Insomniac shared more details about Spider-Man Remastered today, and apart from visual upgrades across the board and a Performance Mode targeting 60FPS, there's a big surprise: Peter has a new face!
People liked how he looked before, so why go to the trouble of changing his appearance now for PS5? According to community director James Stevenson, the team "loved working with John Bubniak on the original game; however, to get a better match to Peter Parker/Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal's facial capture, we have cast Ben Jordan to be the face model for Peter Parker on the PS5 console."
It'll take some adjustment, but it's doable. For a direct comparison, check the gallery.
"It's my face's fault," said Lowenthal. "The stupid stupid bones in my face. Blame my bones."
Here's some extra fluid footage of Spider-Man Remastered running in Performance Mode.
As far as specific remaster enhancements, this version has improved models and materials, ray-traced reflections, ambient shadows, spatial 3D audio, photo mode quality-of-life features like swapping your suit mid-shot and placing lights in the environment, and "higher fidelity skin, eye, and teeth shaders" along with "individually-rendered strands of hair." This is Insomniac Games, after all. They're going for it.
Also, even though there's "near-instant loading," you can still toggle on the old fast-travel scenes.
All in all, it's looking like a fantastic way to play a great game. My only hangup? The fact that it won't be available as a standalone game (at least not at launch). You need to get the $70 Ultimate Edition of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which I just don't see myself doing. Then again, there are three new suits...
