If you were hoping that Insomniac’s upcoming Spider-Man video game would allow you to swing around New York City on a Grand Theft Auto-style killing spree that would put Cletus Kasady to shame, then you may be disappointed to hear that contingencies will be in place to prevent Spidey from killing anyone, accidentally or otherwise.
“It’s certain scenarios we’ve put him in, certain abilities he’ll do during combat to prevent people from dying,” creative director Bryan Intihar told Kotaku. “So whether it’s about deciding where stuff gets placed or how it unfolds, Spider-Man’s not gonna be killing people. That’s not the game we want to make.”
We got a look at this in action during the E3 trailer, where Spider-Man saved the lives of both his enemies and civilians – the latter of which will be a core part of the gameplay:
“We don’t want you to feel like you’re beating up guys just for the sake of beating up guys. We do have scenarios where there aren’t civilians around, but we also want to push the feeling of being a hero in New York City. Spider-Man is its protector. Whether someone’s calling him a menace or not, he feels responsible for it.”
Intihar also went on to reveal that you won’t just be taking control of Spider-Man, as his alter-ego Peter Parker is also central to the story: “Peter Parker is integral to the character. In our game, you’re gonna see Peter a lot in story and in gameplay. He has a job. He just graduated college, and he has his first job as a scientist.”
As yet, there’s no word on a release date for Spider-Man, but we do know that it is being developed as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.
Originally published June 17, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
