Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Almost Cut Popular Feature During Development

Fast traveling, one of the most impressive features of both the PlayStation 5 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, was also a point of much discussion in development and almost cut as a result. While the PlayStation 5's processing speed allows for quicker gameplay, developers of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 worried that this might lead to less player engagement. The game's design director commented on this.

Developed by Insomniac, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the PS5 sequel to web slingers Peter Parker and Miles Morales' individual game debuts. At this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC), developers from Insomniac commented on the game's production. One of the animation directors discussed a challenge his team faced when animating Spider-Man's fight with Sandman. This wasn't the only challenge that came during the game's development. One feature was almost removed completely.

Fast traveling in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 proved to be a nightmare for developers, according to Insomniac design director Josue Benavidez, speaking at GDC 2024. It was almost cut from the game. But, rather than do that, Benavidez says they chose to give players more reasons to «engage with the gameplay as they encountered it.» Back in October, another Insomniac dev commented on fast traveling in the game just before its official release. While it demonstrates the power of the system, Benavidez says, «it totally broke our game. Because the map was fully revealed, you could go anywhere.»

Players may unlock fast traveling in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 by leveling up the districts in the open world. With the incredible processing speed of the PlayStation 5, the transportation is nearly instantaneous. Although this is convenient for players who would prefer not to swing or run from the meatpacking district to the upper west side, developers worried they might not explore as much. To rectify this, Benavidez decided, «The fast travel wasn't wrong. The game was wrong.»

It turns out that the team at Insomniac may have caught onto