Spider-Man PS4: 10 Ways It Owes Its Success To The PS2 Spider-Man 2 Game

10. Manhattan Island As An Open World

Any kind of open world was rightfully considered a treat back in the early 2000s, when most gamers had just graduated from platformers to the meatier content offered by the PS2 et all. Linear level design still dominated the landscape (though this was not a negative) so for a developer to invest so much into developing an open world was quite the gamble, especially for a game that only existed to help sell a movie.

Thankfully, Spider-Man 2's New York sandbox was a delight. While not as finely detailed or brightly coloured as Insomniac's rendition, it nevertheless managed to pack in a plethora of New York iconography and provide density and variety that set this installment apart from prior games, which suffered from cloudy rooftop and blocky corridor syndrome.

Almost every Spidey game since has attempted to follow this formula, trying to flesh out New York with greater depth for its favourite web slinger, and the PS4's contribution is no different.