After nearly two whole years of waiting, Insomniac Games has finally given fans their first look at Marvel's Spider-Man 2's gameplay, and by all accounts, it's a sight to behold. Taking the foundations laid by its two predecessors and expanding on them in some seemingly big ways, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features a slew of new abilities and mechanics, and that's just from what fans have seen so far.
In its rather lengthy gameplay reveal trailer, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 not only confirmed that players will be exploring new areas of New York like Queens, but that they'll get to play as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, seemingly being able to switch between the two during pivotal story moments. Another huge confirmation from Marvel's Spider-Man 2's gameplay trailer was that Peter Parker will be donning the Symbiote suit during the game, giving him a wide array of new, brutal abilities. But there are a handful of other new features in Marvel's Spider-Man 2's trailer that only go to show just how much Insomniac cares about fan-feedback.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's New Traversal Systems Show Insomniac Pays Attention
Based on Marvel's Spider-Man 2's first gameplay trailer, it seems as though the series' traversal mechanics are getting some much-needed upgrades. 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man was an incredible game, capturing the feeling of being Spider-Man just as well as Batman: Arkham captured the essence of its own namesake. A big reason behind this is the game's fluid traversal mechanics, letting players swing through New York City with ease, zipping between buildings and launching off rooftops to their heart's content. But while Marvel's Spider-Man's web-swinging felt great in the moment, it's aged a little over the last few years, and for some fans, it's started to feel just a tad too slow.
Well, it seems as though Insomniac has listened to its fans here, with Marvel's Spider-Man 2 seemingly improving on the series' traversal mechanics in a few big ways. After a brief introduction to Kraven the Hunter, and a thrilling combat sequence with the Symbiote-suited Peter Parker, Marvel's Spider-Man 2's gameplay trailer swaps perspectives to Miles Morales, who seems a little more seasoned this time around.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's improvements to its predecessors' traversal mechanics can be seen almost immediately, with Miles quickly utilizing a brand new move called the Super Slingshot. Similar to past Spider-Man games, this Super Slingshot move sees Spider-Man web onto two parallel poles, pull himself back, and use the resulting force to propel him through the sky.
While players could slingshot off buildings in Spider-Man and Miles Morales, that's nothing compared to the sheer speed this Super Slingshot seems to give players in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Once in the air, Miles uses another new traversal technique, this time being a fully-fledged wingsuit, allowing him to glide between buildings at a fairly fast pace. Miles then enters a form of wind tunnel between buildings, making him glide even faster through New York.
After a brief run-in with the Lizard, both Spider-Men find themselves outside, chasing both him and some of Kraven's goons across New York City's surrounding rivers. Here, fans get their first real look at Marvel's Spider-Man 2's improved web-swinging. Though the mechanics look fairly identical to the past two games, and the animations are also quite similar, it seems as though Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features much faster web-swinging than its predecessors, with Miles flinging himself through the air very quickly after each swing.
One final interesting detail can be seen when Peter's Spider-Man takes the spotlight again, when he uses his own wingsuit to glide into a suspended train carriage, perhaps hinting at the inclusion of more environmental interactions this time around. Based just on what's been revealed so far, it seems as though Insomniac has really listened to fan-feedback when it comes to Marvel's Spider-Man 2's traversal.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 launches this fall, exclusively for PlayStation 5.