There's a really big emphasis on how much Insomniac really wants to nail the web-swinging in the game, believing it to be one of the core aspects of what will allow players to truly feel like Spider-Man. It's incredibly reassuring to read about their dedication to nailing that feeling, especially thanks to the last sentence in the following quote:
All superheroes have a moment in their origin story at which their existence transcends the mundane and they become something truly unique and wondrous. For Insomniac Games'Spider-man it wasn't being bitten by a radioactive arachnid, or the murder of a beloved family member at the hands of a career criminal they'd previously let off the hook. No, for this particular superhero, it was learning to swing.
Movement was the very first thing the game's developers worked on, quickly assembling an unfriendly neighbourhood of grey blocks for their prototype web crawler to work his way around. And it's something they've been refining ever since - and will continue to do so, says Spider-man Creative Director Bryan Intihar, 'until the day the producers say stop, we're shipping'.
Telegraph talks about the similarities between Spider-Man and Batman Arkham, particularly in the side activities area, but quickly dismisses them once they got a feel of the combat:
The Arkham analogues are obvious and, in truth, a little uninspiring but the latter at least lets us square up to the game's combat system - and almost immediately those caped crusader comparisons are blown away like cobwebs in the wind. Insomniac have wisely accentuated their star's agility and athleticism and whereas Batman's stoic brutality borders on the balletic, Spider-Man careers around the construction site setting like a hyperactive acrobat.
Sure there are recognisable tropes, such as the telltale tingle of spider-sense denoting an incoming attack that can be countered, or shield-carrying heavies who must be vaulted and attacked from the rear, but these are more than offset by Spider-Man's unique moveset. Punching and blocking are mapped to the Square and Circle buttons respectively but the fun really starts with the web-slinging Triangle button. Spider-Man can use it to fling himself around the environment or zip over to distant threats, and naturally it's a handy offensive tool too. Holding down L1 and R1 together allows Spider-Man to interact with items, crushing groups of goons under heavy furniture or using lighter objects to scatter them like skittles.
"Obviously he's Spider-Man: he's acrobatic, he's using webs. We want you to feel like you're fast and furious. You're ping ponging around the environment, you're jumping up, you're leaping down, you're zipping down to a guy, you're doing awesome finishing moves… and when you combine that with great environment action we hope players say Spider-Man fights with a lot of style."
No details on Mary Jane's gameplay, but there were some clues given:
"I can't go into a ton of details but I will say: if you think of what an investigative journalist might do, that might give you some hints. If you imagine a scientist, that might give you some hints. I'm not going to dodge your question completely but I will say that think about their careers and what they possibly could be doing in those careers and you might have a better idea of what the gameplay could be."
Lead writer John Paquette went even further, hinting the pair could even work together.
"Spider-Man is a hero by swinging around and beating up bad guys and doing the Spider-Man things. MJ is a hero by using her skills as a journalist to uncover corruption and bring down the bad guys in a much different way and it's really a balance of those two. And imagine if they worked together, then what could happen? And beyond that, imagine if they're former boyfriend and girlfriend and haven't talked to each other in six months and were forced to come together. To me, as a writer, that's good grist for the mill."
As impressive as Insomniac's superpowered combat and traversal mechanics are, it's these more human elements that could be the key to nailing the fantasy of feeling like a superhero, and make the difference between a good game and an amazing Spider-Man game.
"Early on, that was one of the things that Bryan and I really wanted, to be able to play these characters," says Pacquette. "We're not a movie, we're not a comic book - we're a game, and we experience the story by playing a game. When you make a character playable that's when you can really put yourself in the shoes of that character and fulfill this fantasy that we have when we play games.
"So when I think about being Spider-Man, it's not just a guy who swings around the city, it's a guy who swings around the city who has to balance his life with a guy who's regular like me."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/...nds-on-preview-insomniacs-web-slinger-aiming/
Aside from the preview impressions, Telegraph's also gotten their hands on some exclusive images and concept art, the most notable being our first good looks at Norman Osborn and Shocker:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/...s-new-screenshots-concept-art-show-insomniac/