Marvel’s Spider-Man was a huge hit with fans for a number of reasons, as the game nailed Peter Parker’s personality and combat while simultaneously delivering a powerful story. Even more importantly, Marvel’s Spider-Man nailed the hero’s iconic movement, something that cannot be said for Marvel’s Avengers.
While Marvel’s Avengers’ Spider-Man DLC features some solid combat mechanics and plenty of different suits to wear, most would agree that it is lacking when it comes to Spider-Man’s traversal. Movement mechanics have always been one of the weaker aspects of the game, as all the heroes are too slow and some boast particularly clunky traversal abilities. Unfortunately, Peter Parker is just as disappointing when it comes to swinging, as there is a severe problem with the mechanic.
While some are disappointed in a lack of immersion, as Marvel’s Avengers’ open environments force Peter to swing from the sky as opposed to off of buildings and other structures, the bigger issue is a major lack of momentum. Every time Peter comes off a swing, he flips through the air, with players needing to wait for the animation to finish before they can move into the next swing. There is no speed to Peter’s movement whatsoever because of the inability to chain swings together, which is a genuine shame. On the bright side, this has led to a hilarious Marvel’s Spider-Man video from Redditor J-jay510 where the movement issues are recreated.
In the clip, the Marvel’s Spider-Man fan can be seen deliberately killing the momentum after each swing. Instead of continuing into another swing, the player used a web zip, which stops Peter from building up any speed. They also hold the swing significantly longer than one normally would, making Spidey even slower. While the clip is slightly exaggerated to get a laugh out of fans, it is sadly not too different from what is seen in Marvel’s Avengers. Unsurprisingly, fans of Spidey’s solo games have gotten a kick out of the video, as it has brought in over 2,700 upvotes so far.
While it is obviously a bit disappointing that Spider-Man’s movement in Marvel’s Avengers is a letdown, the good news is that another video game appearance from the hero offers some remarkably strong movement. While nobody expected swinging in Fortnite to be better than what is seen in Marvel’s Avengers, it certainly seems like that is the case. Players can web onto moving cars, trees, and buildings, and they build up momentum with each swing. With proper physics and speed, the system is rather impressive.
While videos like this are funny, hopefully Crystal Dynamics can improve Spidey’s movement in future updates. With more Marvel’s Avengers content still in the works, players would surely like to feel more like Spider-Man whenever they take control of him.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is available now on PS4 and PS5.