Summary
Marvel’s Spider-Manmay be nearing the end of its run and while not overextending itself is probably for the best, it’ll be upsetting if Insomniac doesn’t get a proper chance to adapt many more of Spider-Man’s greatest comic book stories.Miles MoralesandMarvel’s Spider-Man 2wore their story influences on their sleeve, for instance, whereasMarvel’s Spider-Man 3seems to have its antagonists and story wrapped in a delicate bow already. Of course, there’s always a chance that the third installment introduces a bunch of side characters whose role is to fill out substantial side content in the open world.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s optional side questsare a terrific balance of friendly-neighborhood community service and cinematic villain encounters, which is somethingMarvel’s Spider-Man’s open world sorely lacked. The original game had tons of side quests, to be fair, but all of them besides the mission featuring Tombstone tackled relatively trivial issues in the city. Some of these moments are genuinely fun and heartfelt, but they are overwhelmingly concerned with random New York City citizens and are largely forgettable;Marvel’s Spider-Man 3will need to consider its side quest balance accordingly.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Side Quests Eclipse Any Other Citywide Activity
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2went overboard with its side quests and tripled down on villains they would debut or have players subdue, potentially in response to players being disappointed by how the original game left nearly no villains for its optional side quests. Indeed,Marvel’s Spider-Man’s story campaign is brimming with antagonists, sometimes to a fault. The balance there is that side missions could be where slower, more pedestrian sequences take place, though such quests unfortunately need to be profoundly moving, well-written, or dynamic in order to outweigh anything related to an arch-nemesis of Spider-Man’s.
In fact, citywide activities inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2are actually bumped up to a kind of side mission of their own considering how they mainly tie into a big-name side character or lead to a villain boss fight themselves—Sandman’s empathetic story is continued inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s “Marko’s Memories” activity, while “Mysterio’s Mysterium” leads to a stunning yet predictably subversive Mysterio boss fight.
Some side quests are brief but surprisingly lore-rich; for example, “Photo Help” is an unassuming quest that allows players to experience a flashback sequence with a young Peter Parker, who’s desperately trying to bike through New York City traffic on time to meet with J. Jonah Jameson about selling photographs of Spider-Man to The Daily Bugle. Further,“Graffiti Trouble” lends players Hailey Cooper’s perspectivewith no sound at all, inventive means of communication, and an expression of thoughts via pop-up emojis.
“The Flame” arguably blows everything else out of the water with a tonally dark quest featuringa boss fight against Yuri Watanabe’s Wraithand the not-so-subtle reveal of the cult leader being Cletus Kasady, who is now in possession of a red symbiote.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 3’s Balance of Side Quests is Going to Be Make or Break for Optional Content
The throughline between the first game and its sequel with Howard and his pigeons is phenomenal while listening to an elderly man speak about his granddaughter and late wife is a strike to the gut that no villain could deliver as devastatingly. However, the villain-related side missions and citywide activities tend to obscure them.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 3should definitely continue this trend of having multiple villain-related quests as optional missions in its open world, and if Insomniac deems those to be more positively received than others it might be best if they overthrow morestreet-level activities or FNSM app requeststhat could end up feeling like bloat.
It’s still uncertain ifMarvel’s Spider-Man 3will be the final InsomniacSpider-Mangame. If it is, it should let loose and throw in the kitchen sink to ensure it doesn’t leave anything on the cutting room floor that would be great for closure in its continuity. Otherwise, if Insomniac can balance the epic scale it’s introduced with the humble scale it began the franchise with, it could have something quite special on its hands.
