How the Developer Made Marvel’s Spider-Man Feel “More Like an Insomniac Game”

Insomniac Games has spoken about how it wanted Marvel’s Spider-Man to feel similar to its previous titles, such as Ratchet & Clank.

In an interview with Eurogamer at Gamelab, game director Ryan Smith said that Marvel’s Spider-Man had “something missing, where it didn’t have that definitive stamp.”

Smith stated that the game’s weapon wheel was one element that added the charm of previous games from the developer. “For me as a long-time Insomniac, popping up that weapon wheel felt like coming home.”

Another element of Insomniac’s charm was Spider-Man’s interactivity with passers-by throughout the city of New York; using the same button that beats up enemies, the player can interact with citizens in the streets with high-fives, waves, or finger guns.

“Those ideas all came in response to this question of how to make it more charming, and more like an Insomniac game,” Smith said.

OnlySP’s Michael Cripe reviewed Marvel’s Spider-Man last year, scoring it as a Distinction (4/5), calling it “more than an evolution for superhero video games. Insomniac has managed to capture the essence of adventure, pure joy, and character with its iteration on Spider-Man.” Before the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man, OnlySP’s Mitchell Akhurst wondered what could happen to Ratchet & Clank in the future.