Spider-Manis currently a mainstay in pop culture of all sorts, from his origins in comic books to movies and, yes, to video games.Marvel’s Spider-ManandMiles Moraleswere well received by fans, with some speculating about thesymbiote suit in futureSpider-Mangames.
With all that said,Spider-Man’s future has not always been certian on the big screen and, consequently, in video games. The originalSpider-Manfilm trilogy came to an ignominious end withSpider-Man 3, the fourth planned film from Sam Raimi being cancelled and reworked intoThe Amazing Spider-Man. Similarly, the fourth tie-in movie game was also cancelled and remained completely buried until, recently, footage of it surfaced on YouTube.
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Footage from an early build ofSpider-Man 4’s tie-in game is available on YouTube now. This no doubt comes as a shock to some, since the fourht movie’s semi-existence and tie-in game arethings few people know about the RaimiSpider-Manfilms. The video is just shy of twenty minutes long and doesn’t show all that much, mostly just moving Spider-Man around Manhattan. It’s obvious the game is still in the early stages of its development at just a glance.
Many textures are missing from the game, making it look like a canvas without paint in many places, even the skyscrapers appearing particularly grey and featureless. This is most amusing on the NPCs, who walk around as human shaped grey blobs, even though they do have distinct voices. At one point, Spider-Man pauses on the sidewalk and many unfinished NPCs and several palette swaps of one finished NPC crowd around him, cheering him on. For all that’s unfinished, the web swinging mechanics seem to function perfectly. It’s interesting to think that this is what many ofthe bestSpider-Mangameslooked like at one point.
The model of the city itself is mostly complete, with a few notable holes in the ground. This is in large part because it was re-purposed from the model inPrototype, which also took place in Manhattan. Supposedly the unused model was then turned around and used again forPrototype2. These days,comparisons between theBatman: Arkhamseries' combat andMarvel’s Spider-Man’s combatis common, but judging by the footage, the combat inSpider-Man 4would have followed its predecessors faithfully: simple and satisfying.
It’s impossible to tell from this early stage how wellSpider-Man 4would have landed upon its release. The tie-in games for the RaimiSpider-Manfilms were famously hit or miss, but these days Spider-Man’s place in video games is solid. So solid in fact that for many,Marvel’s Spider-Manis a better MCU video game entry point thanMarvel’s Avengers.
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