Spider-Man 2018's webswinging is concerning as a Spider-Man 2 fan

[Lady Bow]

One of my favorites things to do in Spider-Man 2 the video game was climbing the Empire State Building and jumping off to plummet towards the earth, and then at the last second, shooting a web right before hitting the ground, giving you a whiplash sort of effect and violently shooting you with speed/momentum. Unfortunately it seems a lot of Spider-Man's swinging is canned/animation-based instead of physics-based as shown by the gif below. The other thing that is annoying is that Spider-Man starts arcing before a web even attaches to a building. (at the same time the game is artificially slowing you down)

Don't get me wrong, the game still looks fantastic as a whole and the way Spider-Man does contextual animations while swinging looks flashy and great.

I just wish they opted for a more physics-based route and added an advanced swinging mode or something for fans looking for a more skill-based swinging system that did less on faking speed. I doubt they're going to make any major changes to the systems since the game is close to going gold but we'll see.

Worth linking to the original Reddit thread as well if it hasn't been already. Lots of discussion there.

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EDIT: Here's some Spider-Man 2 gifs to jog people's memory. Recorded these from my Dolphin set-up.

 

[Deleted member 1185]

Have you played it? I had similar concerns but I've seen nothing but glowing praise for the swinging and traversal

 

[Deleted member 2145]

it must suck to develop a spider man game nowadays with the way spider man 2 is romanticized

at least the insomniac devs know which spider man game is actually the best

 

[Ahasverus]

Let it go.gif

It's never coming back.

 

[janusff]

The impressions have been very positive about the swinging in the game.

This dude for example knows about Spider Man 2 swinging and compares the two and overall likes this one better.

 

[Tygre]

Yeah, this bothered me about the gameplay shown too.

It feels very... safe? Like they have no confidence in the player or willingness to let you fuck up / get better.

The most generous interpretation could be that it was "tuned" for the press at E3, but I'm not sure I believe that even as I suggest it.

 

[wondermagenta]

Have you played it? I had similar concerns but I've seen nothing but glowing praise for the swinging and traversal

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I don't really trust mainstream game critics when it comes to this stuff lol

 

[Strangelove_77]

You know what? For as much as fans have always praised Spiderman 2's swinging, I've never noticed how much better it is. It looks and feels absolutely the same to me.
I think a lot of it has to do with how fast it goes. All I look for are Spiderman poses. Stuff that looks like comic panel stills. Other than that I don't really notice anything else.

 

[PanzerKraken]

Eh Spiderman 2 web swinging was nothing special, it was insanely simple already *shrug*

 

[Deleted member 17207]

You're not imagining things OP, from the first trailer I thought the slinging still looked "off". As others have said, it seems "safe", and not physics-based as OP pointed out. It's too Assassin's Creed-hold the button to do everything-looking.

 

[Spinluck]

This looks far better than anything in Spider-Man 2.

 

[PanzerKraken]

You're not imagining things OP, from the first trailer I thought the slinging still looked "off". As others have said, it seems "safe", and not physics-based as OP pointed out. It's too Assassin's Creed-hold the button to do everything-looking.

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Spiderman 2's was not safe? It was essentially press button in direction and go.

 

[adrem007]

I'm going to fucking flip if I read about this jumping from ESB shit one more time

It's 2018 let it go jesus

 

[OrdinaryPrime]

You're not imagining things OP, from the first trailer I thought the slinging still looked "off". As others have said, it seems "safe", and not physics-based as OP pointed out. It's too Assassin's Creed-hold the button to do everything-looking.

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I'm pretty sure it is physics based though.

 

[Shari]

Who cares if he played it? He's comparing something you can actually see and evaluate on shown footage so what difference does it make if he has played it?.

I share your concerns about this altough the animations are good enough to make forget about the physics, I hope.

And ye, looks like spiderman 2 will still be king of web swinging.

 

[flkRaven]

Man, I love Spider-man 2 and all, but every time I see Insomniac's game my jaw just drops. It just looks incredible.

 

[Lady Bow]

Have you played it? I had similar concerns but I've seen nothing but glowing praise for the swinging and traversal

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I haven't unfortunately. I'm with wondermagenta on this one though.

it must suck to develop a spider man game nowadays with the way spider man 2 is romanticized

at least the insomniac devs know which spider man game is actually the best

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Let it go.gif

It's never coming back.

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Thanks for the drive-by posts.

The impressions have been very positive about the swinging in the game.

This dude for example knows about Spider Man 2 swinging and compares the two and overall likes this one better.

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Even in the video I see moments where momentum is weirdly getting cancelled when you start swinging. Like I said, the way it looks (animations/blending) looks amazing but the actual motion still has me reserved right now.

 

[Deleted member 17207]

Spiderman 2's was not safe? It was essentially press button in direction and go.

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Not really, you really had to control spider-man unless you enjoyed swinging right into the side of a building. There were also acrobatics you could perform with a different button, you could control the speed, etc.

I'm not saying one looks more complicated or simple than the other, one just looks a lot "easier". I haven't played, so who knows, I might even prefer it, but as OP says, it looks like they've taken a lot of the responsibility away from you when it comes to controlling the swing. That might not be a bad thing, but it's kind of too bad. It was something you could really get good at in Spider-Man 2.

 

[Joker13]

Spider Man 2 swinging was nothing fucking special, take off your goddamn nostalgia glasses

let it got for god's sake

 

[Deleted member 17207]

Spider Man 2 swinging was nothing fucking special, take off your goddamn nostalgia glasses

let it got for god's sake

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That's why it's always the one every other Spider-Man game is compared to. Yeah, nothing special...

 

[TsuWave]

if it was physics based peter parker would die every time you tried to swing

you guys need to get over that dusty game that came out 14 years ago. insomniac is doing a great job by most, if not all, accounts

 

[OrdinaryPrime]

I haven't unfortunately. I'm with wondermagenta on this one though.

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Seems silly to generalize a group of people based on what I assume to be, some previous event.

 

[Raptor]

This looks far better than anything in Spider-Man 2.

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I agree.

 

[matrix-cat]

Time to just accept that they're doing something different. It's not momentum-based, or if it is there's a level of automation there that smooths it out enough to make things more accessible. It's not going to be SM2, but it looks like it has a whole lot of fun new mechanics to play around with in its own right, and we always have SM2 to go back to.

 

[melodiousmowl]

After Sunset Overdrive, I hope they nail this. Fun mechanics are better than "real" mechanics for games like this IMO

 

[Courage]

The traversal in the new game seems more like a rhythm game, timing button presses right in relation to contextual environmental cues. I'm sure it'll be good, but it's definitely not the deliberate, physical swinging from Spiderman 2. In many ways this new game seems like it de-emphasizes swinging in favor of more moves.

 

[CloseTalker]

Literally every preview has called out the swinging as being something they've nailed. Whole features and videos have been posted by people who played it saying "Don't worry, the swinging is great!"

I'm not worried about the swinging in this, it looks fun as hell.

 

[Corporate Clown]

I was playing Spiderman 2 a couple of weeks ago and yeah, that game should be renamed to "Rose Tinted Glasses: The Game". Web slinging was fine. That's it.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I see what you mean, but I trust the overwhelmingly positive impressions so far.

 

[ThroughtheVoid]

I wish people would stop making Spider-Man 2 the holy damn grail and that nothing will top it. If anything, the constantly praised feature of the new Spider-Man is the web-swinging by multiple different outlets.

 

[Violet1370]

Certain aspects of the swinging are pretty disappointing... maybe the game's swinging will surprise me when i play it, either way im confident will be the best spider-man game overall but i was hoping for this to beat 2.

 

[Memento]

What?

It looks so much more fun and overall better than Spiderman 2.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

Thanks for the drive-by posts.

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you're welcome

I'm still here though

honestly this thread is basically a drive by hot take that's all too common in every spider man thread. and my general point was that even if we concede that spider man 2 did web swinging better it's a game that doesn't do a whole lot else making it a pretty poor spider man game in the grand scheme. spider man for ps4 is already a better game and I haven't even played it yet.

 

[5taquitos]

I'm a Spider-Man 2 fan as well, and I'm not concerned at all.

If there's a little less direct control, it looks to be made up in just about every other facet.

 

[Spinluck]

Who cares if he played it? He's comparing something you can actually see and evaluate on shown footage so what difference does it make if he has played it?.

I share your concerns about this altough the animations are good enough to make forget about the physics, I hope.

And ye, looks like spiderman 2 will still be king of web swinging.

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Looks like this Spider-Man will be the king of Spider-Man games.

Also, yes, I think playing it does matter since you have far more intuitive traversal options in this Spider-Man that would be possible with the stiff physics based stuff in Spider-Man 2 which has aged considerably.

 

[wondermagenta]

I haven't unfortunately. I'm with wondermagenta on this one though.

Even in the video I see moments where momentum is weirdly getting cancelled when you start swinging. Like I said, the way it looks (animations/blending) looks amazing but the actual motion still has me reserved right now.

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It's the same with how every review on melee combat games reads the same and how no major website will ACTUALLY tell you how DMC or Bayonetta or God of War are different. I just have no reason to believe any of these accounts until I get my hands on it myself.

And yeah I agree, there were a bunch of things that looked off to me in that footage. Like, if you attach to a building and then swing around the corner, is your web gonna touch the wall and then stick to it like it does in Spider-Man 2 or Ultimate Spider-Man? Here it just looks like the other end of your web-line (the one that's supposed to be sticking to a single point) is always magically adjusting and moving as necessary, which to me would be pretty disappointing. It's unclear too whether or not you can shoot out another web-line while still holding on to the one you shot out first like you can in 2, which opened up all sorts of possibilities.

 

[Animal Liberation Ⓥ]

if it was physics based peter parker would die every time you tried to swing

you guys need to get over that dusty game that came out 14 years ago. insomniac is doing a great job by most, if not all, accounts

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That dusty nostalgia, lol.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

I was playing Spiderman 2 a couple of weeks ago and yeah, that game should be renamed to "Rose Tinted Glasses: The Game". Web slinging was fine. That's it.

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spider man 2 has literally 2 good things about it (coincidence?), the web swinging and that warehouse enemy rush thing

 

[RROCKMAN]

I sure hope some who has played both games show up, otherwise this tread is baseless

 

[ShutterMunster]

People won't believe until they go hands on. It feels like everyone who's played it loves the swinging and yet here's another "I have concerns" thread.

I enjoyed Spider-Man 2 but Insomniac's game looks better in every single way.

 

[Bunta]

I'm pretty sure it is physics based though.

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Yes, developers have already stated it's physics based.

 

[New Fang]

I'm pretty sure it is physics based though.

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Sure doesn't look like it.

 

[nycgamer4ever]

WTF just looking at your gifs the new one looks way better!

 

[thisismadness]

Looking at videos of that Spiderman 2 game and I constantly see him awkwardly bumping into buildings and falling because he loses momentum. So I can absolutely see why they arent trying to replicate a physics based swing style and based on every impression Ive read it sounds like they nailed it.

 

[boi]

It just looks weird he can wallrun vertically. The swinging looks fine though.

 

[Animal Liberation Ⓥ]

Sure doesn't look like it.

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Oh yeah? Explain how.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

It just looks weird he can wallrun vertically. The swinging looks fine though.

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he has the proportionate speed and strength of a spider!

 

[Bunta]

 

[Astronut325]

Looking at videos of that Spiderman 2 game and I constantly see him awkwardly bumping into buildings and falling because he loses momentum. So I can absolutely see why they arent trying to replicate a physics based swing style and based on every impression Ive read it sounds like they nailed it.

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This. The system looks much better. When I want to traverse I don't want what happens in the OP's GIFs.

 

[Courage]

Oh yeah? Explain how.

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Look at how his downward velocity just stops after he starts swinging, completely ignoring gravity. The old game still has him dipping downwards before his web swing launches him upwards. People can appreciate some aspects grounded in realism even if both games are arcadey ass Spiderman games.