Highlights
- Forced walking sequences in video games can be tedious and break up the excitement of gameplay.
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2, like other games, includes these sequences where players are forced to walk slowly through different areas.
- While these walking sequences can provide interesting character moments and lore, developers should consider alternatives to avoid jarring gameplay diversions.
There are often points in video games where the developers want to slow things down a bit, so it forces players to walk. Either this is because they want players to digest new story details, introduce new gameplay mechanics, mask loading screens, or simply because that is the way they chose to design the game. Whatever the case may be, it can often annoyingly break things up as it forces players to do something scripted and can take away from other fun activities. While Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is not the first game to do this, it really should be the last.
There are numerous points in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 where players are forced to walk slowly through different locales, and the majority of the time they are stuck walking through these locations at a snail's pace. Even though it is too late to change it, its addition shows that this mechanic really needs to die off in the future.
It is Time for Forced Walking Sequences to End
Forcing players to embrace a sequence by slowing down the main character seems to be a pretty prevalent trope in the video game industry these days. Sometimes, these moments are simply so that players can listen to dialogue to prepare themselves for whatever happens next. Other times, the developers make it so that any interior location forces players to walk. While none of these sequences tend to ruin the games they are in, they can be rather tedious after a while, especially after a first playthrough.
In Marvel's Spider-Man 2, whenever players take the form of Peter Parker or Miles Morales they know the following sequence will be much slower than when they're out in the open world. Sometimes they can jog a bit—Peter is also given a couple of bike-riding sequences—but oftentimes they are just left to walk around these various locales. When these locations are as big as the Emily-May Foundation, wandering the halls can feel like a slog if fans would rather be fighting crime.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is not the only game to do this, nor will it likely be the last. Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 force players to move slowly whenever they enter certain buildings, Final Fantasy 7 Remake constantly forces players to calmly walk, God of War did a lot of this throughout its narrative, and even The Last of Us is filled with forced walking sequences. While it may be useful sometimes, it really just makes things feel slow as it breaks up an otherwise exciting experience. Additionally, it can sometimes feel like it exists purely to pad out the experience.
Eliminating these forced walking sequences feels like an easy fix. However, it may not be as nice as it sounds. Usually, these walking sequences involve NPC characters that are also walking. In some games like World of Warcraft where players are not forcibly slowed down, the NPCs still walk extremely slow. As such, players will often be miles ahead of the characters they were supposed to be walking alongside. So, the studios would need to ensure that the NPCs match the speed of the players, because otherwise many may miss some important plot details.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's forced walking sequences are often filled with fun character moments, so they do not really hurt players' overall enjoyment. Likewise, a lot of fans may get to peruse interesting bits of lore, such as in Kraven's mansion. If players could race through these sequences as fast as Spider-Man can sail through New York, there's no way Insomniac would be able to make time for any intimate story beats in the first place.
That said, stalling the player creates a jarring gameplay diversion that can feel flat without such interesting lore interactions, especially since the Marvel's Spider-Man series prides itself on its thrilling movement systems once Peter or Miles slip their masks on. While these forced walking sequences will likely not go away all of a sudden, developers really need to figure out an alternative.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is available now on PS5.
