Take a behind the scenes look at the hit Playstation 5 game in The Art of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Currently the Playstation 5’s bestselling game of all time, the heavily anticipated sequel to 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man sees both Peter Parker and Miles Morales go up against both the forces of Kraven The Hunter and a full-fledged symbiote invasion. This – along with hours of web-swinging through a stunning New York whilst fighting crime – has once again see Spidey cement himself as one of gaming’s biggest current stars.
Dark Horse have proven to have a strong track record with their official video game artbooks focused on major titles and series. Naturally, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a perfect fit for this format. Packed with concept art from all chapters of the game, the book takes an extensive look at important sequences and set pieces along with all characters – major and minor – with detailed commentary from the Insomniac team.
When you have characters as well established and legendary in comics lore as Spidey’s supporting cast, you’d think that there wouldn’t be much work that needs to be done to transfer them to another visual medium. But the Insomniac team give an invaluable look at what goes into character design and how important it is when it comes to world building. The sections focusing on Kraven’s design highlight this – with the team attempting to creating a modern take initially, but refocussing as it became clear they were steering too far from his original look.
Particular attention goes into the costume designs of Peter and Miles various suits from the game. As you’d expect, a lot of focus goes onto the updates to Peter’s Advanced suit and Miles’ classic costume. But the most intriguing pages look at the Insomniac debut of Spider-Man’s black costume (in its symbiote form) and the process of translating the comic design to the game world (both in a cosmetic sense and whether the suit should appear alive or as regular clothing), along with Mile’s rather bold costume change in the final segment of the game.
This is a stunning look at the behind-the-scenes workings of a triple-A video game. Perfect for both Spider-Man fans and general gamers!
The Art of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is out now from Dark Horse in both a regular edition (9781506743004, h/b, £44.99) and a deluxe edition set including an exclusive cover treatment, a decorative slipcase, and a folio enclosing a gallery-quality print (9781506742335, h/b, £89.99).
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