Insomniac Games have had the stressful task of trying to meet fans' high expectations for the new
Spider-Man game and they are actually succeeding. Every time new details about the game emerge, fans lose their minds because of how good everything looks, sounds and plays.
Today new details about the combat system in
Spider-Man have been revealed in the newest video feature by
Game Informer as Creative Director for the game, Bryan Intihar, tells us about the moves, abilities and upgrade system present in the game.
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When it comes to combat we really want to push this idea that he[Spider-Man] is this master of improvisation. He's not 15 years old, he's not just getting into his powers, he has the ability to juggle between webs, melee, environment action and gadgets and switch between them pretty quickly."
Intihar mentions that the very basics of combat starts with melee and by pressing the Square button you can pull off some really cool attacks but that's where it starts.
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You use that to begin the rest of your abilities. Whether it's holding it down and launching a guy up in the air and then pressing it down again to jump up with him and continue attacking. Then pressing Triangle to web-strike down, holding web-strike to grab guys and throw them."
He says that they really wanted to get players off the ground so they use their acrobatics , gadgets and their webs to make them feel more like Spider-Man. They didn't want Spider-Man to just be a brawler because he's so much more acrobatic and has a sense of fluidity and flow in combat.
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But it's not just on the ground, it's constantly going back, up and down, left and right, and using the environments to really deliver that idea of improvisation."
One of Bryan Intihar's favourite things to do in
Spider-Man is to punch guys up in the air and slam them down with his webs. While experimenting with the combat he remembers thinking "
Hey, what if I punch them in the air and then I start webbing them up and then I pull them down and I know that the combat team had added the ability that...if he has a bunch of web on him and then I slam him down he's now stuck to the ground."
It's those little things that allow the player to come up with their own combos as they experiment with the combat. In regards to the experimentation and how Spider-Man can interact with the environment, Bryan Intihar says that "
it felt more sandboxy than I ever thought It'd actually be."
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There are going to be moments where you'll definitely want to go in and it's going to be fast it's going to be hectic, but there are going to be opportunities depending on how you want to play the game where you actually can slow things down a bit and be a little bit more strategic and be able to take guys out without actually alerting others. You have that flexibility within the game."
Intihar then goes into detail about the progression system so that players can feel like a hero from the get-go but they'll feel like a greater hero over time.
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We're going to have a pretty deep progression system where you can unlock new moves and abilities over time but also craft new gear, new suits and new suit mods, and even you'll be improving the abilities of your gadgets over time. "
One of the reasons why Intihar thought Insomniac Games wouldbe such a good fit for Spider-Man was their experience with making gadgets. He mentions that players will be able to access these gadgets in-game via a Gadget Wheel just like in a
Ratchet & Clank or
Sunset Overdrive game.
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We have the tripwire. I like it because it's so multifaceted so you can be perched above a bunch of enemies and they could be on patrol and you can stick it to an environment and they'll be walking by a wall and they'll get like...slammed into the wall, which is really cool."
He mentions that the tripwire can also be useful in the middle of a fight so you could place it on an enemy and when another enemy walks by they'd slam together.
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We have the Web Bomb, which is great for crowd control. It's just fun to be in the middle of five or six guys, throw it out, it kind of rises in the air and then webs go everywhere. Now you can melee the guys."
One of Intihar's favourite gadgets is the Spider Drone that hovers above and shoots rapid fire webs at the enemies at the enemies. You could use the Spider Drone to either distract the enemies or set players up for attacks.
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In some of our city activities we'll have the main objective like, you've got to stop this storefront robbery or this drug deal happening. But some of these objectives will actually have sub objectives like 'complete five finishers' or 'take three guys out with your tripwire'."
Intihar says that these sub objectives not only add some replayability but also help players get extra stuff and currency for customisation and progression.
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So it's really important for us that we want players to be the Spider-Man they want to be so they can unlock the skills and abilities that they want to. At the same time we talked about the gear, and the gadgets, and the suits. And all the activities in the city that you complete will all contribute to things you need to craft those items. So we really want to make sure that not only you feel like a great superhero but that you're the superhero that you want to be."
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Insomniac Games, and Marvel team up to create a brand-new, authentic Spider-Man adventure exclusively for PlayStation 4. Take control of an experienced Peter Parker who is more masterful at fighting crime.
Spider-Man will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 4 on the 7th of September.