Marvel’s Spider-Man Final Boss Fight Was Originally Much Bigger

Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, and now PS5, was one of the best games of 2018, and while the game’s narrative isn’t perfectly executed, it is one of the stronger parts of the game. And unlike many games, it makes good on this narrative with the ending. That said, the game’s ending almost wasn’t the ending. Originally, Insomniac Games had a much larger final boss fight planned that would have completely changed the tone and pacing of the ending. 

Speaking about the game during Develop:Brighton, Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price revealed that players were originally going to have a final boss fight that took players all across New York City, destroying much of it in the process.

“Originally, we were going to have a boss battle that took you all over New York City, and it was way out of scope,” said Price. “The temptation is to just brute force it, put our heads down and run through the brick wall. But the team took a step back and thought about what was important to the players, and that was the breakdown of the relationship between Peter and his former mentor, Doctor Octavious.”

Price continued:

“They rethought the fight and realized they didn’t need to destroy half of New York to pay off the relationship. In fact, it would have worked against what we were going for. As a result, the final battle is much more up close and personal, has a far bigger emotional impact than planned, and it fit within the time we had.”

Price concluded the reveal by noting how important it was the team didn’t run itself into the ground to realize this original vision, noting that being able to take the foot of the pedal is important and is something that comes from the top down. And as you may know, this mentality extends to the whole of Insomniac Games, which is known for its lack of crunch, a brutal form of game development that consists of over-working often to ensure deadlines are met.

H/T, Games Industry.