Now that I think about it more, I think it looked more like the "shell texturing" technique, one mothern example of that same usage in games is the GTAV grass
2:31 I Know that's the iconic Grand Central Terminal, right behind it should be the Metlife building while to the right should be the Chrysler Building. 3:13 I do recognise this building but I know it's not the Courthouse or City Hall. 3:34 Looks like the Grand Central Terminal in the background so maybe this building is the New York Public Library. It even has a park behind it known as "Bryant Park" so that could be what the green area was trying to reflect. 3:55 This is the UN, At 3:55 this is the United Nations Visitor Centre and to the right of it at 3:58 is the main UN Headquarters. The general shape of this buildings is very accurate with how everything connections together, connecting to the HQ. But the flat area should have a cycle road that allows cars to go in and out with round décor in the middle similar to a roundabout. 4:52 This is the canter of Columbia University with the building in front being the Low Memorial Library with the stairs leading up to it while the building at 5:08 looks to be Butler Library. 5:22 Yep like in real life the only way to get to Roosevelt Island from Manhattan is to take a ferry across. There is a bridge connecting the island to Queens though but as the game is only set in Manhattan it makes sense they'd leave out the bridge. Funny enough that bridge connects right into a car park as well so you could just park your car the second you get onto the island and just walk around. Also the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge itself that kind of just hovers over the island is pretty spot on. It's so cool watching this video after playing Spider-Man 2 (2023) and seeing these same location but in higher detail. Only building that's missing is the Chrysler Building as they lost the rights or something, Miles Morales was the first game to not feature the Chrysler Building, replaced by a generic modern building instead which carried over into Spider-Man 2.
The fact that the Chrysler building, one of the most iconic and recognizable structures in the world and one of the longest-standing and enduring skyscrapers, has to have "rights" paid to use it, is absolute disgusting to me.
i've always found games from this era to be really interesting texture-wise, stuff like tony hawk's underground, half life 2, max payne and the 2001 version of DNF, that look where they've just taken photos of things and slapped them onto models to make textures is just so cool to me. it's kind of a reminder that there were people who went out and took photos of things, physical objects behind the scenes, friends or family who were photographed to become characters and so on. i've always found that style interesting, there was a fantastic game called forbidden siren, where a huge majority of the textures were made out of photos of things. they made physical versions of items which were photographed and turned into graphics for the game. it's a really cool style and i hope it makes a comeback in the indie scene
the bridge to roosevelt island connects to Queens, which is noticeably absent from most Spider-man games. IRL the only connections between Manhattan and Roosevelt are the cable car or the subway. The photograph from Wikipedia is looking East towards Queens. You can see the powerplant, Big Alis, in the background. That's the neighborhood of Long Island City, and the empty green patch North of the bridge is Rainey Park. To the south of Big Alis you have Queensbridge Housing Projects.
It reminds me a lot of Driver Parallel Lines in a way, that game has a big focus on driving throughout it that I never really went to fully explore the map on foot, but when I did I was pleasantly surprised by the detail the game's depiction of New York has. It has interesting areas that I never would've seen if I hadn't stop to explore. The game also takes place in both 1978 and 2006 and there are actual map differences that are exclusive to both years (Twin Towers are gone, more paths opened up, buildings under construction are finished, more bus stops and worn out street textures, etc.)
This game is absolutely amazing. The number of hours I spent playing it is insane. It's funny because I remember walking on the streets really often because I wanted to feel "normal," and the "realistic" graphics and atmosphere blew my mind. Now, seeing your video makes me feel a little bit nostalgic. I still have the original PS2 disc with its box in pretty good shape.
It's crazy to me that this game is on the same console that had Ratchet and Clank 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3. I'm pretty sure there are as many polygons in Ocelot's windy coat model as there are in the entirety of Manhattan.
Man I wish I found your channel earlier, its awesome! You completely changed the way I look at video games and now I really appreciate just how much work goes into little details that are purely for world building. I would love to see a world tour of some of these games, if you like: -Mafia 1 -GTA San Andreas -Assassin's Creed 2 -Thief 2 -Half Life 2 -Splinter Cell -Spongebob Battle For Bikini Bottom -Max Payne
as a (non-US-native) person who knows a fair bit about manhattan, this game does a super surprising job at adding in tons of landmarks and accurate geography! well, it’s waaaaay smaller than the real island of course, but the general shape and the relation of where landmarks should be between one another is pretty dang accurate! they coulda just slapped the empire state building there and called it a day, but they really added a lot of detail 3:53 I believe this is a rudimentary version of the real-world united nations building, which appears in the ps4 game too. that empty space is occupied by a parking lot in real life i think
When I played through this game a couple months ago I thought about your channel particularly during the indoor parts of the game like the Daily Bugle and the warehouse where you fight shocker. I thought about requesting this game but never got around to it so this is a nice surprise!
one thing i love about old games is the worlds yeah they look ugly yeah there pixelated but looking at all the stuff from that time like seeing actual products from real life its like a pocket of time where you could see how everything was back in those days
12:37 One thing that always made me feel strange is the cities on the other side of the river around the island of Manhattan in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 (PS2 version), they are just a flat pile of land that rises above the water and has a city texture all over them, and this texture makes everything very strange because to me it looks like an island made entirely of garbage, as if Manhattan was a single isolated island in an ocean and there are mountains of garbage around it.
If you want more New York, try out True Crime New York, a near 1:1 Manhattan. And Driver Parallel Lines, had most of New York City as a whole, but was way scaled down.
This game use to be my favorite to explore. Use to just go everywhere, and it was so fun finding all the crazy little buildings. Also that Ellis Island area is quite accurate.
I've been listening to this in the background and I've heard "I don't know much about New York City, but I know Faries exist" I was like... What the hell, there's fae in NYC? I replayed it and... oh, FERRIES. Like, boats
17:10 With bad eyesight, comes the ability to decypher and read blurry texts a bit better. I think the letter reads: "Dear MJ, I've been meaning to ask you this hard thing once more..." - I think it's Peter writing or trying to write and come up with lines and the courage to propose to MJ. Not 100% it says that since it's so low res but it would fit and make sense since he buys the engagement ring and does that in the second movie this game is about or the third movie. Really relatable tho, men would rather leap into life-or-death scenarios and fights with literal comic book supervillains day to day but become a nervous blushing shy mess fumbling and tripping over the moment they come across the love of their life and struggling to even say hi to them, let alone propose without shaking hands, I'm almost convinced the tradition to get on one knee is for the sake of the guy so his legs and hands aren't like shaking jello too much lmao (PS.: I'm currently binging your playlist, there's better be NieR and NieR Automata on it somewhere, both had absolute vibe spots and secret spots like the tavern you can do the work for the workaholic twin and get the twins drunk and singing in the tavern through a sidequest but only once, plus the two games have many spots and areas that are carried over and you can return and recognize them at different times and what happened to them)
I have so many memories of this game growing up. I love this little virtual tour of low poly NYC! Also I think the reason you remember the arcade so well (and I do too) is because it's one of the few enterable buildings that isn't a shop. I played those minigames more than I like to admit 😅
The most striking area of Manhattan in this game - to me - is the twin pillars of light standing in place of the WTC in lower Manhattan. To my knowledge that's the only time that temporary part of the NYC skyline has been rendered in a game. As a New Yorker, who got to visit Ground Zero after they cleared most of the debris but before they erected the pillars, it felt very strange to stand there in a video game.
True Crime New York also had that. Well, it had the site at least. Made it out like a full on construction site at the time it was made in 2006 or so. And that was a near 1:1 Manhattan. Driver Parallel Lines also had it too in the 2006 setting of the game, although that depiction of the city was way scaled down. Also came out in that year
Awesome video. I envied my friend so much when he got this game in 2004, it felt so realistic haha. As a kid I always wanted to follow the bridge westward to the mainland you can‘t reach (New Jersey I think?) but there is a barrier sadly
You didnt visit the in-game form of two tower memorial in here? Aww You totally should! Its kinda cool that they actually acknowledge that 9/11 happened in spiderman 2.
I've had a blast playing the new Spider-Man 2 don't get me wrong, but this game will always be the one for me. I think a lot of it is the being full of "that vibe" of games of this era with its cozy crispy textured look and the hearty jank with its voice acting and atmosphere. I never noticed in the one comic store they have a big photo of the Lizard model's face at 12:03 besides the sewer concept art, you can see his snout and orange eye. There was a whole sewer constructed that was cut, that's my holy grail for this game is just seeing more of the early development stuff someday hopefully
You should do one on Shenmue/Shenmue 2. I think its world(s) excel in the “bizarre and unassuming” area. Final Fantasy XI/Final Fantasy XII and even XIII all do it fairly well too, even though the latter is mostly just a straight line.
The only one I have experience with that you mentioned is Final Fantasy XII. I did think about making a video on it some months ago, but I stopped playing the game for whatever reason. I REALLY wanna get back into it though. I absolutely adored the gambit system, it's one of my favorite RPG systems. Shenmue seems cool as well. I've dabbled in Yakuza over the years, and it seems like they go for similar things with their worlds.
I've been meaning to give that game a good fair shake sometime. I beat human revolution and played a lot of mankind divided some years ago and really liked them. I'm sure I'd love the original.
Hey man, what's the synth that you play in the intro where the VHS case with your name pops in? It's super smooth and it's from a song I'd love to hear it all! Thanks!
freesound.org/s/523099/ It's a little jingle created by MagnusWaker. It only has 154 downloads on freesound.org, but it's a great little thing. Would have expected it to have more with its quality.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Fun fact! The xbox version has special grass graphics, it looks like parallax to add depth, it was the first time I saw that technique!
Now that I think about it more, I think it looked more like the "shell texturing" technique, one mothern example of that same usage in games is the GTAV grass
@@leonje99 It´s also used in RDR2 for fur
The swinging in this game is still unbeaten. The skill ceiling is huge
There’s actually a functioning clock tower in this game. Also I didn’t know you could enter his apartment.
2:31 I Know that's the iconic Grand Central Terminal, right behind it should be the Metlife building while to the right should be the Chrysler Building.
3:13 I do recognise this building but I know it's not the Courthouse or City Hall. 3:34 Looks like the Grand Central Terminal in the background so maybe this building is the New York Public Library. It even has a park behind it known as "Bryant Park" so that could be what the green area was trying to reflect.
3:55 This is the UN, At 3:55 this is the United Nations Visitor Centre and to the right of it at 3:58 is the main UN Headquarters. The general shape of this buildings is very accurate with how everything connections together, connecting to the HQ. But the flat area should have a cycle road that allows cars to go in and out with round décor in the middle similar to a roundabout.
4:52 This is the canter of Columbia University with the building in front being the Low Memorial Library with the stairs leading up to it while the building at 5:08 looks to be Butler Library.
5:22 Yep like in real life the only way to get to Roosevelt Island from Manhattan is to take a ferry across. There is a bridge connecting the island to Queens though but as the game is only set in Manhattan it makes sense they'd leave out the bridge. Funny enough that bridge connects right into a car park as well so you could just park your car the second you get onto the island and just walk around. Also the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge itself that kind of just hovers over the island is pretty spot on.
It's so cool watching this video after playing Spider-Man 2 (2023) and seeing these same location but in higher detail. Only building that's missing is the Chrysler Building as they lost the rights or something, Miles Morales was the first game to not feature the Chrysler Building, replaced by a generic modern building instead which carried over into Spider-Man 2.
The fact that the Chrysler building, one of the most iconic and recognizable structures in the world and one of the longest-standing and enduring skyscrapers, has to have "rights" paid to use it, is absolute disgusting to me.
i've always found games from this era to be really interesting texture-wise, stuff like tony hawk's underground, half life 2, max payne and the 2001 version of DNF, that look where they've just taken photos of things and slapped them onto models to make textures is just so cool to me. it's kind of a reminder that there were people who went out and took photos of things, physical objects behind the scenes, friends or family who were photographed to become characters and so on.
i've always found that style interesting, there was a fantastic game called forbidden siren, where a huge majority of the textures were made out of photos of things. they made physical versions of items which were photographed and turned into graphics for the game. it's a really cool style and i hope it makes a comeback in the indie scene
the bridge to roosevelt island connects to Queens, which is noticeably absent from most Spider-man games. IRL the only connections between Manhattan and Roosevelt are the cable car or the subway. The photograph from Wikipedia is looking East towards Queens. You can see the powerplant, Big Alis, in the background. That's the neighborhood of Long Island City, and the empty green patch North of the bridge is Rainey Park. To the south of Big Alis you have Queensbridge Housing Projects.
It reminds me a lot of Driver Parallel Lines in a way, that game has a big focus on driving throughout it that I never really went to fully explore the map on foot, but when I did I was pleasantly surprised by the detail the game's depiction of New York has. It has interesting areas that I never would've seen if I hadn't stop to explore. The game also takes place in both 1978 and 2006 and there are actual map differences that are exclusive to both years (Twin Towers are gone, more paths opened up, buildings under construction are finished, more bus stops and worn out street textures, etc.)
This game is absolutely amazing. The number of hours I spent playing it is insane. It's funny because I remember walking on the streets really often because I wanted to feel "normal," and the "realistic" graphics and atmosphere blew my mind. Now, seeing your video makes me feel a little bit nostalgic. I still have the original PS2 disc with its box in pretty good shape.
I did that with GTA 4
It's crazy to me that this game is on the same console that had Ratchet and Clank 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3. I'm pretty sure there are as many polygons in Ocelot's windy coat model as there are in the entirety of Manhattan.
"Oh no, my balloon!" - Still haunts me to this day
You should have been allowed to bring back the balloon to the kid, but then pop it right in front of them I think
I LOST MY BALLOOHOOON
that letter says: dear mj, i wrote you but you still ain't calling...
Man I wish I found your channel earlier, its awesome! You completely changed the way I look at video games and now I really appreciate just how much work goes into little details that are purely for world building. I would love to see a world tour of some of these games, if you like:
-Mafia 1
-GTA San Andreas
-Assassin's Creed 2
-Thief 2
-Half Life 2
-Splinter Cell
-Spongebob Battle For Bikini Bottom
-Max Payne
A lot of those are games I have on my big list of things to cover. All great suggestions though 🙌
as a (non-US-native) person who knows a fair bit about manhattan, this game does a super surprising job at adding in tons of landmarks and accurate geography! well, it’s waaaaay smaller than the real island of course, but the general shape and the relation of where landmarks should be between one another is pretty dang accurate! they coulda just slapped the empire state building there and called it a day, but they really added a lot of detail
3:53 I believe this is a rudimentary version of the real-world united nations building, which appears in the ps4 game too. that empty space is occupied by a parking lot in real life i think
I also really like what they did with the skybox in this game. It just felt dynamic. At sunset/sunrise the sky gets so colorful to an insane degree
That "little grass patch" behind the "fancy building" is Bryant Park
On the matter of the incomprehensible image in the bathroom. To me it looks like a 60s psychedelic band or concert poster.
It almost looks like a zoomed in Exseption Bingo album.
it 100% looks like the album cover for "are you experienced?" by jimi hendrix
@@robertpaulson117 nope
When I played through this game a couple months ago I thought about your channel particularly during the indoor parts of the game like the Daily Bugle and the warehouse where you fight shocker. I thought about requesting this game but never got around to it so this is a nice surprise!
one thing i love about old games is the worlds yeah they look ugly yeah there pixelated but looking at all the stuff from that time like seeing actual products from real life its like a pocket of time where you could see how everything was back in those days
12:37 One thing that always made me feel strange is the cities on the other side of the river around the island of Manhattan in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 (PS2 version), they are just a flat pile of land that rises above the water and has a city texture all over them, and this texture makes everything very strange because to me it looks like an island made entirely of garbage, as if Manhattan was a single isolated island in an ocean and there are mountains of garbage around it.
They're literally just lo-poly renders of New Jersey, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx respectively
havent even watched the video yet already know its a banger
@6:09 we actually do have our own Alcatraz, It's called Riker's Island!
Funnily enough, I remember that now from Spider-Man ps4. It all comes full circle.
If you want more New York, try out True Crime New York, a near 1:1 Manhattan. And Driver Parallel Lines, had most of New York City as a whole, but was way scaled down.
This game use to be my favorite to explore.
Use to just go everywhere, and it was so fun finding all the crazy little buildings.
Also that Ellis Island area is quite accurate.
I wasn't expecting a Monument Mythos reference.
so glad I'm not the only one who noticed that, had to check the comments to make sure i wasn't crazy
You’ve got a really great game selection for your video! All games that I have played through out my life.
I've been listening to this in the background and I've heard "I don't know much about New York City, but I know Faries exist"
I was like... What the hell, there's fae in NYC? I replayed it and... oh, FERRIES. Like, boats
17:10 With bad eyesight, comes the ability to decypher and read blurry texts a bit better.
I think the letter reads:
"Dear MJ,
I've been meaning to
ask you this hard
thing once more..."
- I think it's Peter writing or trying to write and come up with lines and the courage to propose to MJ. Not 100% it says that since it's so low res but it would fit and make sense since he buys the engagement ring and does that in the second movie this game is about or the third movie.
Really relatable tho, men would rather leap into life-or-death scenarios and fights with literal comic book supervillains day to day but become a nervous blushing shy mess fumbling and tripping over the moment they come across the love of their life and struggling to even say hi to them, let alone propose without shaking hands, I'm almost convinced the tradition to get on one knee is for the sake of the guy so his legs and hands aren't like shaking jello too much lmao
(PS.: I'm currently binging your playlist, there's better be NieR and NieR Automata on it somewhere, both had absolute vibe spots and secret spots like the tavern you can do the work for the workaholic twin and get the twins drunk and singing in the tavern through a sidequest but only once, plus the two games have many spots and areas that are carried over and you can return and recognize them at different times and what happened to them)
9:22 looks alot like the album cover for "are you experienced?" by jimi hendrix
Great video, glad to see appreciation for this game!
I have so many memories of this game growing up. I love this little virtual tour of low poly NYC! Also I think the reason you remember the arcade so well (and I do too) is because it's one of the few enterable buildings that isn't a shop. I played those minigames more than I like to admit 😅
Personally the Oscorp Lab was my favorite interior in free roam. I wish we got to go to the art museum and the civic center 😢
Reminds me more of that one room in the City in the Sky, with the moving Peahats. Maybe if we combined our experiences...
I'd love to see a video for spider-man 3. It had an insanely detailed world
great video as always!
The most striking area of Manhattan in this game - to me - is the twin pillars of light standing in place of the WTC in lower Manhattan. To my knowledge that's the only time that temporary part of the NYC skyline has been rendered in a game.
As a New Yorker, who got to visit Ground Zero after they cleared most of the debris but before they erected the pillars, it felt very strange to stand there in a video game.
True Crime New York also had that. Well, it had the site at least. Made it out like a full on construction site at the time it was made in 2006 or so. And that was a near 1:1 Manhattan.
Driver Parallel Lines also had it too in the 2006 setting of the game, although that depiction of the city was way scaled down. Also came out in that year
Been so long I forgot you could go into buildings. Let out a "wtf" when you went in the store.
Awesome video. I envied my friend so much when he got this game in 2004, it felt so realistic haha. As a kid I always wanted to follow the bridge westward to the mainland you can‘t reach (New Jersey I think?) but there is a barrier sadly
That's Queens. New Jersey is across the West Side
the poster in the bathroom is an advertisement for the arcade game you play in game!
Oh no. Doctor Connors' class.
3:57 this building is actually based on the UN headquarters
I'm only now realizing that after exploring GTA 4's map and finding the same building lol
You didnt visit the in-game form of two tower memorial in here? Aww You totally should! Its kinda cool that they actually acknowledge that 9/11 happened in spiderman 2.
0:50 i did! Why would i? Because Bruce Campbell was nagging me to swing
I wish someone ported this game to pc just so modders could make the world more lively and detailed
I really liked this keep doing more of these
I've had a blast playing the new Spider-Man 2 don't get me wrong, but this game will always be the one for me. I think a lot of it is the being full of "that vibe" of games of this era with its cozy crispy textured look and the hearty jank with its voice acting and atmosphere. I never noticed in the one comic store they have a big photo of the Lizard model's face at 12:03 besides the sewer concept art, you can see his snout and orange eye. There was a whole sewer constructed that was cut, that's my holy grail for this game is just seeing more of the early development stuff someday hopefully
plz make a video about go vacation!! i used to roam around those islands and pretend i lived there a lot as a kid . so nostalgic …
You should do one on Shenmue/Shenmue 2. I think its world(s) excel in the “bizarre and unassuming” area. Final Fantasy XI/Final Fantasy XII and even XIII all do it fairly well too, even though the latter is mostly just a straight line.
The only one I have experience with that you mentioned is Final Fantasy XII. I did think about making a video on it some months ago, but I stopped playing the game for whatever reason.
I REALLY wanna get back into it though. I absolutely adored the gambit system, it's one of my favorite RPG systems.
Shenmue seems cool as well. I've dabbled in Yakuza over the years, and it seems like they go for similar things with their worlds.
you should totally do tony hawk underground 2 and wake around !
I'm a BIG THPS fan. I will cover the games some day, mark my words.
@@PretzelYT Now the question is whether or not you do the original or the remake. I'm not sure what I'd prefer tbh.
11:46 based Killer7 enjoyer
I feel like I MUST disclose that I have not played Killer7. I just know the game exists 😢
Good video!
Wait, was that Statue of Liberty joke a Monument Mythos reference?
God I love this series
The REAL Spider-Man 2
Wish Duke Nukem Zero: Hour was on your hit list. Totally random, I know.
would love to see you cover Deus Ex (2000). Great video as usual!
I've been meaning to give that game a good fair shake sometime. I beat human revolution and played a lot of mankind divided some years ago and really liked them. I'm sure I'd love the original.
@@PretzelYT Yes, I'm sure you would... Enjoy!
And keep up the good work :)
Hey man, what's the synth that you play in the intro where the VHS case with your name pops in? It's super smooth and it's from a song I'd love to hear it all! Thanks!
I second this question
freesound.org/s/523099/
It's a little jingle created by MagnusWaker. It only has 154 downloads on freesound.org, but it's a great little thing. Would have expected it to have more with its quality.
@@PretzelYT Thank you so much! I'm definitely checking it out now!
Looks very similar to ultimate spiderman
Made by the same studio - Treyarch. Although tbh, Ultimate Spiderman's open world is kind of a step down from this
It’s a guy spray painting and it says rock on the poster
Bro can you pls do Midtown madness tour 😢
I think I feel special to be the first view and comment
we will go to Valhalla
A true pretizen, through and through.
2nd comment 😊
I appreciate all my commenters the same as the first. Thank you for your service. 🫡