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Will we ever see another good Spider-Man game?

JimiNutz

JimiNutz

Banned
Before the Arkham games there was Spider-Man.
The original Neversoft games on PS1 were pretty awesome for the time.
Treyarch then made Spider-Man: The Movie which received reasonable critical acclaim and then they created the greatest Spider-Man games ever in Spider-Man 2 with its amazing web slinging.

Since then the series seems to have died a slow death with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 being the most recent (terrible) game.

With Spider-Man now coming back and finally featuring in the MCU is it not time that we finally got another great Spider-Man game?

The success of the Arkham games shows that the market will embrace a good quality comic book/superhero game. Spider-Man is arguably as popular a character as Batman and his powers certainly lend themselves to a good open world videogame.

Who owns the right to Spider-Man games? Is it still Activision? Maybe that's the problem?
Disney don't seem overly keen on exploiting the popularity of the MCU in terms of console gaming either which does seem strange...
 
R

Razlo

Member
Marvel needs to take their game side as seriously as their movie side. No reason there shouldn't be new connected killer Marvel games every year.
 
Sylverstone14

Sylverstone14

Member
Activision still holds the rights. I really, really, really wish Treyarch would do another Spider-Man game, just like 2. Not really a fan of Beenox's work, outside of Shattered Dimensions.

I was personally hoping that maybe Vicarious Visions would make a great Spidey game since the portable ones they've made are quite solid, even though they're 2.5D. Ultimate Spider-Man on the DS is a gem for me, personally.

Also if I recall correctly, the guy that worked on SM2's web-slinging mechanic Kickstarted a game called Energy Hook. Not sure if it was any good.
 
JimiNutz

JimiNutz

Banned
Razlo said:
Marvel needs to take their game side as seriously as their movie side. No reason there shouldn't be new connected killer Marvel games every year.
Click to expand...

I really don't understand this.
Disney appear to be making good use of the Star Wars licence but they are allowing Marvel to waste there's.

It's especially strange with Spider-Man because he's already appeared in good games previously, is a very popular character and could be so good in the right developers hands.

Is it Activision that are wasting the licence?
 
K

Kouichi

Member
Shattered Dimensions was pretty awesome. I always thought if Beenox had a bigger budget and more time, they could make a legitimately great Spider-man game. I think Activision is the fundamental problem with the Spider-man games.
 
I

inky

Member
Razlo said:
Marvel needs to take their game side as seriously as their movie side. No reason there shouldn't be new connected killer Marvel games every year.
Click to expand...

They are taking it seriously. Their mobile apps are profitable as fuck. ;P
 
RowdyReverb

RowdyReverb

Member
NutJobJim said:
I really don't understand this.
Disney appear to be making good use of the Star Wars licence but they are allowing Marvel to waste there's.

It's especially strange with Spider-Man because he's already appeared in good games previously, is a very popular character and could be so good in the right developers hands.

Is it Activision that are wasting the licence?
Click to expand...
It really does seem like a waste of the wave of popularity these characters are riding to put them in cheesy F2P games. I would love to see a good AAA action game in the MCU.
 
R

Razlo

Member
inky said:
They are taking it seriously. Their mobile apps are profitable as fuck. ;P
Click to expand...

If you think the mobile games are on the same level of popularity and event status as their movies, or as big as a serious games initiative could be, then I just gotta disagree.
 
P

potatohead

Member
Loved the original Spider-Man for PS1/Dreamcast/64. One of the best action games of that era.

I need to try these other GOAT Spider-Man games though.
 
D

DKHF

Member
NutJobJim said:
I really don't understand this.
Disney appear to be making good use of the Star Wars licence but they are allowing Marvel to waste there's.

It's especially strange with Spider-Man because he's already appeared in good games previously, is a very popular character and could be so good in the right developers hands.

Is it Activision that are wasting the licence?
Click to expand...
Activision are obsessed with annualising all of their franchises and they tried and failed it with Spider-Man. So I wouldn't be surprised if because that failed they've just given up on it, which is a huge waste of the license.
 
I

inky

Member
Razlo said:
If you think the mobile games are on the same level of popularity and event status as their movies, or as big as a serious games initiative could be, then I just gotta disagree.
Click to expand...

Disagree all you want. Marvel Contest of Champions is one of the top grossing apps in both the Appstore and the Google Play Store. Much in like with the likes of Clash of Clans, Game of War and Candy Crush. With a certain generation, these mobile apps are much more popular than any average darling console game.

"Status" is a meaningless term. I said they are taking it seriously. Mobile is literally "serious business", not random throwaway efforts. You want console games and that's fine, they are happy bringing in the money with their F2P stuff, that's just the truth.
 
M

matrix-cat

Member
I think it's pretty safe to say we'll never see a Spider-Man game with webslinging on the level of SM2's ever again. Learning curve's just too high for the current video game climate, I suppose. I do hope we'll see something more complex and rewarding than the last few cloud-swinging games where you're basically just flying while watching Spidey do a webswinging animation.

But I could see another Web of Shadows happening, maybe. Open world, simpler but still reasonably engaging swinging, with great aerial combat. There's no reason it couldn't happen, Activision just has to sign the contract.
With Platinum.
 
M

MrRudiMentary

Member
Yeah now that Platinum have done Korra, Transformers and TMNT for Activision I wouldn't be surprised if they were given Spider-Man. I don't really know what a Platinum Spider-Man game would be like but I trust them enough.
 
A

Arttemis

Member
Web of Shadows had great web swinging. There was some invisible swing boxes over Central Park, but other than that, it felt just like SM2.

The combat in WoS is top tier, though. Best spiderman combat created. Initiating a combo from a mid-swing kick, continuing the combo by flinging your enemy around with a web while you're both mid-air, slamming them into the side of a building and fighting while crawling along that... fucking amazing stuff.
 
R

Razlo

Member
inky said:
Disagree all you want. Marvel Contest of Champions is one of the top grossing apps in both the Appstore and the Google Play Store. Much in like with the likes of Clash of Clans, Game of War and Candy Crush. With a certain generation, these mobile apps are much more popular than any average darling console game.

"Status" is a meaningless term. I said they are taking it seriously. Mobile is literally "serious business", not random throwaway efforts. You want console games and that's fine, they are happy bringing in the money with their F2P stuff, that's just the truth.
Click to expand...

The mobile games aren't tied together, there isn't a huge excitement behind them in the same way as the movies. You're twisting it to say I want console only, I'm not, I'm simply saying a few mobile titles is not at the level they could or should be. Every Marvel fan that is even slightly interested in games should be on board, they aren't, they're failing to capitalize on their full potential.
 
L

LewieP

Member
Do we know when Activision's license will expire?

I don't really have high hopes for a decent Spider-Man game. The problem with these kind of licenses is that they will be able to get decent sales with a relatively low budget, and it's rare that putting in the extra effort will reward them with increased profits. It's not like they actually own the brand, so it's not worth seriously investing in it in the long term.

See this.

The Arkham series was an exception, probably largely due to the fact that Asylum was a fair way into development as an original ip before they switched over to making it a Batman game. Same applies to Shadow of Mordor.
 
T

Tangled Up in Blue

Banned
NutJobJim said:
Treyarch then made Spider-Man: The Movie which received reasonable critical acclaim and then they created the greatest Spider-Man games ever in Spider-Man 2 with its amazing web slinging.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I was always partial to Ultimate Spider-Man myself. Especially once you unlock Venom.

2.jpg
 
W

WadiumArcadium

Member
The first Amazing Spider-Man game was pretty decent. Not Spider-Man 2 good but still pretty enjoyable. The combat was ripped straight out of Arkham.
 
Northeastmonk

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Defined? Who knows. I have enjoyed the various Spider-Man games since the SNES. The PS1 version was one of my favorites, by Activision. They always take on another form. Spider-Man's speed, agility, and overall design has made it hard. He's like Superman. You have to make the game move fast because of his abilities and if you cut anything out in the process then it's noticeable.

I'd personally like to see a game go into detail, like the Arkham games have with DC. I think they've done a pretty decent job, but they've been crafted to do maybe half of what is possible, even with an awesome city to swing through.
 
Dee Dah Dave

Dee Dah Dave

Member
Spiderman 2's swinging physics were near perfect, and are what made the game so great. No other Spidey game has come close since. I could spend days just swinging around without doing any missions at all.

A modern take on it, building on the core physics mechanics would once again be something special. Sadly all we get is Beenox cash in rush jobs instead.

With the success of the Batman games, it amazes me that Spiderman hasn't been given the same treatment it deserves.
 
S

saktrop

Neo Member
My favorite spiderman has to be spiderman 1 on ps2 the cheat codes allowed you to play as green goblin,shrink yourself and lot more and without the cheats the gameplay delivered aswell.
If they manage to do something like it again i will jump on it.
 
L

Lord of Castamere

Member
Activision's shit teir game quailty still baffles me. If they put actual effort and money into a solid tie in game that had merits beyond cash grab they could make bank. Then again if people stopped buying the shit teir games, maybe they'd give the license up.

Then again maybe they just don't realize that every game can't have the development time of a Call of Duty. I mean it's no surprise that their two best non call of duty games are structured like a Call of Duty(War/Fall of Cybertron). I'm actually curious if those two actually made money. They didn't feel like typical shovelware.

I'm not even sure what third party would be equipped to take on Marvel. Ubisoft? Take Two? Deep Silver(lol)? EA can't do it that's for sure.
 
R

-Ryn

Banned
Unfortunately I don't see Spiderman getting a game that does him justice. At least it isn't likely based on past games unless some awesome dev can get their hand on it.
 
I

Iva Demilcol

Member
Ultimate Spider-Man was pretty awesome, and Shattered Dimensions was great too: I'd love to see an entire game based on the gameplay of the Spider-Man Noir sections.

Other than those, I haven't seen other games that interest me. If they go "Arkham" style I hope they don't make all games about one villain like they did with the Joker.
 
U

Underrated

Member
I really liked Amazing Spider-Man 1 the movie game. Have you tried that one? Never played ASM2 but maybe that one is just bad and not as good as the one before it.
 
F

Fisty

Member
Im playing through The Amazing Spiderman right now, and goddamn that game is crap.

-Side missions are beyond pathetic and have the variety of race/fetch/arena fight, and there are 1000+ collectables

-Its basically a poorly done rip of Arkham, same exact gameplay structure without any of the rewards like fun or compelling narrative

-Same exact melee system as Arkham, minus the variety and flow. Combat is much faster so its hard to see counters (basically its punch punch counter for EVERY fight) and the combat animations are as stiff as a viagra addict in a brothel. Its like Infamous's melee combat in that regard, except you are forced to use melee in TAS wayyy more

-The ONLY thing that partially saves this game is the fact that its almost impossible to not have fun web-swinging through a city. Its obvious this is where they spent the most dev time, thankfully.

I really wish we could get Spiderman away from Activision
or they could put Platinum on it
 
T

Timu

Member
Not sure, though Spider Man had decent to great games in the past, like:

Spider Man 2000

Spider Man 1 Movie Game

Spider Man 2

Ultimate Spider Man

Spider Man Web of Shadows

Spider Man Shattered Dimensions

The Amazing Spider Man
 
A

Aru

Member
MrRudiMentary said:
Yeah now that Platinum have done Korra, Transformers and TMNT for Activision I wouldn't be surprised if they were given Spider-Man. I don't really know what a Platinum Spider-Man game would be like but I trust them enough.
Click to expand...

This. I trust Platinum to make a good or even great Spider-Man game. Shattered Dimensions was great and if they could make something like that with Platinum Games combat, it would be awesome.
 
N

Neoxon

Junior Member
I believe Activision still has the Spider-Man video game license. The contract was signed with Sony when they had the Spider-Man merchandising rights. But when Marvel reclaimed them, they had to honor Sony's original commitments. To my knowledge, said contract expires next year, so maybe then we'll see other developers take a stab at Spidey in a video game. And judging by recent events, I'm not sure if Activision is all that interested in renewing.
 
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