Insomniac Games has recently demonstrated how far ahead it is as a developer within in the current-gen space. Its PS5 editions for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales all include VRR support now alongside 120 Hz support. Marvel’s Spider-Man looks fantastic with ray-tracing and the capability for upwards of 50 percent more frames per second, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will surely be expected to meet these standards at launch in 2023 as a PS5 exclusive title.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 should excel on PS5 without having to be held back technologically by previous-gen hardware. Insomniac has also shown an eagerness to transition wholly to PS5 with its titles, and with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 releasing sometime next year that should not be a problem, as many games have already abandoned previous-gen platforms from their marketing releases. There are many ways Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 can improve upon the original in terms of technological performance on PS5, but one of those ways includes a commonly fallible physics animation: dressing and undressing.
In-Game Suit-Ups Would Be a True Test of Technological Performance
Indeed, one way Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 could stand out from other current-gen titles and superhero games in recent years is to have a fully animated suit up sequence in-game. Games often try to circumvent dressing and undressing sequences in creative ways.
This is because having a character dress or undress can be taxing and expensive to animate via comprehensive cloth simulation physics and body colliders. In most games, characters will either only have one article of clothing to put on or take off, while a whole wardrobe change will be performed off-camera where the character can load in with it on instead. This is practical from a development standpoint, but one of the more fun sequences in Spider-Man history is when he scrambles along rooftops while casting off civilian clothes in order to slip into his classic red-and-blue costume.
Instead, even Marvel’s Spider-Man proved how challenging these animations would be, as simply having Peter Parker pull the mask down his head and onto his neck was a tremendous feat. In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, technology may be far enough ahead that fans could see Peter or Miles Morales scrambling to suit up while in-game, with each article of clothing given its own cloth simulation.
In-Game Suit Ups Could Make Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Gameplay Dynamic
This would certainly look cinematic and set the standard for what current-gen games are capable of. But while it would look astounding and emergent from a visual perspective, in-game suit ups could have their own significance in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s gameplay.
Cutscenes are one thing, but having the protagonist suiting up while players control and navigate them in open-world traversal is another entirely. Players could experience how frantic the character is as they throw off their tops and bottoms to reveal their costume beneath. Further, players could be forced to run and leap along rooftops until Peter or Miles has equipped their web-shooters, if they are not already on their wrists for some reason. Then, observing the character as they pull their mask, gloves, and boots on would humanize them much more than in Marvel’s Spider-Man, where Peter is already fully suited up following a loading screen.
It will be interesting to see if loading screens persist in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and while they may well be a part of the sequel, it would be incredible to see animations such as in-game suit ups taking place in the open-world. However, Peter and Miles will likely be more technologically advanced in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 with regard to gadgets and suit functionality.
For instance, their suits may not even be concealable beneath their regular clothes anymore, especially if Peter’s elongated mechanical appendages appear out the back. Either way, it will be exciting to see how Insomniac harnesses PS5 hardware for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to release in 2023 for PS5.
