Insomniac Games did a lot of things right withMarvel’s Spider-Man, and chief among them was its immersive open world. The developer’s recreation of New York City madeswinging around as Spider-Mana delight for the vast majority of gamers, and Insomniac ensured there was no shortage of things to do by littering New York City with various collectibles and side activities. WhenMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Moralesreleased just two years later, Insomniac scaled things back to fit the size of the intended experience, and now it will have to find a similar balance withMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2has been one of the most anticipated Marvel games of the last five years and for good reason. Insomniac arguably delivered the best superhero game since Rocksteady’sBatman: Arkhamseries with the franchise’s first entry, and fans can’t wait to see how the sequel will take advantage of the PS5’s hardware. Perhaps one of the very few areas of concern for the game, however, is how it will make New York feel exciting to swing through once again. While Insomniac could very well just fillMarvel’sSpider-Man 2with more content, it may want to follow the less is more approach offered byMarvel’s Spider-Man:Miles Morales.
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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Should Avoid Overstuffing Its Map with Collectibles
Whether it’s the coins inSuper Mario Bros.or the feathers inAssassin’s Creed 2, collectibles encourage players to explore all that a game has to offer and sink as much time into it as possible. In recent years, though, open-world games have fallen into a trend of going overboard with collectibles, especially ones that don’t offer much value.
Ubisoft’s open-world gamesare one of the more prominent culprits, with titles likeAssassin’s Creed Valhallacontaining an overwhelming amount of collectibles that mostly just balloon the time it takes to complete the game.Marvel’s Spider-Manoffered a reasonable amount of collectibles compared to most other open-world titles, with Peter Parker’s many backpacks being one of the more enjoyable to seek out.
When it comes toMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac has to be careful about how it implements its own collectibles. Simply repeating the same ones fromMarvel’s Spider-Manwould elicit more than a few groans, and taking a quantity-over-quality approach would likely make stepping away from the main story feel less worthwhile. The sequel will have to find some sense of balance, andMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Moralesmay be the right point of inspiration.
How Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Can Avoid Open-World Bloat
Marvel’sSpider-Man: Miles Moraleswas a much smaller experience thanMarvel’s Spider-Man. While it still took place inside the same New York City, it had a shorter story and a smaller list of side activities for players to keep an eye out for.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2will surely be a bigger gamethanMarvel’s Spider-Man:Miles Morales, but its supplemental content would be wise to follow a similar scale.
Instead of filling New York City with collectibles and bases to raid all over again, Insomniac could offer more multi-faceted side missions that flesh out the franchise’s lore. This could help the game feel like a worthy sequel instead of a copy-and-paste version of the first. Gamers waiting on any amount of information on Insomniac’s upcoming sequel may soon find relief, asMarvel’s Spider-Man 2could make an appearance at May 24’s PlayStation Showcase.
While there is no official confirmation of this, Insomniac has recently assured hungry fans that the game is still coming this year. Ideally, any kind of information at the PlayStation Showcase would include gameplay forMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, but fans will just have to temper their expectations until the event comes. For now, one can only hope that the sequel offers an open world just as compelling as the last two entries.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2releases in 2023 for PS5.
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