So manySpider-Mangames lacked fluid web-swinging traversal that it was remarkable to see Insomniac’s take on it inMarvel’s Spider-Man. Before it, theSpider-Man 2film’s game adaptation presented the ideal formula for web-swinging, with physics and momentum being crucial to how players get from one end of Manhattan to the other.Marvel’s Spider-Man’s web-swinging is more seamless and convenient, though it still takes skill for players to be able to bound from perch points and turn tight corners with finesse, as it likely will inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2. Even more refined than web-swinging, though, isMarvel’s Spider-Man’s parkour.
There are many automatic environmental interactions inMarvel’s Spider-Manthat make traversal that much smoother. Players can launch themselves through the narrow beams reinforcing water towers on top of buildings, andlike inAssassin’s Creed,players will automatically vault over obstaclesin the environment if they run into them. Likewise, players can automatically move through fire escape scaffolding when running along the side of a building.Marvel’s Spider-Man’s freerunning is a refreshing change of pace, and should definitely have more emphasis inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.
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Marvel’s Spider-Man Featured Exhilarating Parkour Sequences
Parkour can be performed at any time as players make their way throughMarvel’s Spider-Man’s open-world New York City. It’s the most sensational during narrative moments with key cinematic sequences. Players will remember chasing the Inner Demons’ helicopter as it dangles a remote construction site container, damaging a lot of the city in its wake.
Much of this sequence revolves around QTEs and web-swinging, but there is a brief moment within a ruinous building interior where Spider-Man will autonomously hop and leap along the office floor’s architecture if players simply run forward. It is clear when parkour is encouraged inMarvel’s Spider-Manbecause there will be many waist-high obstacles in the player’s direct path that they are intended to run straight through.
Funnily enough, one ofMarvel’s Spider-Man’s most exhilarating moments of parkour did not make it into the final game. This moment comes fromMarvel’s Spider-Man’s original announcement teaser, where Spider-Man can be seen flipping atop tables and patrons in a cafe before launching himself through a large window in pursuit of the Demons. Further,Marvel’s Spider-Man’s The Heist DLCfeatures a scene where Spider-Man pursues Black Cat on foot since she short-circuited his web-shooters with an EMP. This gives players a parkour-exclusive segment where Spider-Man pushes through crowds of people and narrowly rolls along oncoming cars, echoing similar animations from the Talbot chase scene inUncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Needs More Non-Swinging Traversal Spectacles
IfMarvel’s Spider-Man 2wants to be more creative with its traversal, it needs to add more narrative-driven parkour sequences like these. Chase sequences are perfect for parkour since they give players an urgency to continue forward in hot pursuit. Engineering environments to support parkour is a great way to have players navigate claustrophobic interiors or an otherwise linear path instead of simply sprinting ahead an empty corridor.
Black Cat’s EMP was a fantastic explanation for why Spider-Man had to race after her on foot, and it is possible thatMarvel’s Spider-Man2could have its own narrative-driven reasons for parkour-exclusive chases. Such reasons could include Peter Parker being out of costume and without his web-shooters equipped at all, for example, or that he has run out of web fluid completely in one or both web-shooters.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2may demonstrate new features and mechanics in gameplay, but it needs to continue to have a diverse means of traversal to make gameplay dynamic.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is scheduled to release in 2023 on PS5.
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