the original plan. Instead of Disney being granted a take of first-dollar gross (A percentage payday that isn't effected by the movies' lifetime performance), they wanted a 50/50 co-financing split with Sony. Marvel and Sony would pay for the movies together and take home equal splits. (Although some reports claim that this figure was actually 30/70. Bare in mind we're working with several of-hand account so nothing is plain fact.) Sony were happy with the way things were (Making a ludicrous amount of money with cursory effort on their part) and so turned that deal down. Discussions were had, threats were made and, ultimately, Sony took their toys and went home.

This is when the Internet proceeded to explode. Days away from Disney's D23 convention, Spiderman is gone from the vastly successful MCU. Fans were enraged with all this nonsense and just wanted Spiderman back with his superhero family. Sony were the first one's to respond, detailing their sadness at being able to come to terms with Marvel and their willingness to negotiate. Everyone saw through the powerplay of pulling Spiderman and they certainly saw through the sympathy plea on Twitter. Public discourse turned even further against them and Sony found themselves in a PR nightmare.

I should say, however, that I do understand and appreciate where Sony are coming from in their decision. They are, at the end of the day, a business; one that is hyper focused in making as much money as humanly possible now, rather than securing their future down the line. When Marvel seeks to take away their potential profits in return for helping to ensure that their company remains financially viable, the stupid part of me can understand the desire to lash out and jump into the abyss. Afterall, Spiderman may have been their biggest hit ever but Sony Pictures still has a plethora of viable franchises at their beck and call like... 'No Time to Die' the new Bond movie coming out hot-on-the-heels of the disappointing 'Spectre'. Or... 'Jumanji 2: The next level'... Yeah, Sony aren't really in a strong position with their movie slate right now.

There are no good sides in this debate. I've mentioned in passing how Disney are being incredibly greedy with this move; in fact, it almost looks like the first step towards a takeover (Especially how the deal would have left Disney open to demand a cut from Sony's other stand alone films.) Yet Sony are insane if they think that Spiderman can still be just as popular outside of the MCU. DC have proven time and time again how people don't want standalone super hero movies anymore, and Solo proved that the power of fan backlash is strong enough to sink a multi-million dollar movie. Unfortunately, it's Tom Holland and Spiderman that are caught in the resulting crossfire.

Things have mostly died down after D23 and it is starting to look dire for Spiderman fans. Kevin Feige finally came out with a statement that seemed to confirm that everything had been said-and-done and the deal was dead in the water. Amateur body language-analysts, on the otherhand, claim that Tom Holland's response seems to indicate that not all hope may be lost. (Based on his previous reputation as being bad at keeping secrets.) I find it hard to say definitively how things will end up but I think it's ridiculous how, once again, licensing rights are getting in the way of telling great stories. This is just another one of the many reasons why I prefer to stick to the world of games. A world where licensing never gets in the way of- What do you mean there are rumors that Disney want to renew their Star Wars exclusivity with EA for another 10 years!? SON OF A-