My time with Activision gave me the privilege to work on two consecutive Spider-Man properties: Spider-Man 3 and Web of Shadows.
On Spider-Man 3, QuickTime events (QTEs) were all the rage as a result of God of War’s critical success, which seamlessly integrated them in pivotal moments to exhilarate the climax of a combat sequence.
In hindsight, our implementation at times left the player feeling a bit detached from the moment. It lacked the polish of a crescendo coming together for that classic one-two punch followed by a knockout. Yet, as a young animator, it was a fantastic learning experience. Spider-Man was a character with so much expressive possibility to explore within bipedal movement.
"Animating Spider-Man felt like channeling the kid acrobat in you. If you could imagine yourself doing it, you could execute it."
With little to no practice, any action would be hit precisely—swinging the edge between dangerously stupid and purposefully accurate. All while having fun saving the day. Nonchalant, amateurish, raw talent.
Expressing a "new Spidey Sense" is exactly what I felt when starting on Web of Shadows. That project was a completely different team altogether, and the design was heavily influenced by Capcom's rapid, instantaneous feel for responsive combat. We DMC'ed the heck out of Spidey.
This game, for me, was a masterclass in responsive player feedback and jubilant character style. Anticipation was the input of the player; impact was the feedback.
Click, pow. Click, Pow, Schee-Bap!
We were obsessed with the rhythms of our combat chains. Design would offer me little beatbox sessions of what their punches should sound like, and I would interpret them using anything I could dig up from gymnastics, capoeira, parkour, skating, and ballet. Anything that wowed me to the degree of what humans could already do—and then plus some.
No comments:
Post a Comment