Even though we’ve all completed both of the previous Insomniac Games Spider-Man titles, swinging around for countless hours never gets old. In Spider-Man 2, you’ll be taking your traversal one step further, or one wing further rather. Using the Spider-Man 2 Wingsuit is going to be a blast across New York City, and the process to bring them to life is definitely a strange-yet-interesting origin.
Ahead of the imminent Spider-Man 2 release date, Insomniac Games senior audio director Jerry Berlongieri explains that “way back when the wing suit was still a design glimmer, senior sound designer Herschel Bailey grabbed some balloon flaps on the fingers of our producer Jim Niemiec to add sonic color.” Adding that “quick source grabs often work so well”, you can see the initial design process for the awesome Spider-Man 2 mechanic in action below.
On track to be one of the best PS5 games in 2023, the Wingsuit has existed in Spider-Man lore for decades, taking on different appearances and functions over the years. Going as far back as the Marvel character’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy issue #15, Web-Wings are part of the original Spider-Man costume design.
Notable evolutions of the costume feature include Ben Reily’s version of Web-Wings, which were given to him by the Beyond Corporation in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #81, back in December 2021. It has taken a while for them to appear on the big screen, though, with Spider-Man Homecoming marking a proper debut for them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The attention to detail for the game’s sound design extends to other areas too, as New York City is set to be as immersive as ever. Berlongieri says that “the sounds of NYC come to life through many, many sonic layers. At street level, the sounds of distant voices are recorded using ‘walla’ groups.” This technique is often required for ADR sessions (additional dialogue recording) in movies, as chanting the word ‘walla’ can be used to emulate background chatter akin to large crowds – perfect or the streets of the city.
#Spider-Man2 – The sounds of NYC come to life through many, many sonic layers. At street level, the sounds of distant voices are recorded using ‘walla’ groups. This is a look at how we capture some of that. pic.twitter.com/QKcEXpbVIl
— Jerry Berlongieri (@Berlongieri) October 18, 2023
You can keep this in mind when you’re interacting with all the Spider-Man 2 characters in New York City. While you’re doing that, make sure to check out all the Spider-Man 2 suits beforehand, because it’d be a shame to not look awesome in the process. As for how the game actually shapes up, The Loadout’s Spider-Man 2 review details how “Insomniac Games has once again raised the bar for PlayStation exclusives, to the point where this is almost certainly a title worthy of being the PS5’s magnum opus.”