He's hit on the basic problem with all Movie/Comic tie in games. They come out too fast, receive too little polish, and are made for the intent of standing with a series instead of alone.

If developers (EA I am looking at you) would give these games the times they deserved instead of rushing them out with the movie opening, they would have better sales over all.

EmeraldDragon

He is very right. While I do enjoy swinging around NYC as Spidy, I really would enjoy a conventional level by level games like the first Spiderman game on the PS1. Why can't we have this? It ruins the fun of being Spiderman if you have to do the same 4 things over and over again. I would like a way to blend both styles of the game.

And while CAC isn't all that great from what I saw GOW is a FANTASTIC action game.

Strider-No.9

No offense, but this guy is overrated in my opinion... and so are his games. Calling All Cars? Bleh. God of War? Bleh.

Sphinx

Comix Zone kicks arse, Jaffe. TAKE IT BACK

Pombar

I don't see why some decent developer can't license the GTA4 engine and make a game where you alternate between Peter Parker and Spider-Man gameplay, following a plot and side missions.

Koztah

@karasu is my homeboy: to be fair, the way you said "mediocrity" had a harsh/scathing ring to it, and i think wolf_dog was replying in suit?

Nihon no Purin

@bigman88zz: wait a sec, was friend vs foe somewhat movie based? i know it had the some of the same character models, only modified....

bigman88zz

I personally enjoyed ultimate spiderman

TheGreySpectre

Also a good DC game would be nice too. At least there's been SOME effort put into decent Marvel games, the only DC one that has approached being decent was Justice League Heroes, and well, yeah, that's my point.

fearing

why doesn't Jaffe shut up and make the game himself?

tralfaz23

I agree with his basic premise that the games could and should be better, with one big caveat: in the wake of the horrible "brand new day" storyline, the current line of Spidey comics is brain-meltingly stupid. I bought the last 3 issues of Amazing because the wonderful Dan Slott is now the writer on that series (She Hulk, The Thing), but he is so constrained by the idiocy of the Brand New Day revamp that they still ended up complete garbage.

So yeah, maybe if they got somebody who actually knows how to write Spiderman well (JMS we need YOU!) in comics to work on a game the results would be good, but the current creative team and their dark, evil master Joe Quesada are not the ones you would want.

DaiMacculate

its kinda hard to say they should make the spiderman games feel like a comic, since a good majority of them were based on the spiderman movies, with the exception of ultimate spiderman, friend vs foe, and spidey 1 and 2 for the ps1/n64

bigman88zz

Spider-Man has had good games. The Genesis game was good for its time, the Sega CD follow-up/"enhanced" version was even better. The first Playstation/Dreamcast game from Neversoft was great, and the first movie game from several years back was enjoyable. There was a Final Fight style arcade game from the early 90's that was fun as well.

And obviously the Marvel vs. games, although I guess those aren't exactly "Spider-Man games."

Anyway...it's easy for Jaffe to say that, but it's not like he has to deal with the owners of a big-money license who love to stick their nose into people's business. He's obviously playing to the right crowd though, since the majority of people here are buying into his stuff and kissing his ass.

KaneRobot

@Wolf_Dog: I didn't think Calling All Cars was that much fun and I've played it numerous times. It's just ok. I know people that don't think it's anything other than alright. I see people on forums that don't think it's fun, or think it's "just ok" and if you wanna go by reviews, it has a 77 on Metacritic, so reviewers, too, don't see it as anything other than ok. Why is your opinion more valid than mine? And why are you acting like what I say doesn't make sense?

On second thought, don't answer that. I've already seen how you respond to comments, but I'm out of high schooling and done with name calling when someone has a different opinion than my own.

karasu is my homeboy

Would love to see a focus on the story as well, I bore quickly of being super all the time. Would nice to have the need to be Peter for example and do things to hide your identity.

AntiHiro

A few people have mentioned it in passing, but Jaffe seems to have completely missed Ultimate Spider-Man. That was fun sandbox gameplay coupled with a good story that was actually written by the comic's writer Brian Bendis. I'd say that's probably my favorite Spider-Man game to date.

0bsessions

So his message, generally, is that the usual Marvel games are "Welcome... to DIE!" right?

TomSkylark

That'd be cool if there was a Spidey game where you could follow clues like a detective to unique boss fights like Shadow of the Colossus. Without requiring any tedious chases, escort missions,minigames,shit,etc.

Maintaining a secret identity would be a neat challenge too.

KenogaBrave

someone needs to sequel X-Men the arcade game and add online support

also, Comix Zone 4TuberW mr jaffe

BigChiefSmokem

@Eumenides: I actually though Comic Zone was pretty bad ass...

gamedismantler

I will admit to liking the PS2 Ultimate Spiderman. The Cell Shading and transitional panels just worked for me. And Spidey's classic one liners coupled with his teenage angst was just funny. Every other spidey game INCLUDING the side scroller (ala TMNT, Punisher, Simpsons etc.) from the arcade just didn't sit well with me.

Eville1

@ Jaffe: Ditto

Give this guy the entire Marvel universe Nordic mythology! He could make a game that what Viking should have been...great.

With Thor, Loki, Odin, Hercules and a plethora of other characters in that universe that's deeply seethed in the Marvel continuum, great things can happen...and even surpass God of War.

Thor: Chains of Ragnarok. (or Valhalla) :D

vx2

I think you all are missing the point!

He dropped the name "Comix Zone" !

Who here is even old and cool enough to have played it.

*i use the term cool VERY losely.

Eumenides

@brightcrazystar: @BStu: I take my hat off to both of you as you have stated my points in a far better manner then I could by myself. Bravo.

Foxstar Sixtail

He makes a lot of valid points. Jaffe is known for creating successful, great games so I think he could really make a good Marvel game. Besides go back and compare Spiderman 3 and Incredible Hulk games. Pretty much the exact same games.

digipen89

@Foxstar Sixtail: It's not Marvel, but The Darkness is superb game made by comics.

xmort

Because sandbox games are better. The first spiderman games was like that, and was only notable for not sucking. When I'm in a fictional world, especially one like a comic or a movie, I want to explore it as much as possible. Can't do that in a linear game.

Marasai

I somewhat agree with him... but when it comes to stories, the Ultimate Spider-Man did it right. Good story with somewhat dull gameplay. The story was what kept me playing it until the end.

Lider

Kratos is already a bald, angry, half-naked Spiderman wielding two swords attached to strands of web.

MadGodji

They can continue doing sandbox games as long as they're good. Crackdown was decent. Spidey sandbox games must create the illusion that gameplay is not just a variation of 4 modes; transition between navigation and missions must be seamless. If anything, do away with the user consciously selecting to start or ignore a mission -- have it start automatically which the user can either respond to or ignore.

ChiChi_BBQ

@brightcrazystar: Where are the 30 year retcons? You almost finish the game then 30 hours of gameplay become meaningless. XD

Shinryoma

@karasu is my homeboy:

Whenever i read stupid things like what you said bout not trusting jaffe with marvel games cause of his prior games (God of war)

I respond with one name: Peter fucking Jackson.

Wolf_Dog

@karasu is my homeboy:
And I honestly think that's the best Superhero game ever. It was perfect.

Pish posh! Clearly you've never played Batman Returns on the SNES. Best superhero game ever and AND, I would be so bold as to say, the best (2D) beat 'em up ever!

Mr. Fap☆Fap!

I would be excited about Web of Shadows but seeing how Iron Man, Hulk, Superman Returns and SM3 did I will have to play the game first. No amount of interviews showing developers swearing on the lives of their children that the game is awesome, how this gen will finally let them achieve what they always wanted to do (HD PS1 fog?)and how they "get" this particular licensed character can convince me otherwise. :)

Shinryoma

Why can't you do a hybrid game. Put him in a big sandbox, but still have defined missions that follow a linear path. I mean, not all urban sandbox games have repetitive missions. The problem isn't necessarily the setting as the execution. The producers may have thought that it was enough to put Spiderman in the sandbox and walk away. But if you had a compelling and fully developed story that simply played out in a large free-roaming environment, that might be the real success.

BStu

I'm glad someone said it. Reviewers always seem to award extra points for open world games, but most of the time you sacrifice so much to have the open world it's not worth it.

I mean, the big city in GTAIV is cool for about half an hour, then it becomes just an annoyance that gets in the way of the missions.

Zelos

Yeah, he's kinda right. The Spidey games need more focus and the open world designs so far have just been lazy especially in terms of missions types.

Fishballs

The best Spidey game ever was the old PC text adventure.

The problem with a Spider-Man game is alot of the things in comics don't translate well to gameplay. Peter has to live TWO lives, each must be mostly separate from each other, and few people walk in both. Where is the Spider-Man game where you have to conceal your identity to protect your loved ones? Where is the Spider-Man game where you have to keep a job you begin to loathe cause it pays your Aunt's medical bills. Where is the game where you have to sell your soul (erm, marriage) to save a dying relative who prolly got less than 5 months before she dies?

The minute they make a Spider-Man game where you have to save Mary Jane from the new guy she is dating because he is a werewolf and it's a full moon... and the Vulture decides to strike you on the way to the park... and you fall off your web laughing at him because he looks like he's smuggling grapes, I will buy another title.

brightcrazystar

@karasu is my homeboy: Calling all Cars is one of the best things on PSN right now. It's not Twisted Metal, it's not about violence or anything. It's actually the best game to play with someone who is scared of the PS3/360 contoller, as it's very simple yet still uses all the buttons. Besides, the graphics/details/destructibility is just great, and 4-player on and offline makes it even more special. It might not be your type, but it's far from mediocre. And it's one of the most original games out there. I can't see why you wouldn't trust a guy who has made GoW what it is with Spider Man. Just from this paragraph you can see that the guy knows what he's talking about, and if there's anything that people love about Kratos, it's his (rather unusual for a protagonist) character.

slomo788

He is right. Thousand great comics with great storylines. And a douzend bad marvel and dc games nobody really enjoyed.

sofiabudapest

But I like super hero sandbox games :(

Struct09

After yesterday's video of Spiderman: Web of Shadows, I'm quite psyched up about a new Spidey game, especially one that captures the high flying aerial combat that Spidey is known for. Particularly the scenes of Spidey slapping what looked like a goblin wannabe of his glider and then webbing bad guys to buildings for later pickup by the cops.
I had a huge amount of fun with both the free-roaming and linearised games back in the day, on PS1 and Gamecube and while the mission types were often repetitive, the feeling of swinging around a free-roaming New York City still feels too good to pass up. I think it would be too big a risk to attempt to marry the two types of game together. It might be brilliant, but the potential for it to go spectacularly webs up is too great.
That said, the PS1 titles had the comic charm that only the original Stan Lee comics could ever achieve...I miss that.
Screw it, I want two games.
Get to it, developer guy!

Mattz

I like this Jaffe character. But I can't say I like Marvel or anything of that ilk too much. I'm a Judge Dredd man, myself...and he hasn't had a good run bar the comics. Stupid Stallone. Rebellion letting me down, too. Even the old Genesis/SNES platformer was a bit by-the-numbers. And a lousy lightgun game was made, too.

Maybe we need to see some of the big VS. match-ups made into games. Dredd versus Batman was pretty good.

[www.2000adonline.com]

pylon_trooper

That would be a great addition, suburbancowboy. I remember enjoying that aspect of Beyond Good & Evil much more than I expected. And that was just photographing boring creatures, imagine how cool it would be to try to set up good camera angles before fights and then maybe compete with other photographers for enough money to pay the rent. This concept has lots of potential and would break up the monotony of a limited amount of side mission templates.

BigWyrm

@suburbancowboy: SMSII Spidey also did the same. You could then spend the money on webbing.

Shinryoma

Spider-Man has always been my #1 favourite comic book character. The games are horrible. They just don't quite capture the feel of spider-man. The closest I've ever seen was Capcom vs. Marvel's Spidey.

"This one's for JJ!"

NexusSIX

@karasu is my homeboy: Calling all Cars wasn't bad at all. Was it simple, yes! Fun? hell yea!

Jun581 likes street fighter 2 but he hates zangeif

Spider-Man for Sega Genesis had you taking pictures and selling them to JJ.

suburbancowboy

Agreed and even though Web of shadows looks good,it still is going to be sandbox.But,I don't see how you win.It's either linear or sandbox and one side will complain about the other.

enewtabie

I like this guy. He's always been amusing to listen to and read about. I actually agree with him, with regards to the spiderman/marvel franschise. I thought Spider-Man 2 for the PS2 was great. The following iterations were *Meh*; especially the next-gen offering, Spider-Man 3. That was a HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT!! I'm surprised that Marvel games haven't done so well, with the exception of a few titles. The best in my opinion, so far, is Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

if this is a duplicate...sorry, something is wrong with my computer or kotaku.

Jun581 likes street fighter 2 but he hates zangeif

The man is right...

EGBTMagus

Translation: "Let me make a Spider-Man game."

With so many on the drawing board, why not give him a shot? It would probably turn out to be the only good one of the bunch.

wallapuctus

I don't know. Spiderman PS1 was great and if I remember correctly, it was sandbox-y. And I honestly think that's the best Superhero game ever. It was perfect. Or maybe that's just because I was younger.

Anyway, this is coming from the guy who talked a big game and then delivered mediocrity with Calling All Cars. And that was simple, David, you were just working with cars. I would probably not trust you with something like Spiderman. But that's just me.

karasu is my homeboy

David, I'm hoping that the Gods intervene and somehow give you the reins to Ultimate Alliance 2.

Seriously, I don't think I can handle another last-gen button masher.

DONAR

bring god of war 3

frak-frakistan

Comic book fans can make the best games or the worst ones, it's a toss up. Anyway, there's no reason NOT to do a Spider-Man sandbox game but the issues arrise when not enough time and effort is up into what you can do in that wide open city. Hell just being able to sell pictures to JJ and having to meet MJ at the met for a date that night would be good ad-ins.

Comic book games will forever be limited in their scope by the time and money put into them and till that's overcome, the developers will take the path which causes them less trouble.

Foxstar Sixtail

I can't help but agree at the comments he has made. Kudos to you!

Eon.

GoW + Spiderman = :-O

I loved the first two spiderman games. What if Mode added a lot of replayability for me. The sandbow spidey games though - eh, not so much. Heck, I still play Maximum Carnage.

Kanik

Give me a spider-man game that's more or less an updated version of Spider-man 2, better graphics, etc, then I'll be happy.

I liked the sandbox environment because I derived great joy from just swinging around the city. They fucked that up for the 3rd game by making spider-man weightless.

Tizlor

Wow the way he said it, it's like he's asking them to hand him the reigns to a new Spidey game. Not sure if that's really a bad idea. Sure he may seem like a douche to some (I like him) but he does know how to make quality games. On the up side, even if he botches it you're going to be entertained either way.

His points are pretty much valid. I don't think anyone can argue with that. Hey Jaffe! If they don't let you make a Spidey game, make a Batman one instead! C'mon do it for the fans!

excaliburps

If I were a Marvel executive and looked at Jaffe's resumé, I'd hire him on the spot to make the next Spider-Man game.

AuthenticM

@Shinryoma:

Good one! and then you find out you are not the real Spider-Man, and are a clone, so you smack yo imaginary baby mama. Though that sounds kind of like the Original Final Fantasy. Where you have to go back and erase any reason for any of your grand adventures and thus you are the only one who *sorta* remembers them... hmm?

Ooooh! Avengers ATB style turn based RPG, with all art and story lines by Marvel legends. MAKE IT SO!!!

brightcrazystar

@EmeraldDragon: The problem with movie tie-ins is the game has to be out when the movie hits, otherwise its a major lawsuit with the game publisher being sued by the movie makers more often than not (depending upon the liscensing contract).

Then the movie makers don't exactly give you the entire script (for fear of leaks), so that slows down your dev cycle as they spit you bits and pieces and expect you to be able to put it all together like a giant puzzle.

I agree that a long dev cycle would help immensely, but with movie tie-ins it just isn't possible unfortunately. Which is why the Spiderman titles are usually better when there is NO movie tie-in.

Meohfumado

in 2 & 3 you did have to sell pics to JJ.

I liked those games but I'll admit to just swinging around the city for hours...

The mechanic was just so...pleasing. @TomSkylark:

Billkwando

<3 david jaffe

demonknightinuyasha

He needs to make a Marvel game, NOW.

or.....

Maybe the people over at DC will actually let him *hint* *hint*.

LegendK1ll3r

I liked Spidey 2...

*hides*

Lukehmuse

Meh! The best marvel games were capcom's vs. series. PERIOD.

60Hz

Yeah the new Spidey game looks pretty good. I hope its at least as good as Spiderman 2 for consoles

all spidey games after 2 kinda went mediocre after it

KaliKOtt

A Jaffe Spiderman game would be PS exclusive, and I'm sure Marvel doesn't want that.

Might be pretty good though :)

Kato

We need Maximum Carnage 3

Altima NEO

guy make s a fuckin' strong point. what if a spider-man game made you maintain your identity as peter parker?

StratfordX

"I mean feels like a comic in a story based, narrative way: a game that shows off the OTHER aspect that makes Marvel Comics so special: The characters/story."

Obviously he doesn't know about ONE MORE DAY/BRAND NEW DAY... The less Spider-Man games have to do with those comics, the better.

Enigma_20XX

Spiderman: Web of Shadows looks pretty cool.

Arklop

I'm so sick of this guy. What variety was in God of War? Ooo! ooo! ooo! I got to hit the X button instead of the O button when prompted! It's like a whole new world! And nevermind the fact he took that idea from Shenmue. The recent Spider-Man combat video looks like it'll be better than God of War's combat system on top of it all. I think he's just pissed off that everyone realized his success with God of War was just a fluke.

mugido

Jaffe plz make Marvel game!

TheNocturnalSun

I loved the PS1 Spidey games, Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man. All they have to do is combine the best elements of each of those!

At least Web of Shadows looks promising.

EvilSuperSean

Sandbox games fit Spider-Man perfectly because his powers make it so the city is a playground. However, open-world games require exponentially more content than their linear-counterparts, and not just in world building. That makes them poorly suited to the timetables of movie games.

@brightcrazystar: I think you're on to something. The two lives thing is a crucial part of the comics, but I'm not sure how well you could translate that to gameplay. How about something like Dead Rising and Bully, where life goes on with-without-you, and you're expected to keep up? Spend too long patrolling the town and you'll miss your date with MJ, causing your relationship will suffer. However, get caught up doing one thing, and find out the next day that Doc Oc robbed a bank and you weren't there. Now have the date and the robbery happen at the same time, and give the player the choice of what to do. Most of the Peter Parker stuff would just be a time skip (or occasionally a mini game), but every now and then you see a news report and have to decide to ignore it or find a chance to slip away.

Tiber

Sorry but even though I liked God of War, found all the Twisted Metals shit, but on my beloved Spiderman shut up Jaffe on the sandbox stuff.

Spiderman 2 was the only decent Spiderman game and that was because you had a cool swinging mechanic around an open sandbox world - I loved that.

Every time I ran into invisible walls or got prevented from traversing the citiscape in any of the Spiderman games it pissed me off.

Spiderman's boss battles need to stop being limited in general to specific areas of the city and become epic sprawling dynamic battles that take their toll across the whole of the city.

They need more variations in the mission types and more skill based combat and fun moves.

I enjoy reading stories in Marvel comics but they are not exactly straining my brain. Thus why can't we have a dynamic comic story generator in the game? That can queue of things like bosses you didn't take out, buildings you destroyed during the battles etc.

TurtleSoup

This dude, is awesome. Great remarks.

artofwar420

No offence but I think the stories in Marvel comics are (to the limited extent I've read them, which is very limited indeed, but didn't make me want to read more) crap, the 'characters' are crap, the films are crap, etc etc.

That said - I think David Jaffe, and probably other developers, could do a great Spiderman game! Under the following conditions:

1) There's a realistic timeframe that isn't 'you must have this done inside eight months to coincide with the next film/series/whatever'. And if the game isn't ready for its planned release, rather than rushing it to come out then, instead it's delayed to allow developers to do a good job.

2) The budget is appropriate for a major game, not just appropriate for 'doesn't matter how crap it is, it's a tie-in so people will buy it anyway'.

I don't have any inside information but my guess would be that neither of these are true for any of the previous games.

quen

I'm not 100% convinced that you can make a truly great game based on a well-known character or movie only because you're repurposing something and that always leads to something getting lost in the translation. I mean Spiderman 1 & 2 were pretty decent movies but I'll bet that a lot of people are still pissed about casting Toby McGuire (and I'll never like whats-her-name as the love interest - name intentionally withheld so as not to give her the hits). The recent Spidey games are based on the movies, so there is only so much you can do and still make it fun and fresh and not merely an interactive version of the movie. The problem is that it's impossible - using today's technology - to adequately capture the fun of being spiderman, so instead they continue to look for gaming genres that are fun and sell and build a retrofit. Right now, we're kind of in a gaming limbo where character games are being based on sandboxes with a spice of what makes a character different; sandboxes are actually pretty good at providing some entertainment value, but frankly without the license and given similar abilities, what distinguishes the game enough to make it good?

In my opinion the best choice in order to make a decent video game is to reinvent the situation entirely: start the game where you're Peter Parker, you wake up to new powers and now you choose whether to use your powers for good or evil. Break the mold, allow the user to really feel like they're in control, rather than walking a tight rail with cut scenes.

Still, "Spiderman the TV Show Game" set in the '70s could be interesting...

mariospants

How about we give Shaba games a chance? I really like what they're doing with their shot at a Spider Man game.

And I LIKED Spider Man 2. Just to you know.

ODLdragonjoe

@BStu: I think you could be on to something there, it seems like that would best utilize spider-man and his world

Neo-Senku

He's a true Marvel fan AND he's a God of War designer? Someone toss him a contract already! :D

Kyuu

he didn't even swear once!

Jasper_

I love Jaffe, even if sometimes we don't agree. By and large he just brings a bluntness to this industry that is refreshing.

TheHeartless

Give Jaffe Deadpool and let him go to work.

It would be interesting to see what would happen when you gave him a cult Marvel character...

Phoenicks

Complain, complain, complain.

Jaffe, make a Spidey game. If you cared that much, then you'd FIND A WAY to do it.

But its easier to rant, right?

DARTH_TIGRIS

I want to see Jaffe make a Punisher game. Fuck. Yes.

Replica23

I wish they would make comic games all around more similar to their comic roots. The Darkness for instance would have been bad ass if they had really done what was set into motion by the comics. Don't get me wrong I don't want a carbon copy of what is there but truely show case story and powers as one not just lets do powers and forget about the character.

TheNexusRebound

Fuck that shit dude, make a new Comix Zone. That was like, the best game ever when I was a kid. Spider-man is whatever, but Comix Zone is forever.

DeadHex

He wasn't referring directly to the new Spider-Man Web of Shadows, but from the looks of it that game is going to be a big improvement over Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3 (the movie based ones).

But will it improve the story and the missions? Or just improve webbing and combat. The thing is, comics have such a deep and robust story, why can't a comic video game, have a nice deep story too?

I blame it on lazy, but thats just me. WoS looks like its going to be fun to swing around and fight (I dont know for how long though, the combat doesn't look like it has immense variety, atm), but the mission structure will most likely be the same old stuff we have seen in all the Spider Man games thus far...

PS- So Jaffe can't comment on Marvel video games without people thinking he wants to make one now.. Just because he loves Marvel comics, and loves video games, doesn't mean he wants to make the nest game.

Sentry

that web of shadows combat video i saw earlier looks pretty cool. i hope that game lives up to jaffe's desires of a spidey game. i'm soooo tired of the same shit he mentioned.

James, just James

He designs God of War games and then says that Spiderman games are built around a limited premise? Pot, meet kettle. I've played all the God of War games and they're about as repetitive as they come when it comes to gameplay. I'm not knocking the story, which is the only reason I kept playing, but really, the gameplay itself was about as deep as the kiddie pool.

myasir

I have to agree with the man up to a certain point.
I think the sandbox style works really well in most Superhero games but they need some way to mix things up.

Take the Jak series for example (At least Jak 2 and 3) It's a big open sandbox style city that has missions both inside and outside of the city proper.
Most of the missions taking place in other levels that connect directly to the city proper. (The Sewers, The Wastelands, Military munitions factory etc...)
All of which is woven together with a bunch of interactions and encounters that help tell the story.

The Baxter Building, Oscorp, The Triskellion, The Daily Bugle, The X-Mansion, The Big Refineries that supervillains always seem to hang out at...Hell even Midtown High.

Even if you just confine it to New York, the Marvel Universe has enough viable places to make some decent levels out of, and lucky us these locations are usually just overflowing with characters for Spider-Man to have meaningful interactions with.

It's not that the races and high flying acrobatics are boring, but there needs to be some variety. The whole race, keep racing, punch boss, repeat "action" of Ultimate Spider-Man was what eventually turned me off of the whole game.

Diddy_Mao

@Tiber:

you are definitely on the same trip as me! a story that the player, as spider-man decides his part in, much like Dead Rising.

and if i might suggest, make his role as Peter demanding but not critical. Like add social links mechanisms, and he basically needs to stay in touch, and may recieve certain story elements or even side quests if his social links are high enough. That way the gamer who wants no Peter in his Spidey can muscle his way through, and get his thrills. But the person looking for the elements of Parker in the game can get more from the story line by literally just taking some time to spend some time with the people he loves.

and it could be blatant. like what if peter gets a call and Aunt may asks him if he will come play bridge after work. and if he turns her down, then whatever...

but if he goes and plays bridge (where you actually can play bridge) aunt may says something like "Peter, you are such a good boy. Unlike those men that rudely brushed past me at the bank. They weren't even looking where they were going! They just seemed to be looking at the ceiling! don't people watch where they are going anymore!"

and then the controller is rumbling as Spidey sense goes off... might want to check out the bank, or even ask May if she can remember what they look like (ala mass effect). maybe you could thwart the bank robbery before it ever happened.

brightcrazystar

Wow... Something from Jaffe that isn't riddled with profanity. What's gotten into him?
He's spot-on with his criticism. Ultimate Spiderman was perhaps the best so far, but falls under the same criticism. Still, the franchise can crank out the sequels on the ol' trusted sandbox portrayal and make a lot of cash without too much innovation.

randlsa

Wow, replace "sandbox" with "level based" and we have God of War. Seriously Jaffe, put up or shut up; your posts used to be somewhat entertainingly tongue in cheek but now you're coming off like an arrogant ass. Yes, lots of people bought God of War, but design wise that game was less complicated than Spider-Man 2. Hell, Spider-Man 2 had more friggin boss fights than GoW. At least I didn't have to play Parappa to beat THOSE bosses.

Shabadage

Spiderman 3 for 360 was a total POS. That web of shadows shows some promise though, with the whole internal struggle between the good/evil, lets just hope it focuses on the character of Peter Parker instead of exclusively the choices the player makes, and have him decided based on player actions throughout the game.

Talleh