Back during the 6th generation of consoles, there came what many believed to be the definite standard for video games based on superheroes, and that game was Spiderman 2. Although the title and definitive standard has been taken by Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham game series, many gamers unanimously agree that Spiderman 2 is not only one of the best superhero games, but also the definitive Spiderman game. In recent years, the web head hasn’t fared well on the gaming front, from very poor camera controls, weird-feeling web swing mechanics, to just bland repetitive combat. While Shattered Dimensions offered a glimmer of hope, that hope was smashed with the rushed movie tie-ins. Here is what I think would help to make a great (or at least decent) Spiderman game:
- Fixed Camera Controls
Every Spiderman game suffers from this, plain and simple, and it mostly stems from the wall crawling aspect. It’s hard to move the camera into a good position to see enemies below you while still being able to see you move. A remedy that seemed to work in the more recent title The Amazing Spiderman, shows that when Spiderman needs to have a survey the surroundings while crawling, he perches himself. Possibly by expanding upon this mechanic, developers may finally be able to rectify the decades long problem.
- Ditch the free-flow combat/bring back combo-lists
One of the many features of old school Spiderman games that people loved was the combo system that was implemented in combat. With this system, as you progressed through the game and leveled up, you could spend experience points on expanding your combo moves and abilities from implementing a grapple feature to combination of fast punches to a web finishing move. Not only did this help with gameplay, as certain types of moves and combos were more effective against certain types of enemies, it also helped to keep combat from getting repetitive and stale. While the Arkham-style combat is indeed fun and very refreshing, it just doesn’t translate well over to Spiderman. Mixing a slew of combos with web abilities would more than fit in a Spiderman game, especially with the enemies he faces.
Released in 2004, Spiderman 2 is still considered the grandfather of definitive Superhero games.
- Bring back Spiderman 2’s side mission structure
One of the many reasons Spiderman 2 was so fun was because of how the developers handled side-missions. To break it down, side missions were broken into 4 main categories- main side missions, petty crimes, challenges, and exploration.
Main side missions consisted of over 250 side missions off of different crimes and situations; carjacking, hostage, shootout, bank robbery, ambushes, falling civilian, and fires. While the most recent Spiderman game did have this feature, what set 2 apart was unpredictability in the missions. Almost all of the time one type of crime would evolve into another. For example, a hostage situation in which thugs are robbing an armored truck can turn into a carjacking, from this go into a hostage situation; forcing players to adapt and adding variety to each side mission, not knowing if the situation will escalate.
Petty crimes were randomly generated situations that would occur during other major missions, and a decision would be left up to the player to choose whether or not to help a citizen in distress. While completing these missions didn’t really add any major amount of experience, and not doing them really didn’t have any form of gameplay effect, they helped to sway public opinion of Spiderman. The more of them you completed, the more you would notice NPC’s cheering you on and yelling positive things, even helping to distract some minor thugs.
Challenges can be found all across the city and mostly challenge your web-swinging abilities and how fast you can go. Exploration helped to encourage traversing the city to find all different types of secrets and truly test your web swinging abilities. With four token types (gang hideouts/skyscrapers/buoys/ and secrets) scattered across the city, there are a great way to cool down from missions or just earn some extra experience to purchase a new ability
Revamping and implementing this system into a new Spiderman game would help to not only increase replay value and longevity of the game, but also to keep the game from feeling stale and repetitive.
- An original Story
Outside of Spiderman 2 (and even Peter Jackson’s King Kong and the most recent Ratchet & Clank). Video Game tie-ins to movies are generally not a good idea. Game developers have to be careful not to spoil serious plot points from the movie, but they also have to take a 2-hour film and find a way to expand it into an 8-hour game. The inevitable rush to push the game out along with the movie is also a real problem, as it can lead to developers giving consumers an unpolished, unfinished, and sometimes broken game. One of the main reasons the Batman: Arkham series was so well received is because it was an original story penned by comic book writers familiar with the source material who had already published comic books about Batman. Spiderman deserves the same treatment! We saw of glimpse of this will the well-received Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time. Here’s hoping the next Spiderman game won’t be based on the new Spiderman: Homecoming.
- Refined Hero/Menace system
While not necessary to a Spiderman game, adding a form of morality could prove interesting in terms of story. This would tie in well to the side missions structure. As a situation unfolds, the game can award hero or menace points based on how the player handles a crime. For example, if, during a hostage situation turns south, and Spiderman is unable to save the hostage and allows the bad guy to escape, the game will assign menace points to the player, and vice versa. If he is able to complete one of the objectives (i.e. saves the hostages but allows the bad guys to get away) then he is awarded both hero and menace points.
Despite revamped swinging control and a surprise final boss (Carnage), the web heads most recent outing was sub-par at best.
Video games made in tandem with movies have one major issue that all these ideas connect to: they’re a movie plot and character with a video game attached to them. The best games all set out to be games in the first place, and only then do they start working on the story. Arkham‘s success stems from the fact that it’s a video game with Batman attached to it, not a story about Batman with a video game attached to it. A good game still requires developers who care about it and want to see the game succeed, but the core issue with a lot of the old Spiderman games is that they’ve never really set out to be video games, and instead they’ve been publicity stunts, marketing tools, and money grabs.
~jgn95
EVR 