I LOST MY BALEWWWWWWWNNNN
As someonw who worked QA on Spider-Man 2 back in the day at Activision, just the word balloon gives me PTSD. I hated that kid so much. We worked 8-12 hour days, often 6 days a week on that game. Hearing "My balloon!" hundreds of times a day. Maddening.
Speaking of Spider-Man 2, that game was well and truly awful in terms of game design. The swinging mechanic was excellent, but everything else about that game is absolutely horrible. Graphics aside, the narrative is average, and doesn't manage to capture the charm of Spider-Man 2, the movie, and the rest of the game is full of filler. The combat is ok, but the world is sterile and lifeless. All of the Activision Spider-Man games are medicore to awful, and this is the first time Spider-Man fans are getting a game that is worthy of them. Spider-Man 2 was the first game I ever did QA on, so it holds a special place in my heart (and I still own a copy, like most of the games I've worked on), but it was not a good game.
I'm so ecstatic that Insomniac is doing this one. A Spider-Man game that may actually be worthy of the character. What a mind-blowing thought. I was actually whining to my wife a few months back about how I wished Marvel would make a real Spider-Man game that actually does justice to the character. And well, here we are. I hope Activision continues to stay far, far away from Spider-Man, and Marvel games in general. It's going to be nice to have people praising a Spider-Man game that's actually awesome. Web swinging mechanic can only get you so far. Having an actual game underneath that mechanic is going to be amazing. Spectacular, even. Ultimate! Web of...no, that doesn't work at all.