1. Skateboarding
While making my last video, I ended up watching a plethora of Tony Hawk videos and I came across one from GQ Sports where Tony breaks down skateboarding sequences from movies. The surprise came when The Amazing Spider-Man popped-up and I totally forgot that Peter was a skateboarder in that film. Tony pokes holes in the fact that the stunt performers’ shoes are clearly fixed onto the board itself, meanwhile I’m thinking “if he’s Spider-Man at this point in the film, that’s a cool little touch (and I respect the movie for that)”. However, since I’ll never watch that steaming pile again, I’ll never know the answer to that mystery, so I thought “wouldn’t it be cool to see Spidey do some sensational skateboarding tricks?” Hell yeah!

2. Soundtrack
I grew up loving the soundtracks for the original Spider-Man trilogy. From the delightfully cheesy “Hero” to Snow Patrol’s classy anthem “Signal Fire”, those soundtracks featured a ton of great artists and helped mold my taste in music for years to come. So why not bring that back for this sequel? Mentioning Tony Hawk previously, the Pro Skater series and a bevy of other games have had killer soundtracks and could provide keen inspiration for a potential soundtrack.

3. Seasons
This may clash with my idea to bring skateboarding in the mix of things, but I’d love to see a dynamic weather system for this upcoming sequel. I’d especially love to see how Spidey copes with snowy, windy weather. What effect would that have on his abilities? It’d be an interesting angle to explore and could add further depth to boss battles if done properly.

4. Team-Ups
Obviously teaming-up with Miles should be inevitable, though I’d love to see Spidey team-up with the likes of: Daredevil, The Human Torch, The Punisher, Iron Man, the list goes on. Ultimate Spider-Man handled these team-up segments supremely well and I’d love to see the webhead get more back-up with this forthcoming sequel.

5. No More Stealth Sections
When I say “no more stealth”, what I really mean is no more tedious Mary Jane/Miles sections where you’re forced to play as these characters in these boring and long-winded scripted sequences. It was a compelling idea on-paper, but, within the game itself, it quickly broke immersion. Stealth segments as Spider-Man were (for the most part) done well, though there’s no real need for stealth when playing as a superhero. When you’re Batman, it makes sense. Spider-Man can literally take out a room full of thugs in a minute or less, so what’s the point of stealth again?

6. Better Side-Missions
I want the pizza delivery missions back. I want J. Jonah Jameson barking at me to get photographs of Spider-Man. I want more chase sequences. The sky’s the limit. Most of the side-missions from the original game just got quite stale after a couple of plays, so it’d be neat to see Spidey engage in some sports, like basketball or hockey, or maybe even a game of chess since he’s a wiz-kid.

7. Fix the Wall-Crawling
I hardly hear any complaints about this one, but arguably my biggest gripe with the original game is the wallcrawling. I think it’s atrocious. Where the webslinging shines, the wallcrawling flatlines by getting you stuck between ledges and the only way out of it is to do a backflip off the wall. This is Spider-Man, for Pete’s sake! He should easily be able to manuever around objects. Insomniac could definitely learn a lot from the Assassin’s Creed and inFamous games for how to handle swift character movement.

8. Bring Back the Run Button
Speaking of swift, I miss being able to run without worrying about spinning a webline. While the controls are mostly fluid because of their simplicity, you can literally keep webslinging (if you’re elevated) by holding the R2 button. The only way to build momentum is by releasing the web right away and close to the ground. Though Spider-Man 2’s webswinging may be dated in some ways, the best thing about it was the sense of speed and thrill you gained from keeping that forward-momentum going. L2 to run, R2 to swing.

9. Get Rid of the QTEs
Why are these still a thing? Did I miss a memo or something? Have QTEs ever been done well? As far as I’m concerned, they haven’t and they’re a constant nuisance in this game (and any game, for that matter). Spider-Man’s a powerful guy, you shouldn’t have to tap the square button a thousand times to make him stop a car. He should just stop the car… because he’s Spider-Man.

10. More Power
As I previously stated, you shouldn’t have to repeatedly press square to make Spidey stop a car. In a similar regard, Spider-Man shouldn’t have much of a problem taking down big brutes and dudes with jet-packs. He should (literally) be able to one-punch these morons and move onto the next. I cannot stress this enough: YOU ARE SPIDER-MAN! It shouldn’t take you a “focus bar special” just to take-out one tiny SOB with a gun, it should only take a single jab for a character as strong as the Amazing Spider-Man.

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