Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 hyper-detailed puddles show devs “took puddlegate personally”

Puddlegate rocked Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018, apparently inspiring the developers to include hyper-real puddles in Spider-Man 2.

Before Marvel’s Spider-Man hit PS4 in 2018, a question about the quality of its puddles took the web by storm. The argument was that puddles of water shown in earlier gameplay demos looked way better than in the final product.

Ultimately, it proved a fruitless debate. Puddles of water in Spider-Man’s New York looked great in the end. But the internet hasn’t forgotten about puddlegate in the slightest.

Interestingly enough, footage from the upcoming sequel indicates the crew at Insomniac Games never let the criticism go.

Spider-Man 2 puddles look overly realistic in gameplay footage

YouTuber GamerInVoid uploaded an in-depth graphics comparison highlighting the differences between Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered for PS5 and Spider-Man 2. The video features a two-minute section dedicated solely to the puddles as they appear in Fidelity mode for both titles.

Twitter/X user Shinobi602 picked up on it, noting that Insomniac clearly “took puddlegate personally.” A quick glance at the puddle clips suggests this is indeed the case. The pools of water appear hyper-realistic, with one section revealing the perfect reflections of two random passersby.

Insomniac jokingly admitted that puddlegate did indeed influence the puddles featured in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. In response to the aforementioned tweet, Insomniac’s official account shared the Breaking Bad “you’re Godd***ed right” meme.

Hyper-real puddles or not, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is already a hit with critics. As of writing, the PS5 exclusive sits at 90 on Metacritic, a few points higher than the first installment.

Players can see the detailed water puddles and more for themselves in only a few days’ time. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 webslings onto the PS5 on Friday, October 20.