Report Photo Mode
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is set 10 months after the events of Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The protagonists are Peter Parker (Yuri Lowenthal) and Miles Morales (Nadji Jeter), both of whom became Spider-Man after acquiring superhuman powers following the bite of a genetically modified spider. Peter serves as a mentor to Miles, as he struggles to find a balance between his personal life and his duties as the city's protector.
The two wall climbers will have to deal with numerous supervillains within the game. The plot evolves and the characters, not just the protagonists, are explored in depth, becoming a deeper title than previous titles.
Activate Photo Mode: Start menu and scroll to Photo Mode.
The more practical ones will have already discovered this trick: it is possible to insert a command of your choice to the right and left analogue keys, including activating the photo mode. This solution avoids wasting time and you can also activate it frame by frame based on your reactivity.
Camera freedom: vote 9
The handling and camera control area are good and do not differ from the remastered version of the first chapter. The distance from the protagonist could be significantly increased to favor large-width shots, especially for urban shots. The maximum distance is acceptable, it is not meant to be a negative point, but to make it make that leap in quality, the radius should be increased. The camera does not run into major problems related to the game environment even if the graphics engine is a bit edgy. If we get close to the character, I think we can't ask for anything better. It is also possible to read the textures of Spiderman's suit or how the terrain was created without loss of resolution.
Camera adjustment: vote 9
It's possible to tilt the shot 360° and continuously rotate. Unlike other photo modes from Insomniac Games, they have significantly improved the use. The value from 0 to 100 is still used for the adjustment: 50 is the starting point and 25 should be the 90° adjustment. By doing various tests I noticed that the value 25 is not always the precise 90°, creating adjustment problems when shooting.
Aperture and focus adjustment: vote 8
I would not like to repeat what was written in the Ratchet and Clank review to explain the functions of focal distance, aperture, near pdc distance and near pdc aperture. The usage is similar and has not been changed. I recently also played Marvel's Spiderman Remastered to see the differences and I noticed a slight worsening of the parameters. The Focal Distance always works in the same way, making a blur jump from 0 to 1 which is very annoying, especially on subjects in the foreground. The Near pdc Distance, unlike the Focal Distance, has an anomalous range of range. A blur should take into account a midpoint within the frame and set a far and near distance. The Close pdc Distance closes too close to the camera creating an imbalance and in the first chapter it wasn't so disharmonious.
In general, blurs work well and envelop the subjects you want to frame, creating beautiful shots.
Ability to change the character: vote 10
I don't want to give plot spoilers but you can really enjoy the variety of choices here. I take the example of Peter Parker who has 20 different poses with his feet on the ground, 20 poses in flight, 6 facial expressions and rotation on the transversal axis: a huge variety of solutions. It is also possible to change the type of costume among those unlocked in game with the related color variations. To be perfect, the movement of the character on the various axes is missing.
Brightness and contrast adjustments: vote 8
Here too I found some imperfections compared to other Insomniac titles but let's proceed in order. Contrast has not yet been included, perhaps considered useless in photo modes, but there is still an incredible variety in the management of exposure and lighting. There are always 3 spotlights and they can be used as spherical light and direct light with all the adjustments. The management of the overall lighting of the entire game, probably the biggest problem to date perhaps due to the forced day and night constraint, needs to be fixed. The spotlights illuminate every structure and character perfectly but the adjustment of the parameters, such as switching from a saturated yellow to a white, needs to be reviewed otherwise the risk is that either white light or pure color is used. Several times I found myself using colors in their pure state and at low intensity so as not to burn the shot. In modifying the global light there is something to review to make it more functional as for example in some indoor missions, the solar light is not adjustable. Overall the use and adjustment of light in Marvel's Spiderman 2 is very good but by correcting these details you can make a huge leap in quality.
Filters: vote 8
I would have liked to check the other titles too but there are 29 adjustable filters. Most functional in brightly lit environments ensuring they are interesting. Whitening helps a lot in places or weather with low light. The more particular ones are interesting but I haven't found any use for them.
Frames: vote 8
26 basic filters plus unlockable ones. Personally they are interesting to use to create curious effects but I found the use of backgrounds much more useful. The character is isolated and positioned on a neutral background, eliminating smudges. Excellent tool but unfortunately only applicable to the character you are using: I found many villains that I would have liked to isolate.
Logo: absent
The game logo is not present in any format, not even in the stickers.
As with the photo mode of Ghost of Tsushima, they included visual effects. A great addition because it significantly helps whoever is taking the shot. For example, lighting effects or animations that dirty the shot (like lightning) and are taken to the next stage which significantly changes the final result.
Vignetting: It is possible to adjust the intensity and size of the vignette in a simple and functional way
I consider it one of the best if not the best of the year 2023 for all the tools, how they work and the artistic quality at play. It has some technical imperfections but these are all corrections that can be made. After this photo mode, I expect a further leap in quality for Insomniac Games.
9,3
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