Summary
Spider-Man games have been around for over three decades now, and as fans would hope and expect, they’ve evolved quite a bit over the years. Much like the rest of the video game industry, the more technology advanced over the years, the bigger Spider-Man games got. And the bigger Spider-Man games got, the better their web-swinging mechanics became, eventually culminating in what could end up beingthe best Spidey game ever made,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Going off the excellent groundwork already laid by its predecessor,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is guaranteed to have great web-swinging from the get-go. But with a few little improvements and refinements,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2could easily feature the best traversal system of any superhero video game. And with one improvement that’s been confirmed,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is already destined to solve one issue that’s plagued every open-world Spider-Man game ever made.
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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Web Wings Will Make Central Park a Breeze to Traverse
Filled with tall skyscrapers and plenty of rooftop structures to launch off, New York City is the perfect setting forSpider-Man’s abilities, and this has been seen time and time again across Spider-Man video games. But New York City isn’t perfect, and there’s one large stretch of the city that poses a constant problem in just about any Spidey game: Central Park.
A long rectangular section in the very heart of New York City, Central Park in real life is a gorgeous stretch of land that provides some much-needed greenery to the otherwise completely industrial landscape. But while Central Park’s beauty carries over tothe world of Spider-Man video games, its sights are about all it’s good for. With Central Park consisting mostly of low trees and lampposts, the area poses a unique challenge for Spider-Man games, with most web-swinging mechanics not working all that well with the lower terrain.
In the vast majority of open-world Spider-Man games, including titles likeSpider-Man 22004and its sequelSpider-Man 3, the only way to traverse Central Park is by web-zipping across it. This usually takes a ridiculously long time, looks absurd, and doesn’t feel good at all. In these past Spidey titles, players usually end up avoiding Central Park altogether, choosing to instead swing around its outskirts. This feels like a waste of everyone’s time, including the developers who had to painstakingly recreate the area in-game.
Marvel’s Spider-Manfeatures a slightly better version of Central Park, offering a compromise that does let players swing through the park, but albeit a little awkwardly. The trees and scenery objects inMarvel’s Spider-Man’s Central Park require some finicky timing on the player’s part to web swing through, forcing them to keep under the tree line enough so that they can continue swinging, but stay above the terrain just below it in order to keep the momentum going.
Thankfully, it seems as thoughMarvel’s Spider-Man 2might solve this long-running issue with one quick and rewarding swoop.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is set to bring a number of new traversal mechanics to the table, and one of the most anticipated additions isthe sequel’s Web Wings. Shared between Peter and Miles, these Web Wings let players glide through the air, and the presence of wind tunnels can carry them across the city with ease. Along with the new Super Slingshot mechanic, these Web Wings should make traversingMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Central Park an absolute breeze, potentially even letting players cross the whole area with one button press.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2launches on October 20 for PlayStation 5.
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