The trending game developer Insomniac's Spider-Man series shows how attention to detail and well-curated short games can captivate players, proving there's room for less lengthier but more engaging games.

The initial couple of Spider-Man games, including the 2018 and 2020 editions, have set a standard for what a short open-world game can accomplish. They focus on creating captivating storylines, reducing unnecessary additions, and driving the game towards more engaging set pieces.

In keeping with this philosophy, Insomniac is developing Spider-Man 2, aspiring to maintain similarities in overall play time with the first game, according to Ryan Smith, the Senior Game Director at Insomniac. This is to focus on the enhancement of certain moments in the game on aspects like being more story-integrated, epic, or deeper. Reports state that Marvel's Spiderman roughly took about 17 hours to play through, and 34½ hours for complete achievement.

Spider-Man 2 doesn’t aim to be an 80-100 hours game, as the focus is on telling amazing stories and making every mission memorable rather than going super broad. It's not about the game's size but the quality of experience it provides. Similarly, the open world is evolving to fit this narrative-friendly approach. The aim is to provide a story element to everything that the player discovers in the game. This approach was well received by players in previous titles.

The game also aims to pull players into its world filled with lovely little details, always pushing the narrative forward whether one is playing as Miles or Peter. Even missions meant for plot progression are marked by high-stakes, keeping things interesting. Insomniac plans to release Spider-Man 2 exclusively for PS5 on October 20.