As with any other year, 2023 is shaping up to be a huge year for gaming, and bigger in many different ways than any previous. With the constant backwards and forwards of the CMA/FTC issues with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the rumoured release of PlayStation’s handheld and the somewhat public death of E3, this year seems on track to be a memorable one for gamers, and that’s before we even get to the software.
So far in 2023 we’ve had the amazing Resident Evil 4 Remake, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and the Dead Space Remake and plenty more! Of course the busiest period of gaming releases is fast approaching, with the winter/Christmas months absolutely jam-packed. September has the likes of Mortal Kombat 1, the timeline resetting entry into the longstanding fighting franchise, EA Sports FC 24, the first non-FIFA-licensed entry of the popular football sim, and of course Starfield, the first single-player Bethesda RPG since Fallout 4.
Related: Ahead of Monumental SDCC Appearance, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Gets a Head of Steam with Train Art
October doesn’t slow down much at all, with huge releases of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, intended to be a smaller scale experience closer to that of the original releases, Alan Wake 2, a sequel thirteen years in the making and one of the most anticipated releases of the year, and then a few days later, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which needs no introduction.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 vs Starfield; There Can Only be One Winner
Each of the two titles will sell well, and they’ll both almost certainly be in contention for taking the Game of the Year award come the time to decide, but in the history books only one of the two titles will be considered the better of all the rest. It could be either of them for many different reasons, and neither of them for even more, but chances are, one of these two titles takes as many awards and accolades as possible.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features the return of two iconic superheroes, back in a new and fresh way, off the back of two incredibly well-thought-of games before them. All it needs to do is address the few minor issues with both Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales, add some new, bigger and better gameplay mechanics, and tell an equally compelling and unique story in an established universe and Insomniac will have the right to print money. Expectations are huge for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, just as they were for its predecessors and so far with the promotional material that has been released, it looks like they’ll be met, if not exceeded.
The inclusion of Venom was a nice surprise when the original announcement occurred back in 2021, if a little obvious considering the ending of Marvel’s Spider-Man. However, all things considered, very few of us actually expected Insomniac Games to go the distance and give us not only the Symbiote Suit, but altered and more aggressive powers from it.
Being able to take control of a venomized, Symbiote-Suit-wearing Peter Parker promises to be fun, and opens the door for conflict between our two Spider-Men. How long during the game that’ll last is unknown, as is the actual host of Venom, with Creative Director Bryan Intihar announcing they haven’t used Eddie Brock, due to wanting to tell an original story, but we’ll have to wait and see to get those answers.
Bethesda, on the other hand, have had a mixed bag of late. Releasing the much-maligned Redfall, before that the poorly conceived and received Fallout 76 – although credit to them for continuing to support it so readily still – and having nothing of note to sing about since Fallout 4, which in itself was considered disappointing at the time. Whether it’d be the release of Fallout 76 or hindsight though, that criticism levied at Fallout 4 now seems unfair, it should be said.
Out of nowhere they announced Starfield. Not Elder Scrolls 6, as many fans were hoping for and wanted, no, instead it was Starfield. A sci-fi, space-faring adventure that couldn’t be further removed from the fantasy, medieval settings of their most successful game Skyrim, Starfield looks to be everything a next-generation RPG should be.
According to Todd Howard, creative director of Starfield (and coincidentally most of the studios biggest successes in the past), the game will have over 1,000 traversable planets, which in turn 100ish of those will support unique life, mirroring our own ‘Goldilocks’ zone. It’ll have base building, ship building, unique dialogue and skill trees, a sprawling, multi-system story all set in a universe that could feel endless.
The last game to try such a multi-system, multi-planet, all-explorable approach to sci-fi was No Man’s Sky, and yes, it was a travesty upon release, with bugs, glitches, unplayable in some parts and over-promised to the point many assumed Peter Molyneux had been involved, but now it’s a wonder of game, with exactly the sort of things that Todd Howard has promised for Starfield in full action, for everyone to see.
The two games also represent something of a bigger debate, something out of their control and in all honesty, a pointless debate to be had. That is the everpresent and constant ‘console wars’. PlayStation vs Xbox. Both are console exclusives. Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5 and Starfield for Xbox Series X|S. Certain sub-sections of fans have jumped on that and made it their entire argument as to why one is better than the other, when in actual fact, it doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t be PlayStation vs Xbox, or Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 vs Starfield. We all want to play every game.
Related: Starfield PC specs revealed, and shows what you need for that legendary experience
Whichever game comes out on top, the other will still be great. As are the other games releasing this year. There will be plenty of releases that fail or are poorly received, but it’s difficult to see either of these two being in that group.
What do you think about all this? Are you picking up one or the other? Both? Neither? Let us know in the comments!
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