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Tag: Spider-Man 3

  • Massive Hack Reveals New Venom And X-Men Games Coming By 2030

    Massive Hack Reveals New Venom And X-Men Games Coming By 2030

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    The 1.3 million files leaked as part of the recent ransomware attack on Insomniac Games contain tons of confidential information, including Sony’s projected plans for all of the studio’s upcoming games on PlayStation 5 and beyond. Those alleged roadmaps include a standalone Venom game, a Ratchet and Clank sequel, multiplayer spin-offs, and multiple X-Men games by the year 2030 and beyond.

    It sounds like more than fans would have expected, even from Sony’s most prolific first-party studio. Two roadmaps are included in the leak, which was first reported by Australian cybersecurity site CyberDaily and is now widely circulating on social media.

    The first one begins in 2023 with Spider-Man 2 and shows a Venom game arriving in 2025, Wolverine launching in 2026, Spider-Man 3 coming in 2028, a new Ratchet and Clank coming in 2029, and the studio’s first X-Men game releasing by 2030. That slate then culminates with a “New IP” planned for 2031-2032.

    But video game development is messy and release dates are notoriously fickle and projects are often canceled, especially this early on. Another set of slides viewed by Kotaku, labeled “Insomniac Games Roadmap Extended” includes even more projects with slightly different dates. There, Wolverine is expected in 2025, followed by Spider-Man 3 in 2027, X-Men in 2029, a “New IP” in 2031,” X-Men 3 in 2033, and a second “New IP” in 2035. Multiplayer spin-offs are also sprinkled in there, with Spider-Man 2‘s online mode arriving in 2024, Wolverine’s online mode arriving in 2026, and X-Men’s Online mode arriving in 2028.

    That’s a ton of projected games and dates, so here’s a quick summary:

    • 2024: Spider-Man 2 multiplayer
    • 2025: Venom
    • 2025-2026: Wolverine
    • 2026: Wolverine multiplayer
    • 2027: Spider-Man 3
    • 2028: X-Men muliplayer
    • 2029-2030: X-Men
    • 2031-2032: New IP 1
    • 2035: New IP 2

    Insomniac’s future seems clear: spawn an entire new Marvel Cinematic Universe on PlayStation. And while we don’t have tons of details for these upcoming projects, one slide does give a pretty clear rundown of what fans can expect from the standalone Venom game. The game will apparently continue the storyline of Spider-Man 2 and setup Spider-Man 3, briding the games the same way Miles Morales did between the first two. Venom and various Spider-Heroes will be swappable as they fight through “Carnage-infected” NYC boroughs. Insomniac is estimating the game will be about 8-10 hours total.

    What fans can expect from the future of Insomniac’s Spider-Man series is murkier. Some of the materials reference the possibility of Spider-Man 3 being split into two parts. It seems like the studio will then shift fully over to X-Men by the end of the decade, though these plans are obviously subject to change. It’s possible the multiplayer spin-off will provide a live-service model for Sony to keep rolling out new missions and mini-story beats, though unless assisted by outside studios, that amount of post-launch work probably wouldn’t dovetail too well with Insomniac’s other ambitious plans.

    How exactly will Sony be paying for all this? Interestingly, another slide from the leaks shows the apparent terms of the PS5 maker’s licensing deal with Marvel for the X-Men games. The franchise will be all but exclusive to PlayStation until 2035, with over $600 million in “committments.” It’s a huge bet on the comic book mutants. We’ll see how it pays off by the time the PS6 comes out.

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    Ethan Gach

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  • Let’s Discuss Spider-Man 2’s Post-Credits Scenes

    Let’s Discuss Spider-Man 2’s Post-Credits Scenes

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    Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is out, and that means we can talk about the game’s post-credits content and how the big PlayStation sequel seems to set up some very interesting, and very predictable, scenarios for future games and DLC. So uh, we’re gonna do it.

    But before we go any further, a big ol’ spoiler warning is needed. Seriously, I’m about to openly discuss Spider-Man 2’s ending and post-credits scenes. If you haven’t finished Insomniac’s latest PS5-exclusive open-world superhero action game yet and don’t want any surprises ruined before you reach the end yourself, this is your last chance to turn around. You can always come back and read this later! Only scroll down if you want Spider-Man 2 spoiled, understood? Good. Okay, let’s go.

    Spider-Man 2 wraps up like most superhero stories, with our heroes—Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Mary Jane Watson—saving the day, but not without some sacrifices. After Peter Parker aka Spider-Man freed himself from the symbiote suit, it re-joined with the dying Harry Osborn, best friend of Parker and MJ. From there, Venom was formed, took back an alien MacGuffin that then let him spread his symbiotic goo all over NYC, and eventually led to the citizenry being turned into symbiotic monsters. Things got rough.

    Eventually, the Spider-Men and MJ work together and defeat the monsters, stop the invasion of New York, and Peter defeats Venom using a cool new suit. However, in the process, Harry nearly dies and is now in a coma. Norman Osborn—Harry’s dad, rich CEO, and former mayor—is very upset at Spider-Man and calls someone within his company to ask them to bring him the “G-Serum.”

    Norman Osborn visits Doc Ock

    ScereBro PSNU / Insomniac / Sony

    That leads us to our first post-credits scene, featuring an angry Norman Osborn visiting Dr. Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus at the Raft—a prison for supervillains. Osborn has figured out that the doc knows who Spider-Man is and Harry’s dad really wants that information. When Osborn tells Octavius that the Spider-Men “ruined” his son, the villain says “good” and is happy that Osborn is experiencing “loss.” (Doc Ock doesn’t like Norman Osborn, in case you forgot.)

    Then, after Osborn asks him what he’s writing, the supervillain menacingly replies “The final chapter.” This is ominous and also could be a reference to a controversial Spider-Man comics story arc that involved Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin and revealed that Aunt May didn’t die in a previous story but was being held prisoner by Goblin. It was not a fan-favorite arc at the time, and today, most people don’t remember it fondly.

    But considering by the end of Spider-Man 2 Norman Osborn seems to be heading down the path that will lead him to become Green Goblin, Aunt May is dead, and Peter Parker is retiring as Spider-Man (something that happens in The Final Chapter, too), it appears that Insomniac might actually adapt this arc, but likely with some big changes. Or the devs and writers are just messing with fans.

    Meet Albert Moon and his daughter

    Anyway, after more credits, Spider-Man 2 has one last surprise to share in its second and final post-credits scene.

    During the main campaign, Miles Morales is too busy being Spider-Man to meet up with his mom’s new boyfriend. It’s clear that Insomniac is teasing something, but it’s not until the very end of the game, after all the credits, that we get the reveal.

    Miles and Hailey, after sharing a kiss, are hanging out in his room when they’re interrupted by a knock at the door. Miles’ mom is excited that her son will finally meet the new man in her life and answers the door to introduce…Albert and his daughter Cindy. The music swells dramatically here, in a way that tells you “Hey, this is important.” But most players will likely not understand why. So what’s up?

    Well, Cindy Moon is a character from the comics more commonly known as Silk. She’s a relatively new spider-person, only appearing in comics since 2014. But she has a direct connection to Peter Parker. In the comics, Moon got her powers from the very same spider that bit Peter Parker. She has similar powers to him, though she’s able to produce organic webbing and doesn’t rely on cartridges. She also boasts an eidetic memory and is sometimes said to be faster than Peter, but not as strong.

    And Albert is her dad. He uh…doesn’t have a very interesting backstory. I mean look at this Marvel Comics Wiki entry. It’s one paragraph. Poor guy.

    What does it all mean?

    The Norman Osborn scene is pretty easy to piece together. The dude hates Spider-Man so much that he is willing to work with someone he also hates, Doc Ock, to get his revenge against the webhead. I wouldn’t be surprised if some other villains get involved too and team up to finally kill Spider-Man. And because Peter Parker is seemingly retiring from the role, that will mean Miles is forced to deal with it on his own until the OG Spider-Man is forced out of retirement one last time to stop his archenemies. That seems like the kind of story that you save for a big sequel rather than DLC.

    An image shows Silk as she appears in the comics.

    Image: Marvel

    As for Cindy Moon aka Silk, I’m not as sure where Insomniac is going with this tease. It’s possible Silk shows up in DLC and later plays a bigger role in the (not yet announced but going to happen) Marvel’s Spider-Man 3. It’s also possible that she gets her own spin-off, standalone adventure like Miles Morales, introducing players to the newest spider-person and helping get her settled in the universe before the events of the next big entry.

    I’m very into the idea of a Silk-focused spin-off game and I’m excited that Insomniac didn’t just use Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Gwen as some fans had predicted or hoped, but instead introduced a newer, lesser-known character into the franchise.

    However, Stacy’s most famous storyline, one which has been recreated in TV and film, involves her getting killed by Green Goblin after he learns who Spider-Man is. So perhaps Gwen Stacy will be a part of the next game, but not as a superhero. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

    Feel free to discuss all of this and other spoilers from Spider-Man 2 in the comments below. This is a safe place where you can chat about anything that happened in the game or its previous entries without fear of spoiling anybody.

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    Zack Zwiezen

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  • Spider-Man 2 Has One Hell Of An Opening

    Spider-Man 2 Has One Hell Of An Opening

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    Spider-Man 2 doesn’t waste any time showing you all of the ways it’s bigger and better than the first two games. The result is one of the best video game openings ever.

    If you plan on playing Spider-Man 2 and haven’t finished the first half-hour yet, you should go do that first.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    Spider-Man 2 stars Peter Parker and Miles Morales, so naturally the first mission features both of them working together like a well-oiled superhero machine. Miles is a high school student and Peter is teaching his class. When dust starts coming in the windows and an emergency breaks out downtown, the two bounce out of the building and strip down to their uniforms as the game’s hip-hop theme (“Swing” by Atlanta-based duo EarthGang) plays.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The opening cleverly makes use of Spider-Man 2’s bigger New York City map, which adds t Queens and Brooklyn on the other side of the East River. The first thing Peter and Miles do is web-swing across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Manhattan’s Financial District where another villain is once again on the loose. It’s immediately clear just how much more expansive the game looks and feels, with glistening skyscrapers in full view across the shimmering water.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The villain in question is none other than Sandman, probably my least favorite entry in the Spider-Man rogues gallery. His shoehorned inclusion in 2007’s chaotic Spider-Man 3 did little to help that. But there’s no origin story here, just Flint Marko transformed into a 40-story-tall sand monster rampaging through the Financial District. He’s massive, but not so massive the Spider-Men can’t web his eyes shut and punch him in the face. It’s absurd but immensely gratifying.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The initial slugfest is just the start. The fight also takes Peter and Miles inside a nearby building, battling armies of mini-Sandmen while they run through the halls saving civilians and scrambling to get to the water tank on the rooftop as everything around them breaks apart. It’s an incredibly elegant sequence of real-time action and quick-time cutscenes that’s visually stunning and feels seamlessly stitched together.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    This intro alone, topped off with a final boss fight sequence that looks better than most Marvel movies, would be enough to make it one of the best setpieces ever in a first-party PlayStation game. But then there’s something Insomniac does just because it can: fling Miles halfway across Midtown and back again in a 20 second shot that never cuts.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The entire encounter feels like some of the best tricks from Uncharted and God of War blended into Insomniac’s unique spin on cinematic comic book choreography. It even uses the action-packed chain of events to introduce the web wings, Spider-Man 2‘s best new trick which lets Peter and Miles glide through the air like Batman.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The opening scene takes less than 20 minutes and succeeds at both reminding players how to play a Spider-Man game and proving why Spider-Man 2 is more than just more Spider-Man. Some games start with drawn-out conversations or extended cutscenes. Others have you rigidly go through a tutorial bogged down in explanations and button prompts. Spider-Man 2 is like getting dropped into a rocket that’s just started counting down to lift off. More games should do that.

                   

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    Ethan Gach

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  • Spider-Man 2 PS5 Will Be Darker Than The Tobey Maguire Movie

    Spider-Man 2 PS5 Will Be Darker Than The Tobey Maguire Movie

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    The developers of the upcoming PlayStation 5 sequel Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 say that the game will try to strike a balance between humor and heart while respectfully depicting the darker tones of Peter Parker when he is using his Venom symbiote suit.

    During Sony’s hour-long PlayStation Showcase last week, we saw over 12 minutes of new gameplay footage of Peter Parker and Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to close out the show. The upcoming PlayStation 5-exclusive action game looked to be going for a similar mix of web-slinging traversal, kinetic fight scenes, and palatable humor as its predecessor, but with the added bonus of Parker being pretty aggressive while wearing his new Venom symbiote suit.

    Read More: Spider-Man 2 PS5 Gameplay Shows Kraven Villain, Symbiote Suit

    Peter’s internal battle with Venom will be like battling an addiction

    While one side of the internet churned out memes comparing the edginess of the Spider-Man 2 game’s Parker to Tobey Maguire’s “Bully Macguire” performance in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 movie (which was a camp masterpiece), another group of fans was in awe of Peter Parker voice actor Yuri Lowenthal’s Sasuke Uchiha-esque performance as a newly jaded web-head under the Venom symbiote’s alien influence.

    Speaking with Eurogamer, Spider-Man 2 creative director Bryan Intihar revealed that Parker’s internal battle with the black parasitic space goop that’s making him so aggro in the game will be akin to a person battling addiction. Unlike the more camp depiction of director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 Venom, Intihar said Peter getting bonded to the symbiote suit is “not something we want to make fun of.”

    “The theme of addiction is prevalent, especially because of the symbiote. We did a lot of research, not only on previous stories with the symbiote, but also just looking at when [Peter] is bonded, what can that feel like? Not to go into too many things about how it plays in the narrative, but we want to treat it very seriously,” Intihar said. “So, it’s about really playing into those themes of addiction, how that can impact someone’s personality, impact the people around them, and you’re going to see that it’s not just how it’s impacting Peter on his own, but also those close to him. You’re going to see that play out throughout the game.”

    Read More: Oh No, The PS5’s Spider-Man 2 Game Has A Silly ‘Puddlegate’ Controversy

    Insomniac Games

    Miles Morales will give Spider-Man 2 players a symbiote-angst break

    While in the PlayStation Showcase footage it is definitely jarring to see Lowenthal’s Parker go from wise-cracking about being New York’s “Spider-Cop” and meekly goading the stoic Silver Sable into giving him a high five to dumping rescued civilians to the ground and doing whatever this is to Kraven’s goons, Intihar and game director Ryan Smith told Eurogamer that Spider-Man 2 won’t be entirely about Peter being an asshole because playing as Miles Morales will offset the game’s darker moments with a bit of levity.

    “I think you saw that in the gameplay reveal,” Smith said. “We have the moments with Ganke and Miles and the Falcon that he’s trailing behind—the Talon drone—and then at the very end, you get that line about Peter changing and Miles saying, ‘You know, he’s never like that,’ right? So we have those human elements, both on the serious side of where we see the symbiote affecting Peter, but also on the lighter-hearted side.”

    Read More: Let’s Rank All The Spider-Man Games, From Worst To Best

    The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been pretty hit or miss with serious scenes, with a tendency for humor to abruptly rob them of their weight. Time will tell whether or not Spider-Man 2 will succeed in balancing its heart and humor with its darker moments, but Intihar is confident that the game landed on the right ratio of wit and drama.

    “What we’ve talked a lot about is—whether it was Marvel’s Spider-Man or Miles Morales—our games are all about still having heart and humor,” Intihar said. “It’s really finding that balance between those darker themes and characters, but also delivering that very human story where there’s a lot of heart and humor… I think that’s what was tricky. But I do think we found that nice balance at the end of the day.”

    Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches later this fall.

       

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    Isaiah Colbert

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