Since 1996, Insomniac Games has had no shortage of phenomenal games that helped shift units for their respective hardware. Their resume includes the first three Spyro titles, numerous Ratchet & Clank games, Resistance, and two suitably amazing Spider-Man games. With the success of Rift Apart and another Marvel tie-in down the pipeline, there seems to be no stopping the Burbank studio.
Unfortunately, no developer is infallible, not even one as illustrious as Insomniac. Development is a rough process with several factors that can make or break a game. While Insomniac has reliably delivered quality titles, their occasional blunders have surely resulted in some sleepless nights.
10 Disruptor's Cutscenes Undermined Its Tone
Insomniac's debut title was a sci-fi-themed first-person shooter known as Disruptor. The game was originally going to be developed for the 3DO before publisher Universal suggested moving towards the PlayStation. The gameplay was very similar to titles such as Doom and the first Dark Forces, but the psychic abilities known as "Psionics" helped make the game stand out among other FPS titles.
Another thing that made Disruptor stand out was something Ted Price would later voice regret over — its incorporation of live-action cutscenes. While Disruptor was meant to be a serious title, the cheesy performances and dialogue undermined that a bit.
9 Sunset Overdrive Didn't Quite Rake In The Numbers
In many ways, Sunset Overdrive was very much an amalgamation of gameplay mechanics and ideas from Insomniac's prior titles. From Ratchet & Clank, it took the outlandish weaponry and emphasis on humor. From Sypro, it took the cathartic movement and vast open areas. Despite boasting the studio's polish and quality gameplay, it didn't receive the sales it so richly deserved.
Sunset Overdrive marked the studio's first collaboration with Microsoft, and its tone may have alienated a fanbase that was more used to titles such as Halo and Gears of War. The writing was also the subject of much criticism, with many finding the constant quips more obnoxious than humorous.
8 The Stealth Sections In Spider-Man Stung Worse Than A Spider Bite
Insomniac's Spider-Man provided the first great game to star the web crawler in over a decade. It refined the web-swinging and open-world formula from Treyarch's superb titles. Unfortunately, there were sections that put that exhilarating gameplay to a halt in order to put players in control of Peter's non-powered friends.
The stealth sections were absolutely abysmal, held back by trial-and-error design and instant deaths upon being discovered. The occasional Pipe Dream-esque mini-games also certainly didn't help. Thankfully, Insomniac took the criticisms to heart and jettisoned these missions out when it came time for Miles Morales to shine.
7 Ratchet & Clank Is Another Terrible Movie Adaption
James Stevenson claimed that Insomniac had been wanting to make a film adaption of Ratchet & Clank for years. Directorial duties were handed to Kevin Monroe of TMNT fame, while Rainmaker Entertainment handled the animation. Series writer T.J. Fixman was involved in the script during the film's production, but he departed due to his commitments with 20th Century Fox and "a simple difference of opinion" with Monroe.
In stark contrast to the PlayStation 4 game that was released to promote it, the film was a critical and commercial failure. Critics lambasted the animation and generally found the film witless and derivative.
6 Ted Price Regrets Spyro's Characterization In The First Title
The first title to star the fire starter saw him voiced by Carlos Alazraqui of Rocko's Modern Life and the Taco Bell Chihuahua fame. Alazraqui portrayed the young dragon as a very Bart Simpson-esque radical youth with the pre-requisite wisecracks and snarky attitude. While critics generally enjoyed Spyro the Dragon, complaints were made against the hero they were controlling.
In order to make Spyro more likable, Insomniac made some adjustments. For the sequel, Ripto's Rage, Sypro's personality was changed considerably. He was also recast with SpongeBob SquarePants himself, Tom Kenny, breathing life into the small dragon.
5 Ted Price Regrets Ratchet's Characterization In The First Title
Years later, Insomniac would have the same regrets when it came to the Lombax's debut title. Ratchet & Clank for the PlayStation 2 was another success for the studio, but critics were less kind towards the eponymous duo themselves. Ratchet was largely considered unlikable, while Clank was regarded as a bit of a nerd.
The sequel, Going Commando, would recast Ratchet with James Arnold Taylor taking over duties from Mikey Kelley. In addition, scenes were added where Ratchet shows more concern towards his robot companion in order to endear himself to players.
4 Peter Parker's Model Change Polarized Fans
While Spider-Man for PlayStation 4 received rave reviews, it did see its fair share of controversy. Many petulant grumblings were made of the game's visual downgrade from pre-release screenshots in several corners of the internet. These petty complaints did little to deter the game's critical and financial success.
However, the game found itself in hot water during its PlayStation 5 re-release. Peter Parker's character model saw a massive facelift, leading fans to speculate that the decision was made to match Tom Holland's likeness. As a response to the criticism, actor Yuri Lowenthal tweeted that the change was made to better fit his vocal performance.
3 Ratchet & Clank All 4 One Was Notoriously Buggy During Its Initial Release
All 4 One marked the first and only 4-player co-op title in the Ratchet & Clank franchise. The shift in genre provoked a bit of a polarized reception from fans and critics, with outlets such as GameInformer praising the title and others such as GameTrailers decrying it. Regardless of where players stood, the game was an absolutely buggy mess upon its initial release.
Weapon shops wouldn't work properly, characters would frequently die for no reason, and players who dropped out of the co-op could potentially lose their hard-earned bolts and weapons. Thankfully, some patches addressed most of these problems.
2 Universal Is The Reason The Company Lost Their Dragon
Ted Price claims that by the time of the third Spyro entry, the team found the character to be extremely limiting when it came to crafting new game mechanics. In addition, both Insomniac and Naughty Dog were finding their partnership with Universal Interactive lacking. Year of the Dragon would mark the last title Insomniac would develop for the publisher before partnering with Sony.
Unfortunately, the worlds, lore, and characters of Spyro would be retained by Universal, leading other studios to take developer duties of the franchise. What followed were abysmal titles such as Enter the Dragonfly, A Hero's Tail, and the Legend of Spyro trilogy.
1 Overstrike Was Re-Worked Into The More Generic Fuse
Long before titles such as Fortnite and Overwatch, the market was heavily oversaturated with realistic brown and gray shooting franchises such as Battlefield and Call of Duty. It's no wonder that Insomniac's pre-rendered trailer for a tongue-in-cheek espionage shooter called Overstrike turned heads during its E3 2011 debut.
During development, however, Insomniac found it hard to translate the gameplay into a T-rated title and elected to re-work it into the grittier and more realistic Fuse. Unfortunately, many publications lambasted this change, deeming the new look and tone as uninspired. Ted Price reflected on the game, stating, "looking back, we should've stuck to our guns."