Similar Obstacles to God of War Marvel’s Spider-Man, a 2018 video game created by Insomniac, managed to surpass expectations in both gameplay and narrative. With mechanics, story beats, and a universe that brings back the character’s allure in the gaming world, it easily steals the title of finest Spidey game from the 2004 movie tie-in. It was a major accomplishment to incorporate characters like Otto Octavius, Mr. Negative, MJ, and Aunt May into a plot that read like it had been plucked from a comic book, and it was especially enjoyable to see how it managed to work in a compelling Miles Morales origin story.
In his own game in 2020, Miles fought Roxxon and the Underground in a conflict that was particularly personal to him. It clarified his personality and displayed the abilities that gamers in the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be able to reacquaint themselves with. It will be difficult for Insomniac to take on two playable characters because they must each feel unique in order to be fully justified. This could, however, result in the game falling into a trap that God of War Ragnarok fell into just a year prior, as switching between two separate characters quickly can have an adverse effect on a product’s pacing and gameplay.
Atreus is playable in God of War Ragnarok, however, she is very different.
In God of War and its sequel, God of War Ragnarok, Kratos is a dream to control, switching to an over-the-shoulder perspective that gives the combat a closer, more personal sense. Although he feels hefty, there is a lot of strategy involved, and well-executed combos are rewarded with tremendous damage and the potential for a lot of fun. Atreus will also be controllable in the 2022 sequel at certain times in the God of War Ragnarok tale, which will provide a refreshing change of pace from Kratos’ repetitive gameplay. Distance and speed are more important to Atreus than raw strength.
Although this keeps the action interesting and allows players to view the story from two different angles, Kratos and Atreus’ playing styles differ greatly. Since the sequences with Atreus are lengthy and the combat encounters are frequently as difficult as Kratos’ bouts can be, it can take some time to get used to the controls of both. It’s not like playing as Ashley in Resident Evil 4, who is ephemeral and simplistic; playing as Atreus offers the player considerably more to do, making it challenging to switch between the two characters quickly.
Spider-Man 2 Must Find a Balance Between the Unfamiliar and the New
Spider-Man 2 shouldn’t experience this issue as much because Miles and Peter in Insomniac’s Spider-Man have comparable capabilities and talents, thus the fundamentals shouldn’t be drastically different. However, to make it work, Insomniacs must walk a very tight line since they must stand apart enough to justify the transition to Miles and back again.
Although the seamless transition from one to the other as seen at the PlayStation showcase on May 24 is cool, it might encounter the same difficulty as Kratos and Atreus experienced last year. Dual protagonists offer many intriguing gameplay concepts and narrative eccentricities, but they must be handled in a way that minimizes the learning curve each time the player assumes a new role. Spider-Man 2 would do well to prevent the two characters from seeming like persons with wholly different powers and controls, whether it be through shortened sections with each or controls that feel more universal.