By<\/span> <\/span> Andrew Webster<\/a><\/span>, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pok\u00e9mon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
For the art team at Insomniac Games, there\u2019s one job that everyone seems to want: working on Spidey\u2019s suits. Since the first Spider-Man<\/em> game on the PS4<\/a>, modeling the in-game suits has been \u201ca hotly contested assignment\u201d among the studio\u2019s character team, according to senior art director Jacinda Chew. Over the course of three games, including the recently launched Spider-Man 2<\/em><\/a>, the team has managed to add a huge number of unlockable suits, covering everything from the Across the Spider-Verse <\/em>animated film<\/a> to the internet\u2019s favorite bodega cat<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s the treat,\u201d says Chew, \u201cto be able to work on a suit.\u201d
However, that wasn\u2019t something that was obvious to her from the start. Chew says that it wasn\u2019t until the first Spider-Man<\/em> launched and players started posting photos of their favorite suits that she realized just how important the different versions of Spidey could be to people. \u201cSome people grew up reading a certain comic or watching a certain movie, and now they\u2019re saying, \u2018That is my Spider-Man,\u2019\u201d she explains. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that I started to realize, how loyal fans are to that one Spider-Man that defined their childhood or a moment in their life. Because of that, we try to be very respectful about reproducing those suits in the game.\u201d
(She was particularly surprised by the response to Spider-Cat: \u201cMan, people loved that cat. And obviously, we brought it back. Hopefully there will be more cats in the future.\u201d)
Spider-Man 2<\/em> features a number of returning suits, along with some brand-new ones. It also covers two different characters, as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales (who had his own spinoff in 2020<\/a>) are playable. That means there were many more potential suits to choose from when it came to deciding what to feature in the sequel. According to Chew, the main goal is to offer breadth. That includes having suits pulled from different places \u2014 she divides them into three categories: comics, movies, and Insomniac originals \u2014 but also having a number of different styles.
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\u201cSometimes we\u2019re like, \u2018We really want to get a caped one,\u2019\u201d Chew says. \u201cWe want to get a variety of materials, silhouettes, even headgear; if he has a hoodie or a helmet or a mask. And just hoping that we\u2019ll get enough of a wide variety that people will find something that they like. Because it is impossible to please everybody.\u201d
\u201cYou should be able to look at it and identify the character\u201d
Some of the potential suits are discarded for technical reasons; others have to be adapted or tweaked so that they work in the game. Because you can wear the suits basically any time while playing and they show up in most cutscenes, they all have to support the same array of animations as well as features like Peter\u2019s mechanical arms or the new webwings that let players glide across New York City. Several had to have new features added solely for the game. \u201cThere are certain suits \u2014 for example, the Agent of Shield suit that Miles wears \u2014 that traditionally don\u2019t have a mask at all,\u201d Chew says. \u201cSo we had to design a mask for that suit so that it would technically work for us.\u201d
Another challenge was ensuring Peter and Miles remained distinct from each other, no matter what suit they\u2019re in. \u201cWhatever the genre is, you should be able to look at it and identify the character,\u201d explains Bill Rosemann, VP and creative director at Marvel Games. There are some clear physical distinctions between the two \u2014 Miles is a little bit thinner than Peter, and his webswinging style is a little more erratic \u2014 but, according to Chew, the main difference comes down to their personalities.
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\u201cWhat\u2019s really great about Peter and Miles is they\u2019re at different points in their lives,\u201d she says. \u201cSo their points of view are different.\u201d For Miles, that means more youthful suits and several that emphasize his background and love of music. (A personal favorite is the \u201ccity sounds\u201d suit that makes Miles look like he\u2019s ripped out of a 1920s jazz concert \u2014 complete with a Spider-Man mask under his fedora.) Peter\u2019s looks, meanwhile, often tap into the long history of the comics and films.
This time around, Insomniac also partnered with a number of artists, including Peach Momoko<\/a> and Taurin Clarke<\/a>, to craft unique suits just for the game. The ultimate goal, again, is to try to offer something for every type of player. For Chew, though, even with all of the different options available, she mostly uses one particular suit: the \u201cadvanced\u201d one introduced in the original game. And it\u2019s because, like many fans, it\u2019s one that\u2019s very personal to her.
\u201cThe first time I played the first game, I played in the Advanced Suit,\u201d says Chew. \u201cAnd I still play in the Advanced Suit because it is literally my<\/em> suit.\u201d
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