Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales are undoubtedly some of Sony’s best games from the past few years, and they seemingly put Insomniac back in place to continue its star series Ratchet & Clank after a hiatus. Either way, Insomniac has become a star studio in the Sony family, and many are looking forward to its next game now that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is out. That game is expected to be Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which hasn’t been formally announced, but is all but guaranteed to be web-slinging down the pipeline eventually.
Speaking of web-slinging, some fans have come up with another movement mechanic they would like to see in the inevitable sequel. A random post by user u/wayne2420 on the /SpidermanPS4 subreddit positing that it would be really cool if the next Spider-Man game had gliding (with a scene from the 2019 Spider-Man: Far From Home film used as evidence) managed to accrue over 3600 upvotes in one-and-a-half weeks. Its thinking is that the lauded web-swinging mechanic is already great, and being paired with a glide could only make it more fun. This is an easy idea to come up with, but it probably holds a lot of real weight, and there’s a lot of reasons why Insomniac should prioritize making gliding a new feature in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
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It was often said during the lead-up to Marvel’s Spider-Man’s release that the most important thing the game needed was web-swinging that felt on par with the old Spider-Man 2 licensed game. Fortunately for fans, Insomniac finally succeeded in toppling this icon of grapple-swinging mechanics, and it did so with style to spare. The act of swinging was easy to pick up, and just hard enough to master to keep players satisfied for the course of two AAA games, and even more so than the well-done combat and Spider-Man fanservice being reason enough to experience this series.
Spider-Man’s confident, comedic nature was on full display here, as players directed him to pose in various ways as he accelerated through the sky above the streets. Even the necessity of higher swinging points was quietly taken into account, with Spidey’s maximum height changing based on the highest structures or trees present at his current location. With some experience bonuses thrown in for stylish play, the game (and Miles’ sequel) was able to woo players into exploring the city vigorously, even when fast travel was an option.
While gliding may take away the immediate tactile feedback of doing tricks (or maybe not, if Insomniac adds a similar mechanic), it definitely fits in neatly beside the main method of travel in the Spider-Man games. As the origin of the idea, u/wayne2420 noted, “Swinging through NYC and then gliding at high speeds while zigzagging through the buildings would be nuts.” A PS5-exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would theoretically allow for a much higher top speed to be reached through its faster environmental loading speeds, so players could indeed be gliding around skyscrapers at breakneck speeds if they built enough speed swinging. This could fill in the gap left for a mechanic that lets players get to where they want to go quickly, without just warping there.
A glide would also be great for making players feel cool and relaxed, in equal measure even. In the same ways suit powers, gadgets, and Venom powers can already be used to make swinging and jumping around that much cooler, they can interact the same way with gliding. If nothing else, a flashy visual effect could accompany the usage of some suits. As for relaxing, gliding doesn’t need to be at mach speed all the time. Players can have Spider-Man start gliding at a lower speed, allowing them to take a break from the usual swinging, and take in the sights. Altogether, gliding seems like a great addition to Insomniac’s next Spider-Man game, and hopefully it will take the fans’ input on this matter into account.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is rumored to be in development.
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