Marvel's Spider-Man was one of 2018's best surprises, and another in a long line of excellent single-player PS4 exclusives. Developer Insomniac Games delivered not just the best Spidey game of all time, but one of the greatest adaptations of the character in any medium. At last, here was a studio who just got Peter Parker and his world. The team understood his friends and his enemies, and they knew how to make it all work.
Sure, Marvel's Spider-Man might not have been flawless from a gameplay perspective... but I will always defend its story as one of the finest Spider-Man dramas to date, and I can't wait to see what happens next in the inevitable - but currently unconfirmed - PlayStation 5 sequel.
While we don't know for sure that Insomniac is working on Marvel's Spider-Man 2 for the upcoming PS5, there have been enough hints and teases from Insomniac to suggest that the wall-crawler will return. Hell, the game performed beautifully from a critical and commercial perspective, and Sony decided to buy Insomniac Games last year, making them an exclusive developer. That alone is enough to suggest it's on the way.
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But any official news regarding Spidey has yet to materialise. For now then, why not cast a (wary) eye on a new Marvel's Spider-Man 2 rumour that's been doing the rounds on Reddit. According to the post, development on the sequel is already well underway at Insomniac, and the game is expected to hit PS5 in 2021.
The mysterious poster cites an anonymous source at Insomniac Games. Despite the fact many of the claims in the post line up with earlier rumours regarding the sequel, this should of course be taken with a hefty dose of scepticism for now.
This latest rumour goes in to suggest that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will kick off not long after the climatic events of the first game. It's expected to take place during winter, and the open world will apparently be expanded to include both Queens and Brooklyn. That would certainly make use of the PlayStation 5's ability to support larger and more detailed open worlds.
There are also a few apparent story details covered in the post, so if you haven't finished the first game, a warning: major spoilers for Marvel's Spider-Man are about to follow. Seriously, really big juicy spoilers. Don't say you weren't warned.
Okay, so the leak claims that Harry Osborn will play a key role in the sequel. If you played the first game, you'll remember that Peter's best mate and Norman Osborn's kid was mysteriously absent for most of the game. Until, that is, it turned out that he hadn't had actually gone anywhere at all. Harry was still in New York, where his father had been performing experiments in an effort to heal him of a terminal illness.
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A post-credits scene showed Harry floating in a test tube surrounded by a black goo that was clearly supposed to be the Venom symbiote. Sure enough, the post claims that Insomniac will be bringing a new twist to the popular villain/antihero by making Harry the one who bonds with the symbiote. Traditionally it's Eddie Brock - but different versions of Venom have appeared in various adaptations.
It's also said that a few other famous Spider-Man villains will show up, including Carnage and Mysterio. Miles Morales will also be back in a major way, and will once again be playable in certain sections. Of course this time Mr Morales has his own spider powers and will be training under Peter, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
According to the post, Insomniac is trying to work out whether or not to let players free roam as Morales, but that particular idea is still up in the air. Finally, the game's traversal systems are said to have been completely overhauled. There are apparently better animations, a new "web-chain" mechanic, and three different types of swing modes; Realistic, Arcade, and Hybrid.
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While a lot of the post does line up with previous rumours, I do once again have to advise you take these reports with a pinch of salt. After all, a lot of what this supposed leak details could easily just be educated guesses based on what we saw at the end of the first game. Miles Morales playing a larger role and Venom showing up are certainly kind of... obvious?
It's all very exciting, but we'll have to wait for Sony and Insomniac to announce the game before we know for sure. Now that the PS5 specs are finally out in the wild, hopefully we don't have much longer to wait. The post claims a reveal is coming this Summer, but given everything that's going on right now... who knows?
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PlayStation, Spider-Man, Insomniac Games, PS4