Marvel's Spider-Man from Insomniac Games will surely be heralded long after its time for what it has introduced and improved upon for the pantheon of superhero-related games.
While Activision's Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in is still discussed today for its novel approach to web-swinging in an open-world environment, and it is a consensus that Marvel's Spider-Man has improved upon Spider-Man 2 in many ways. Marvel's Spider-Man's seamless ground-to-air combat is fleshed out with gadgets, abilities, and environmental interactions, and recently, a unique environmental interaction has been discovered by players.
Reddit user putt123 shared their discovery of an environmental interaction in Marvel's Spider-Man that is not commonly seen in casual play, nor is it very well known by the majority of players. In their provided clip, putt123 seems to be idly maneuvering through Marvel's Spider-Man's open-world Manhattan before they see a user-interface prompt on a nearby fire escape. This prompt is the same interaction prompt that appears on other environmental set pieces that players can web-yank and hurl as a projectile and, curious enough to see what happens, putt123 registers the prompted inputs.
The result is a web-yanked fire escape balcony, which is torn completely from the side of the building and onto the street below. Indeed, the environment is one of players' greatest tools in Marvel's Spider-Man and is largely effective when gadgets are in low supply or if enemy mobs grow too rampant. Spider-Man's ability to juggle enemies mid-air or leap about freely in many combat scenarios allows players the leniency with which to approach a lot of combat encounters, with environmental set pieces able to take foes out quickly.
Many players admit that they have not seen this interaction before, which has led to the unconfirmed belief that it was patched in through a previous update and not an apparent feature since Marvel's Spider-Man's launch. However, Daredevil731 claims that they were able to perform this feat "around launch," so perhaps it is simply an uncommon interaction. It also is unclear whether every New York City fire escape has a detachable bottom balcony, or if this interaction only appears in certain areas.
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Spider-Man can drop shelving units on unsuspecting thugs or throw stationary Daily Bugle newspaper stands at them, but a fire escape balcony web-yank is a far less common interaction than the frequently appearing throwables. Thanks to this clip, those currently playing Marvel's Spider-Man might now look above during combat for nearby fire escapes that could help turn the tide and provide some much needed crowd control.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is available now on PS4 and PS5.