While the previews for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 have got fans excited, it’s not the first time Insomniac Games has faced a familiar problem.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is facing a number of unwarranted controversies and idiosyncratic criticisms from gamers lashing out at Insomniac Games. Previous controversies involving the franchise, such as the infamous “puddlegate”, illustrate fans’ propensity for hyperbole and pointless debates. Criticisms of character design changes and reused animation seem minor, and it is frustrating to see these minor flaws blown out of proportion.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 seems to have everything on track for success. Not only is Insomniac Games creating a sequel to two great games, giving them the opportunity to build on the foundations and improve on what has worked well, but the game will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive. This will allow Insomniac Games to deliver a truly next-gen experience, ensuring that Peter and Miles’ next story is technically stunning. And the narrative will feature fan favourites such as Kraven and Venom, which also adds extra points. Despite all this, Insomniac Games still has to deal with the odd complaint and controversy before release.
Of course, gamers have every right to criticize the content presented before a game’s premiere, as long as the criticism is constructive and not hostile. Unfortunately, as with the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, this is not the case with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. In addition to the whipping and some odd teasing, gamers have once again become overly hostile towards Insomniac Games, with rude comments being a regular occurrence online. This is a great shame, as the franchise is once again provoking far more controversy than it deserves.
Stupid reviews of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are sadly nothing new
The original Marvel’s Spider-Man had its own odd controversies, the most notorious of which was puddlegate. As the name suggests, gamers went into a frenzy online over a large puddle that was removed from the final release, arguing that its removal was a sign of a massive graphical regression like that which occurred with the original Watch Dogs. In reality, Insomniac simply moved the puddle and changed the lighting from the mission in question, rendering the whole controversy pointless and embarrassing.
Furthermore, so-called fans have harassed and insulted the developers at Insomniac Games for changing Peter Parker’s face in the remaster of the first title and in the more recent Marvel’s Spider-Man games. Regardless of whether gamers agree with Insomniac’s logic that the younger-looking face is better suited to the character of Yuri Lowenthal, the overwhelming outrage surrounding the change was and remains pathetic. The initial change has been met with death threats and genuine hatred from the developers, which is awful, and odd considering how rarely Peter Parker takes off his mask in the story. While it can be argued that the old face works better in certain scenes (as well as the fact that the original model doesn’t always look good), it can’t be justified in terms of player behaviour.
Complaints about Peter Parker’s face can still be seen years after the realignment, which is tiresome, and have now been joined by aggressive comments about Mary Jane Watson’s new character model. As with the other characters, she has undergone a design change in the sequel, letting go of her hair and realised with better graphic fidelity. Despite a developer from Insomniac Games stating that this was just an improved version of the old design, some players became overly aggressive in their condemnation of it as completely different, calling Insomniac a liar and claiming that every single feature of MJ’s face had changed. There were also a lot of sexist comments and arguments about Mary Jane not looking pretty enough, and some fans were even more critical of MJ’s design than in the first game.
Even before the story trailer for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, you could see that gamers were trying to start discussions around the game. After the gameplay demonstration, some viewers argued that Insomniac was lazy because New York City – a very real location – looked too similar to the previous games. Others complained that Peter Parker’s swinging movements, other than the web wings, contained too much recycled animation. However, since Peter has probably been swinging the same way for years, similar animations make perfect sense. It also helps conserve resources, which all sequels do, and just like the ship animations in God of War Ragnarok, it literally doesn’t hurt to bring back animations that worked perfectly in a previous game.
Like all video game franchises, Marvel’s Spider-Man games have their flaws. The lack of villains outside of the main storyline was a problem with the first two instalments, while overly simplistic main villain fights and repetitive side content were further problems. However, like the moving puddle in the first game, the usual swinging animations and the “old” looking Mary Jane seem like minor issues. Since the Marvel’s Spider-Man series does so many things well, it may be that critics are just trying to find things to complain about. Either way, it’s frustrating to see, because there’s not much point in dwelling on such minutiae – if it can even be considered as such.
Source GameRant
