Otaku Dome had the opportunity to chat with developer Beenox over their The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game:

1. What makes The Amazing Spider-Man 2 different from other film tie-in titles?
Stéphane Gravel, Executive Producer, Beenox: That’s a good question, and a tough one. I don’t necessarily consider myself an expert on movie games – beyond the few I’ve worked on, of course. In comparison to the original The Amazing Spider-Man, I’d say this sequel works very hard to maintain the free spirit of its predecessor while better fleshing out the breadth and diversity of its characters, gameplay hooks, and environments, especially the open-world playground of Manhattan. But I don’t know how to relate that to the broader category of tie-in titles in general.
2. What were your reasons for giving the original The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 their own storylines?
SG: Well the first The Amazing Spider-Man served as an epilogue to its corresponding film, and we know a number of people didn’t necessarily appreciate the ways in which it might have spoiled aspects of that story, so changing that approach was an important decision for us early on with this title. We want fans to be able to experience both the movie and the game and enjoy the two regardless of the order they do it in. And there are other benefits, too. For our part, given that game development is often a lengthier process than shooting a film, it helps to not have to rely upon an ever-changing script that’s outside of our control for direction. By taking Peter Parker’s adventure on our own trajectory, we get to create a plan and stick to it from the outset, letting us craft a narrative designed specifically to work within the medium we’re presenting it in.
3. Can you tell us a bit about the story and characters featured?
SG: There are a few threads spinning, and I don’t want to give them all away. But the relationship between Kingpin and Oscorp is certainly a major element of the overall story. Kingpin has raised an independent Task Force of armed soldiers and drones in the name of restoring law and order to New York, but his motivations are tricky, and it’s not quite clear how deep his corruption runs. Kraven the Hunter also plays an important role in the adventure, presenting himself as a possible mentor figure for Spider-Man – though whether that influence is for better or worse remains to be seen. We’ve also revealed that Black Cat, the Green Goblin, Electro, and Carnage will appear in some capacity. And then there’s Peter Parker himself, who is featured in the story without the mask; he’s still very much just a young man with his own personal baggage, and that facet underlies his character throughout.
4. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will obviously follow the film, but is there any other Spider-Man storylines that it will follow as well? Or are you just sticking to it having its own original flare?
SG: I’m not exactly sure how to answer this. We’re trying to stay true to the tone and intent of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie, but the course of events laid out in our universe is completely separate from those of the film. There are a number of hugely recognizable characters in our title from the larger Spider-Man universe, of course, and there’s certainly inspiration and characterization taken from the long histories of those figures in the comics and beyond, but otherwise, we consider our take independent and original overall.
5. Are you using what you learned from developing Edge of Time & Shattered Dimensions for The Amazing Spider-Man 2?
SG: It’s difficult to pin down that specifically; hopefully you’re always using what you learn in past experiences to inform future challenges. Edge of Time and Shattered Dimensions were the first two Spider-Man games in which Beenox, as a studio, was in charge of the overall direction of the franchise. Those were tremendous learning opportunities for us, and I would never underestimate their impact.
Still, when you look at the jumps between those games and the original The Amazing Spider-Man and compare it to what we did with The Amazing Spider-Man 2… the distinction is clear. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a pure sequel, not a spin-off or reimagining, and that’s meant listening intently to fan feedback to the first Amazing title, improving upon what didn’t work the first time around while building on what did. The line you can draw from lesson to application is shorter – more direct – between those two most recent games than with anything that came before them.
6. How did the idea of Kraven and Kingpin (who haven’t been in the Spider-Man Universe for some time) being featured come about?
SG: I think you kind of just said it – Kraven and Kingpin are important figures in the world of Spider-Man, and their relative absence in recent memory makes for a potent opportunity to introduce them to newcomers to the series. One of the advantages of choosing a story and characters not covered by the film is having a little more creative freedom in how we bring them all to life. Like Peter, Kraven and Kingpin are both incredibly powerful people, but they share such radically different values when it comes to how they use that power, and we wanted to explore that drama between them.
7. Do you think more developers should try to differ film tie-ins from the film’s story in an effort to get players more interested?
SG: Well I don’t want to tell people how to do their jobs or enjoy their entertainment… I don’t think there’s any single right way to handle a property when you’re releasing it across multiple mediums. If you put out something that hems too closely to the source material, you risk retreading the same ground, spoiling one story with the other while forcing a narrative into a format that may not be right for it. But if you go too far in your own direction, with a game that only shares a title in common with its film counterpart, you can lose the audience just as easily. It’s jarring when two things with the same name are totally different experiences.
I think you have to strike a balance. For our part, we injected our own elements throughout The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to make it a distinct package as a game, first and foremost. But we still hope it resonates on a character and thematic level with the movie. It exists on its own, independent of the film, but each ideally adds depth to the other, fleshing out the broader universe in unique ways.