Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – bigger than Starfield? (Picture: Sony)
A reader examines the fan reaction to Spider-Man 2 and Starfield and concludes that Xbox is well ahead of PS5 in terms of current hype levels.
As a PlayStation 5 owner that doesn’t have an Xbox Series X, I am happy to admit that the Xbox Games Showcase was far more entertaining and informative than the PlayStation one or, in fact anything Sony has done in what seems like forever. Some, perhaps even many, of the games may end up a disappointment but the showcase did what it was supposed to do and hyped everyone up and got them interested in Xbox even if they had previously dismissed it.
For myself, it hasn’t pushed me into wanting to get an Xbox console yet, for the simple reason that I much prefer fantasy settings to sci-fi, especially this kind of more realistic sci-fi. However, it’s obvious to me, as a fan of Skyrim, that this is going to be a great game. It does remind me a bit of Mass Effect but as I didn’t play that much perhaps that’s just a false impression and the scope and customisation definitely seems greater.
By comparison, Spider-Man 2 is a game I am interested in and I initially considered a day one buy, but I found the footage at the PlayStation Showcase to be very underwhelming. I know I’m not the only one to think this, judging by online discussions, and I’m not sure whether it was just a bad demo/trailer or if the game itself is destined to disappoint.
It’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what was wrong, although having the same setting, with graphics that don’t seem much improved, is one obvious problem. I’m sure if you put the two games next to each other the new one would look better but looking at it as it was presented, it just looked the same.
Another problem was how it tackled the whole black suit storyline, with Peter Parker obvious succumbing to its bad influence. The problem is that story angle is identical to the Spider-Man 3 movie and that didn’t take it seriously at all, with the whole Bully Maguire thing. I think the game needed to find a different angle to it all then just having Pete act all angry with a gravely voice. It came across as kind of silly, especially as you know they would’ve been doing their best to try and avoid the Sam Raimi comparisons.
The other big issue, and I think this is the one most people agree on, is that the whole bit towards the end, with the chase with Lizard, look very non-interactive, almost like a QTE cut scene. It’s hard to tell exactly how much control you have but it clearly wasn’t a lot and that made it seem surprisingly old-fashioned. Especially as there weren’t many bits like that in the first game.
Maybe whoever edited together the whole preview wasn’t doing a very good job – that does happen – but for me it was obvious that Spider-Man 2’s preview was far less impressive than Starfield’s. You could tell that in the aftermath too. Nobody was talking positively about Spider-Man 2, if they were talking about it at all, in the days after the PlayStation Showcase and yet the Starfield discussions are still going on and there hasn’t been any kind of backlash either.
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In terms of positive reaction on the day, and lasting impact, I think it’s pretty obvious that Starfield has beaten Spider-Man 2 and it is hasn’t really been a contest, which is kind of surprising really. You can say they’re not similar games, and they’re not, but they are the biggest games this year on the two rival consoles and yet Xbox, the underdog, is well ahead of Sony in terms of buzz.
There’s no point trying to compare sales figures because Starfield is on Game Pass, so even judging the games by how many people end up playing each of them, Starfield will probably win. I bet it will sell a lot of Xbox’s this Christmas too, which is ultimately the point of all first party software. In every measurable way Starfield has already beaten Spider-Man 2 and I think it will continue to do so into this winter and beyond.
By reader Xane
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A reader examines the fan reaction to Spider-Man 2 and Starfield and concludes that Xbox is well ahead of PS5 in terms of current hype levels.