Highlights
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 introduces an innovative fast travel system that allows players to choose their destination and appear there instantly, which speeds up navigation and makes traversing the city easier.
- However, using fast travel diminishes the experience of being Spider-Man because it takes away the exhilarating feeling of swinging through the streets, using acrobatic moves, and exploring the city.
- Fast-traveling also means missing out on side activities, collectibles, and crimes that players would have discovered while swinging through the streets, which can impact the overall fun factor and pacing of the game. Players who want a true Spidey experience are advised to avoid using fast travel.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is finally here, and it seems to be doing everything right. Insomniac Games has taken the strong foundations of the first games and built upon them immensely to deliver another fantastic superhero adventure. Not only has it delivered on that Spider-Man dream, but the studio has also introduced a plethora of features that other open-world games may want to take notes from. Specifically, Marvel's Spider-Man 2's new fast travel system is a step above the rest.
Fast travel is a core part of any open-world game these days, so it would make sense that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 would include a version of it. However, instead of following in the footsteps of other titles, Insomniac approached fast travel in a vastly different way. This has led to an innovative system that players will likely want to mess around with. But, players may actually want to actively avoid it if they want to get the most out of their Marvel's Spider-Man 2 experience.
Fast Travel Diminishes the Spider-Man 2 Experience
The fast travel system that Insomniac Games has created is truly fascinating, especially after open-world games seemed to be stuck using the same exact system for years. Instead of tying fast travel to specific waypoints across the map, players can now fast travel wherever they choose in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. All that they have to do is hover their cursor over where they want to be, hold triangle, and then they will appear at that location in mere seconds.
This new fast travel system feels so seamless that some players may want to use it constantly. While they have to unlock the feature in each district first, it can drastically speed up navigation to make traversing the city a breeze. However, even though that sounds great, the system itself really has no place in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Not only does it mean that players will not be swinging through the streets to get to a destination necessarily, but the game itself is definitely a stronger experience without it.
The most important thing about playing a Spider-Man game is the actual feeling of being Spider-Man, which Insomniac Games has delivered fantastically, but fast travel takes that away. Fans will likely want to swing through New York's open-world streets and use whatever moves Peter or Miles have at their disposal to make that even faster. It is so much fun to do flips, fly through the skies, and scale buildings throughout New York City. Without that exhilarating navigation system, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 would not feel as special. So, it really does not make much sense to skip that just to get somewhere faster.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 also incentivizes exploration because as players swing through the streets, they will discover all sorts of things throughout the city. Their map will slowly fill up with side activities, they will find all sorts of collectibles, and they will uncover crimes that must be stopped. Fast-traveling past all of this just means that players will not get to experience everything that the game has to offer, which could diminish the fun factor a bit. Plus, skipping over all of this content means that players will just be rushing from one story chapter to the next, and that could hurt the overall pacing for them.
When players buy a game like Marvel's Spider-Man 2, they likely want to feel like the titular character. While the fast travel system may be a fantastic addition that more open-world games should replicate in the current console generation, its inclusion here may impact the feeling of being the web swinger. Even though Insomniac may have given players that option, anyone looking for a true Spidey experience may want to avoid using it at all costs.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is available now on PS5.
