Spider-Man 2 requires little-to-no introduction. Released two weeks ago, it is the fastest selling PlayStation Studios game ever, reaching 2.5 million sold copies over just 24 hours from launch. After achieving Platinum trophy, in this article I would like to highlight some key efforts from Insomniac Games team made when making this game that stood out to me, with a special focus on accessibility of the title. Please bear in mind some mild-spoilers might occur, though mostly I will be talking about the game in general. For the record, I played the game with default settings except film grain turned off and difficulty set to Spectacular.
From innovation in settings, to gameplay mechanics and UI, Spider-Man 2 pushes the standard of AAA games and delivers a great experience for everyone.
When you first boot up the game, you're invited by a screen that shows the initial settings (which can of course be changed throughout the game). What stands out to me here are the presets for different accessibility settings - Hearing, Morion Sensitivity, Motor and Vision presets. Each of these allow a very quick setup for gamers to swiftly tailor the game to their needs, and on top of that, nicely explains what changes with each preset. From colorblind modes through changes in controller feedback up to game speed, there are sliders for almost any user scenario. On top of this, the game allows to quick-bind 2 user binds to the left and right arrows on the d-pad, further allowing to customise the settings on the fly (including accessibility)!
It's incredible to see this effort to really bring a great experiences to gamers around the world, no matter what their needs might be and still enjoy the game. On top of that, the game comes prepared for the "Access" controller, PlayStation's bespoke controller for enhancing accessibility for gamers. The game allows different custom profiles to be set so that users can bind different actions to same buttons and thus use even the controls and features that require multiple button presses, or a combination of inputs (such as the special combat abilities, or quicktime-events that require pressing both triggers at a specific angle.
Another feature I absolutely have to mention is the "popular settings" tab, that shows the most frequently changed settings, such as Film Grain, Motion Blur or various assists. I love this "preset" approach to settings while still allowing users to customise every single piece of experience to their preferences and needs. Unfortunately, this setting is only available at the startup screen, and later you have to navigate through all the different settings, rather than having the "popular" choices available at hand.
One last thing to put a light on is that the game also features great difficulty settings - you can customise how difficult combat is, how aware the enemies are when you're engaging in stealth, but also the complexity of the puzzles or difficulty of aiming. That's one step beyond the traditional ways we look at the accessibility of games. This way, gamers who are very new to the concept of complex puzzles can ease their way into the genre, while skilled veteran gamers can immerse in complex problems and get a great satisfaction of figuring them out. I'm thrilled to see this as a UX designer and have to give big kudos to the teams within Insomniac Games contributing to this. All-in-all, the settings are greatly enhancing experiences of gamers and I love to see the innovation, pushing accessibility in games further than what we already know.
When it comes to UX in the game itself, I absolutely have to commend how the game transitions between the two Spider-men. You can seamlessly switch between Miles and Peter through the "FNSM App", as well as see overview of current available missions and activities. Similarly fast is also fast travel, and with the introduction of the "Web Wings", a wingsuit that allows to cover great distances very fast, the overall pace of the game is great. I love that combined with the web wings, there are small "wind tunnels" all over the city, making it possible to traverse from Harlem to downtown Brooklyn without touching feet on the ground.
Web slinging has also been overhauled, now with an option to adjust the "Swing Steering Assistance". Default at 10 (max) setting, it makes sure that no matter where your webs attach to a building, the Spider-Man always continues in the way of left-stick. Turn it down to 0, and you'll see much more realistic swing - one where swinging from a building on the left side needs to be counteracted by the left joystick turned more right (rather than simply straight/up you would if the assist was on), or otherwise you will be pulled towards the building until you eventually hit it. It is a very neat little thing allowing both beginners and advanced hardcore fans get a lot of enjoyment from swinging around the city of New York, no matter if it's the simpler or more realistic one.
I'd also put a spotlight on one specific side mission. At one point, we get the chance to play as Hailey - a side character and a dear friend of Miles, we get to experience a short adventure with her. The twist is, Hailey is deaf and uses ASL or texts to communicate (as we know from previous titles). It was an extremely impressive experience, as during that mission, players may also gain some insight into the experience of Hailey, hearing virtually no sounds throughout the mission and having to rely on other senses to navigate the level. All-in-all, it was quite an eye-opening experience that at first caught me off guard, but completely blew me away by the end. The attention to detail in that mission, and understanding at least a tiny little bit more on how people with hearing impairment experience the world was very valuable not only as a designer, but as a human in general.
Speaking of New York, the side content spread throughout the map is done incredibly well. Every piece of content, be it clearing out enemy bases, finding micro spider-bots or investigating side-content is designed to great detail. For example, instead of traditional "clear X camps" assignments, this game takes a more complex approach, by first clearing Hunter "Blinds", each holding crucial information to the main base of the district. After clearing all of these "Blinds", the player will reveal the location of the base and will be free to clear it.
Every blind and base proposes it's own challenge and possibilities. What I (as an avid stealth-game fan from times of AC1 and 2) love is the amount of different approaches you can have to clearing the base. New mechanic, "Web line" that allows to create horizontal webs to stealthily access the whole base and pick off enemies one-by-one was BY FAR my favorite, as it really gave me a run for the money to figure out the approach, and felt very satisfying when I cleared out the whole base without raising alarm (and disabling communications beforehand, so reinforcements do not arrive!). And if something went wrong, the new combat abilities and gadgets, combined with combos and moves from previous titles made for one heck of a fun game loop, where I found myself indulging into side content whenever it was made available.
On the topic of side activities, I'd like to mention one small "flaw" I saw in the game pacing. In general, the pacing is great - a main story introduces a new mechanic, ability or enemy type and then unlocks the side activities similar to this (such as clearing symbiote nests throughout the city with the updated Sonic Blast gadget). However, exactly after being introduced to these symbiote nests, players are going to unlock first 5 nests around the map. However, the problem arises if the player decides to finish all of these nests right at that time.
See, there is one vertain type of enemy - a symbiote giant, who is very strong and without use of special abilities, virtually unbeatable. At this point of the game, players do not possess the "venom abilities" that would be very effective against this type of enemies. Thus, they have to rely on Spider-Man abilities and gadgets to hold off incoming enemies, significantly raising the challenge. To my surprise, after struggling (but managing) to clear all the nests and deciding to continue the story, only then are these giant enemies introduced in the storyline, along with new abilities that significantly increase your chances to beat them. After this mission a new set of nests is unlocked throughout the city, and surprise surprise, it is now MUCH easier to clear them.
One last thing I'd love to mention is how not only the main story, but even side content and basic gameplay mechanics such as swinging feel INCREDIBLE on the DualSense controller. Fully utilizing the haptic feedback, the game does an amazing job at further enhancing the immersion of every web sling, punch and gadget or even a small quicktime event, making the game feel so-so much real. Insomniac is not new to utilizing PlayStation controllers to their potential (just go and see prior Spider-Man games), but also the DualSense. When I first tried their Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for PS5, that was already an amazing experience of what the controller could do, and Spider-Man 2 takes it up a notch and really creates one-of-one experience, from cutscenes and intense battles to gliding and collecting spider-bots. Great job devs!
On the UI side of things, I have to highlight a couple of things. The UI in this game is similar in many ways to the previous titles, but builds with a few key features. Mainly, the highlight I would like to put is that upon scanning, the map reveals different activities in a beautiful, unintrusive way. This makes it easy to observe what is available and continue to swing uninterrupted. Some activities stay hidden, as they might only be revealed if you're close enough, so it is a great mix of exploration and having a clear goal. It is very easy to get fully immersed into the world and consume side content and activities for hours. My personal favorite are also the new crimes that adapt on events in the story, with a possibility of random encounters of characters from the story.
Overall, the UI manages to cover a lot of information without overloading the user with information. In combat, there are no health bars present (as was the case in prior titles), and only small button prompts appear if a finishing move becomes available. Similarly, when your gadgets, abilities or "ultimates" become ready to use, the game uses small UI elements accompanied with a sound effect to inform the player without "flashing" the UI or interrupting the combat in any way. This simplicity is sort of a theme throughout the UI, also outside of combat.
For example, since there are so many different side activities, it is natural that sometimes players forget I have some resources to spend, as they are already clearing out a different enemy base or solving a puzzle elsewhere. That's why I want to highlight another great UI feature - simple reminders that pop every now and then that some resources can be used to upgrade your hero(es). This way, the gamers can really dive into different content while keeping their characters fresh and upgraded.
One side note to UI perhaps would be to use a square/circular mini-map, rather than a rectangular one, as what often happened is that I missed something at the speed I was gliding through, even though other times I managed to see certain loot items spread throughout the city. If they were to the side. At least providing an option to change to a bigger mini-map, or to instead change the zoom-level of the mini-map would be some of the ways to ensure a greater visibility of items on the mini-map. On the other hand, this small "issue" caused me to also explore more and rather than focusing on looking to the mini-map, I actually focused on my movement and taking in the city.
All in all, the Spider-Man 2 delivers a top-notch experience for people, and sets a new standard to how accessible games should be. The push to create enjoyable experience for players no matter their needs, and great subtle "quality of life" improvements make it a great standout game and definitely one worth playing. I haven't even scratched the surface with some other features, and also don't want to spoil every single aspect of the game that I've greatly enjoyed (despite some improvements I could see implemented down the line). I've reached 100% completion and still long for more, and hope for future updates to continue improving the experience through additional content or DLCs. I can't wait what next Insomniac Games brings in future titles! Though it only came out few weeks ago, it already belongs to my replay list and I highly recommend everyone to try it out and enjoy it on your own!
