Classic Game Design Postmortem: Swinging with Spider-Man

In this 2019 GDC classic postmortem, Jamie Fristrom, technical director and designer on Treyarch's 2004 game Spider-Man 2, breaks down the game's widely acclaimed web-swinging mechanics and compares them to other swinging games such as Bionic Commando Rearmed and Insomniac's 2018 version of Spider-Man.
Register for GDC: ubm.io/2yWXW38
Join the GDC mailing list: www.gdconf.com/subscribe
Follow GDC on Twitter: / official_gdc
GDC talks cover a range of developmental topics including game design, programming, audio, visual arts, business management, production, online games, and much more. We post a fresh GDC video every day. Subscribe to the channel to stay on top of regular updates, and check out GDC Vault for thousands of more in-depth talks from our archives.

[@Bwoodlyy]

The fact that he’s nervous is actually pretty endearing. It’s weird talking about a game you made 15 years ago and actually seeing a big crowd couldn’t have made it better. Still a very insightful talk with some actual good jokes. Hope he gets to work on Insom Spider-Man 2.

[@RyanChenMusic]

25:20

[@k1ngk4gl3]

Damn...

[@EnvyMachinery]

As soon as that "Running Man" slide popped up, I was really hoping he'd mention Bruce Campbell. His narration was so much fun. I used to go out of my way to see if I could provoke some audio I'd never heard to pop up. I know it'd be pretty out of place in the newer games, but I really miss it.

[@urzaz]

Just FYI: Bionic Commando Rearmed is a 2.5D downloadable game closer to the original. I think he was talking about Bionic Commando (2009) instead.

[@jaaxc1036]

This was actually a very insightful talk!

[@vidSpac]

Hey I'm walkin' here!

[@peter_cornell]

Loved this, super insightful!

[@user-ek2xg3ps5s]

Jamie Fristrom is a gift from God.

[@kerleff]

This man is a personal Hero of mine

[@benrosn8154]

This is awesome I love this

[@Tonku12]

Man, this guy is nervous.

[@peoplepeople21]

Honestly, I think that Spiderman PS4's swinging is too easy, I really hope they revamp in such a way so that it is a lot more difficult

[@takashy87]

energyhookgame.com

[@ni6hant]

The website has been hacked and ads are in the place where the link should be.

[@DrumstickFL]

Swinging games... Worms Armageddon roping anyone? no? lol

[@SirButton-]

Get this guy a stiff drink of something to relax a little, he's stuttering up a storm o.O (I know its difficult talking to a crowd doing a presentation but god this guy needs that drink!)

[@Doomchild2XL]

That tumbnail is a bit misleading.

[@svenrawandreloaded]

This is the most awkward gdc ive ever seen lmao

[@Clay3613]

This was a letdown, I thought it would involve many more slides and demonstrations...