During the last two generations, Spider-Man has always been a series I could rely on to be far more fun than they should be. Typically movie tie-in games, there was always something inherently fun about swinging through the city and pummeling thugs to a pulp. Needless to say, since the debut trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I have been intrigued on how Beenox would improve the formula they have created with their past few games. Thankfully, Stepháne Gravel, Executive Producer at Beenox has answered some of the questions I had about their upcoming game.
It seems that a majority of Spidey fans still hold Spider-Man 2 as the best game adaptation; is that always an over-looming thing while making Spider-Man games?
Stepháne Gravel, Executive Producer, Beenox: Not especially. While we’re very big fans of the job Treyarch and others did with the franchise a decade ago, the game that’s most dominated our development process for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been the first The Amazing Spider-Man. This is our first time making a true sequel to one of our previous Spidey games, and iterating on what people loved about that title while re-imagining and improving upon what they didn’t like has been our chief priority.
What technical improvements are being made for the PlayStation 4 specifically?
Beenox: The most obvious will be improved graphics and other aesthetic enhancements taking advantage of the powerful hardware. In addition, we will support VITA remote play on the system.
In terms of world size, what can we expect?
Beenox: We rebuilt New York City from the ground up, and it’s roughly the same size this time around as it was in the original The Amazing Spider-Man, but to judge it solely on that would miss the big picture – one of our main goals for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been to cram more city into the same space. We’ve overhauled a number of features to make Manhattan a more open world and fun playground. Among other things, we’ve spiced up the landscape with more diverse architecture and unique neighborhoods, shifted much of the story and mission structure away from tight, indoor spaces out into the wide expanse of the metropolis, designed new, interesting crimes to stop, and introduced the Hero or Menace reputation system, which gives you good reason to stop them.
Could you describe the most difficult part of making Spider-Man actually feel like Spider-Man?
Beenox: Well I think you just stated it – what does it feel like to be Spider-Man? To my knowledge, no one at Beenox has webs shooting out of their wrists, so that makes it a bit of a challenge. I always try to remind myself that Spider-Man is different from other pop culture heroes. He isn’t a jaded, hulking, gravel-voiced muscleman with stubble and dark clothing. He’s a small guy in bright spandex doing somersaults off the Empire State Building while cracking jokes, beating up thugs, and returning purses to kind old ladies. There’s a very special, unusual personality there that you have to get right, and it influences everything from story and tone to acrobatics and combat.
Does Beenox have any contact with the film studio? How does that relationship work?
Beenox: Not in a direct sense, no. We’ve worked closely with the expert loremasters and producers at Marvel in crafting our own unique story separate and independent from Sony Pictures’ version of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So while there’s a little overlap in characters, our goal from the beginning was always to deliver a distinct experience that complements the film while standing apart from it.
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