Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Got Rid Of The Series' Most Nightmarish Characters
21.10.2023 - 14:47
/ screenrant.com
/ Peter Parker
/ Miles Morales
Peter Parker and Miles Morales face several threats in , but the most nightmarish characters from and aren't back for the sequel. Insomniac Games' take on New York City is full of interesting character interactions and Easter eggs. This has helped set the series apart from similar games.
Easter eggs include homages to Spider-Man's creators, references to fan-favorite villains, and nods to gadgets such as the Spider-Signal or the Web Wings. The latter has been included as a means of traversal in 's story. However, one of the series' most beloved Easter eggs wasn't even meant to be seen.
The affectionately named «boat people» consisted of NPCs that circled 's Manhattan map. They soon became a fan-favorite feature due to their janky appearance, looking nightmarish and distorted. This was especially the case in comparison to the high-quality, more photorealistic visuals of the rest of the game.
When first launched on PS4, the boat people weren't meant to be seen close up as they existed beyond the map's invisible walls. Therefore, Insomniac used extremely low poly models that wouldn't have been out of place alongside the henchmen seen in the games on PS1. Of course, with the aid of the game's impressive photo mode, players were able to zoom in close on these character models and could see them in all their glory before sharing their findings online and inspiring others to seek them out.
This became a running in-joke between Insomniac Games and the fanbase. At one point, many pondered if the boat people would get a redesign when got remastered on PlayStation 5 alongside the release of and again with its PC release. Instead, Insomniac added an extremely self-aware nod to the NPCs' popularity by including a sticky note that reads "".
Related: «Something Never Experienced Before»: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Review
Sadly, the boat people as fans knew them are no more, as Insomniac's finally had to use high poly models on their boats. This is due to 's much larger map finally allowing players to leave Manhattan for the first time in an open-world game since 2005's. Players are now supposed to cross the East River to Brooklyn and Queens as part of the game's story, visiting both Peter and Miles' hometowns.
Peter has inherited the Parker residence in Queens and is teaching at Miles' college, Brooklyn Visions Academy. Therefore, players will come much closer to the boats than before as they can swing under the bridges, swim, or glide across the river. There will undoubtedly be some who will be sad to see the low-quality NPCs go. However, with Insomniac striving for photorealistic, stunning visuals in , the removal of the boat people always seemed inevitable.