We really are our worst enemies.
So recently I was watching this video on the upcoming Spider-Man game for the PlayStation 4 and this YouTuber, who I will leave anonymous, spoke of a particular problem that he noticed when he compared the E3 2016 trailer with the E3 2017 game-play trailer. This problem was the lack of NPC's in the area and it had him very worried.
But it got me thinking, is this actually a problem?
The areas he addresses most in the video involve the cafe sequence in the E3 2016 trailer and I've included a lovely gif below to give you a general idea of what I'm talking about.
So what the hell is going on here? Spider-Man, doing whatever a spider can, is moving through a very busy cafe, bouncing off tables before jumping through the window. Now I'm not going to lie this cafe is jammed with people, as a normal cafe in Manhattan would be, and almost all of them are reacting to Spider-Man, dodging and ducking out of his way.
So yes in this one little tid-bit there is quite a lot going on. Now let's take a look at the E3 2017 trailer and see what we can decipher from that shall we?
Alright so here we have a sequence where Spider-Man is chasing Mr. Negative in a helicopter. Stuff happens along the way and Spidy ends up in this office that's being trashed and destroyed while he flips and jumps his way through it. Similar, in some ways, to the cafe sequence we seen in the 2016 trailer only the one thing missing is the large amount of NPC's reacting to the spectacle of what's happening around them.
And this is the problem this YouTuber is having with the game. He feels that Insomniac are downgrading, that the PS4 actually can't manage the level of NPC's shown in the 2016 trailer. But this isn't necessarily an issue and here's why.
Spider-Man PS4 is an action/adventure title where you play as the famous comic book character Spider-Man, please bear with me this is going somewhere, so as you can imagine this can lead to a lot of sequences where there is a lot of stuff happening on screen at a pretty rapid rate, like running through a building while the damn thing is crumbling around you.
So if you take a sequence like this and gave control to the player they're going to spend their time focusing on where they're going and on any falling debris so they don't get flattened. The developers would also try to keep a steady, albeit rapid pace to a sequence like this and including NPC's in this area would slow the pace drastically simply because Spider-Man would have to save them. This means the developers would have to find some way of getting the player to save all these NPC's while taking on Mr. Negative in one fluid motion. It's doable but here it simply wouldn't work.
We also have to take into consideration that this is an E3 demo and the whole point of this is to build hype in 7 minutes or less. So keeping the speed quick and flashy and generally showing potential players that they can finally live out their fantasies of being Spider-Man are essential in building said hype. Pouring resources into added NPC's for a stage demo just isn't worth it in the long run.
But let's ignore the E3 thing for a moment and look at this in terms of a full game. Are expansive amounts of NPC's in this area needed? No they're not. Would they add to the excitement of level? Not really. Why is this an issue? Two words... Gamer Expectations
Since 2013 we've seen games like Grand Theft Auto V, The Witcher 3, Horizon: Zero Dawn and so many more. Games that boast huge and exciting open worlds that feel alive and while yes all of these deliver on that hype ask yourself this, how many NPC's do you see in those games? When you're zipping down the streets of Los Santos how many pedestrians do you actually see walking around? When you're riding through the countryside of Velan, how many average blokes do you see? The answer is hardly none because let's be honest you don't really need to.
But with the release of games like these gamers expect these huge and expansive open worlds with a whole bunch of different things happening in it and I have no doubt Insomniac will deliver on it but worrying about the level of NPC's in a small building or on the street is not an issue because I can guarantee that 90% of the time you're playing the game you'll be looking at Spider-Man and not the ground.
I am aware that downgrading from E3 demos is, unfortunately, pretty common these days but removing a few NPC's is not a major issue, it's not even a minor one. So relax guys, everything is gonna be fine.
Spider-Man is set to be released sometime in 2018 exclusively for the PS4. Today Game Informer announced that it will be providing coverage on the game for the entire month of April and according to the Insomniacs Twitter we should know the release date tomorrow when the issue launches.
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