Insomniac Games has confirmed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 PS5 gameplay footage that was recently shown off at the PlayStation Showcase wasn’t from the game’s final build. This news shouldn’t surprise fans, but Spider-Man 2 has bizarrely found itself at the center of a heated debate about “next-gen graphics.”
Following May 2023’s PlayStation Showcase, social media and gaming forums were rife with players comparing Spider-Man 2 with Spider-Man Remastered, with some expressing disappointment that they looked graphically similar. Concerned fans took to Twitter to quiz Insomniac community manager James Stevenson about the footage.
The tiresome commentary about graphics has certainly caught the attention of Insomniac Games, prompting some devs to retweet Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, who pointed out that Spider-Man 2 has visibly improved ray tracing, more details, and larger set pieces.
This isn’t the first time Insomniac has found itself mired in controversy about graphics. The original was criticized by some for “downgrading” the quality of in-game puddles in the final release. This time, the conversation has devolved into arguments about water graphics.
While we don’t expect Spider-Man 2 to undergo a graphics overhaul ahead of its release in fall 2023, the game will certainly go through a polishing phase and looks pretty good regardless.
