Spider-Man 2 has broken sales records for PlayStation and received positive reviews from fans and critics alike. In the sequel, Insomniac successfully addresses many of the complaints about its predecessors, though the divisive Mary Jane Watson missions do make their return, albeit only twice.
Quite a bit more action-packed this time around, MJ uses a stun gun to take out Kraven the Hunter's goons with ease. Later in the game, there's even a level featuring The Daily Bugle reporter thrown into the midst of a full-blown third-person shooter as the web-slinger's girlfriend battles Venom's Symbiote army.
These levels are a lot of fun to play, but for some fans out there, putting the spotlight on this "overpowered" MJ felt like a serious misfire.
Talking to IGN (via GameFragger.com), Insomniac senior creative director Bryan Intihar weighed in on MJ's missions, acknowledging that while they weren't among Spider-Man's most popular moments, the decision was made to shake them up instead of scrapping them entirely.
"We had two choices. We could say, 'All right, we'll make it easy and just not do it.' And everybody would go, 'Great. No MJ missions.' Or we could say, 'Hey, we've talked about showing the world from all different angles. We're going to make her moments better. We're going to take on the challenge. We're going to make people like playing as her.'"
"We pick and choose our spots. We knew we had to make her more of a proactive, capable person. And if she's a little OP, I don't give a shit. She's fine. I don't care."
This change has inevitably led to a mixed response from gamers, though Intihar would go on to reveal that giving MJ a weapon and making her more proactive (or "OP") was an idea the creative team first considered for 2018's Spider-Man.
"In Spider-Man 1, there was a really, really early, super-early in development, we never made it, but it was part of a story treatment where Pete was going to be injured, and he could barely walk," Intihar says. "She was going to actually try to get him to safety, and she was going to grab one of his web-shooters and she was going to put it on, actually fire at enemies that were trying to get to them but that never happens."
"I think that's where the web-shooter idea came from, because I was like, 'Let's give her the ability to stun enemies in the first mission.'"
Do you think giving MJ a proactive role in Spider-Man 2's story was a bad idea or does this all just feel like another example of a capable female character getting online hate? As always, you can let us know your thoughts in the comments section.