Marvel's Spider-Man spins multiple narrative threads with regard to Peter Parker's relationships to other characters. But Marvel's Spider-Man's narrative focus is the relationship between Peter and Doctor Otto Octavius, who gradually and subtly becomes the nefarious Doctor Octopus that comic book fans know him to be.
Peter and Octavius' relationship is developed as an employee and employer and also as a mentee and mentor. Each character chooses to hide their ulterior motives and agendas from one another before Octavius' sinister ambitions come to light during the RAFT breakout. Players only get a single boss fight against Doctor Octopus, but it is memorable as a cinematic final battle. Recently, Insomniac Games' head has shared information about Marvel's Spider-Man that lends a contextual, behind-the-scenes lens into the development of Peter and Octavius' battle.
Ted Price, Insomniac Games' CEO, offered a keynote interview last week at East Sussex's Develop:Brighton conference, where he spoke about industry-related issues such as crunch culture. One of the anecdotal examples Price gives of crunch-related circumstances involved Marvel's Spider-Man's boss battle with Doctor Octopus. Insomniac's original plan for this boss fight intended to take players "all over New York City," perhaps in an immense spectacle of special effects, which Price describes as a "brick wall" and "way out of scope".
Insomniac ultimately decided to make the fight a climactic encounter between Peter and Octavius, rather than default to a spectacle sequence that would have likely caused crunch and would not have been as impactful narratively. Insomniac's redirection for the boss fight confidently went ahead after the realization that "they didn't need to destroy half of New York to pay off the relationship."
Crunch may have produced Insomniac's original idea for the fight, but only at the cost of an overworked staff of developers and a "brute force" mentality that was not sustainable or as rewarding for players. The end result is "a far bigger emotional impact" due to Marvel's Spider-Man's intimate scope, where Peter instead battles Octavius atop and alongside the Oscorp skyscraper. Price's statements toward crunch portray Insomniac's headspace as a developer and promise that the workplace is positively sustainable with the interest in workers' quality of life as a paramount consideration.
Marvel's Spider-Man fans would likely agree that this choice not to perpetuate crunch has produced a greater end product, and Marvel's Spider-Man's final boss battle reflects that in its smaller scope and degree of cinematic quality.
Marvel's Spider-Man is available for PS4 and PS5.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
