Why Miles Morales' Into The Spider-Verse Suit Has A Low Frame Rate
The release date for Sony’s PlayStation 5 is just around the corner, and with it comes a host of hotly-anticipated launch titles. In addition to remakes and new installments from long-running franchises like Assassin’s Creed, the PS5 will launch with a sequel to one of its predecessor's best-selling games, Marvel’s Spider-Man. With both PS4 and 5 versions and a re-mastered edition of its predecessor, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is on track to become the must-have game of the holiday season.
Spider-Man is already a hot property in any medium. Miles Morales has been generating buzz for months, for everything from its redesign of original Spidey Peter Parker’s face to the addition of a new feline buddy. But the game took things to a new level earlier today with the reveal of Miles’ Into the Spider-Verse suit, a new costume for the web-slinger inspired by the one featured in Sony’s Oscar-winning film of the same name.
But the new suit is no ordinary re-skin for the player character. Developer Insomniac actually replicated the film’s altered frame rate to recreate the comics-inspired feel and style of the suit, in the form of a mod that can be added to any costume in the game. Similar to the effect achieved in the film, the Spider-Verse suit’s altered frame rate adds a new dimension to Miles’ character, incorporating subtle details of his backstory and personality into his very movement.
Upon its release in 2018, Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was critically acclaimed for its story, music, and animation. While the art was heavily inspired by the visual style of the comics, the filmmakers incorporated Spidey’s comic book roots into the animation itself, rebuilding the character from the ground up.
The standard frame rate for motion pictures is twenty-four frames per second, or 24fps. But before the advent of computer animation in the last few decades, traditional hand-drawn films were animated at 12 frames per second, or “on twos,” with every second frame repeated to give the character’s motion an element of crispness.
Twelve frames per second is the minimum frame rate required to create what legendary Disney animators termed “the illusion of life,” giving animated characters the appearance of authentic movement onscreen. This “crisp” style of animation also complements the slower pace of older films, in which the story – and characters – were generally not required to move quickly. But in a modern, computer-animated superhero film, that slower style of animation wouldn’t fly. Until Into the Spider-Verse.
The filmmakers chose to drop out every second frame in the film, thereby animating Spider-Verse “on twos” at the base level. The decision enabled the film to create what the filmmakers describe as Spider-Verse’s “crunchy” art style, bringing the comic-inspired artwork to life through longer-lasting, impactful images reminiscent of comic book panels.
However, the film was not animated “on twos” across the board. For instance, in the scene where Miles and Peter B. Parker swing through the forest, Peter is animated on ones while Miles is animated on twos. This subtle shift in the animation causes Peter to appear more skilled and experienced, while Miles is clumsy because he’s never shot a web. Later in the film, when Miles comes into his own as Spider-Man, he is animated on ones, making his actions smoother and more fluid as he becomes confident in his new role.
If today’s trailer for the new suit is any indication, the game’s use of the frame rate will have a similar effect. As players of the Marvel’s Spider-Man know, this version of Miles is also new to the superhero lifestyle: in the first game, he doesn’t even know how to throw a punch. Replicating Spider-Verse’s altered frame rates incorporates this element of Miles’ backstory from the ground up, changing the way the character moves through the game world.
This style isn’t entirely new to Sony’s Spider-Man games. The 2018 game featured a “comic style” suit for Peter Parker, which players could unlock using tokens from accomplishing certain tasks in the game world. Where this was an homage to Spidey’s comic book roots, Miles’ Spider-Verse style suit is a fundamental aspect of his character, representative of his gradual transition into the role of the hero. Spider-Man: Miles Morales' new Spider-Verse-inspired suit gives players a chance to come into their own as the titular hero – and may just help them feel better about their own inevitable PS5 learning curve.