Because Spider-Man is such a fun and engaging character to play as in many the many Marvel games he appears in, there are inevitable comparisons and contrasts that players will perceive and everyone is bound to have their own preferences as to which iteration they prefer.
Spider-Man games such as Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, or Spider-Man: Web of Shadows all introduced something new to the character's blueprint from which later games would later adapt. Now that Spider-Man has been playable in Marvel's Avengers for a while, fans have begun to compare Spider-Man's latest interpretation with one of his most influential interpretations from the last several years.
ElAnalistaDeBits' in-depth comparison video takes a close look at Spider-Man from Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man and Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers. ElAnalistaDeBits begins by comparing their classic red-and-blue outfits, with Marvel's Spider-Man's introduced as an original design while Marvel's Avengers emulates Steve Ditko's artwork. Both games and developers contribute exceptional detail to Spider-Man's costume skins as seen in close-up observations, but fans are less pleased with Spider-Man's dogged traversal mechanics in Marvel's Avengers.
Marvel's Avengers' Spider-Man's web-swinging and wall-crawling is much slower and leashed than that of his Marvel's Spider-Man counterpart. However, the argument has been made that while Marvel's Spider-Man's wall-crawler had the entire Manhattan island designed and structured around his traversal mechanics, Marvel's Avengers' wall-crawler had to be integrated into Crystal Dynamics' linear and restrictive traversal design.
Both Spider-Men have an emphasis on active finisher animations in combat, as well as perfect dodge abilities, wall-dive strikes, and web-zip attacks that close the distance between themselves and enemies. Spider-Man's web-shooters are an active projectile similar to Black Widow's dual pistols, but also take a similarly long time to deal damage on regular enemies and stationary turrets, which is also a direct product of him being part of Marvel's Avengers and having to strike a balance between Spider-Man and other playable characters.
Still, Marvel's Avengers fans may be happy nonetheless that they are able to play as Spider-Man and interact with the Avengers in both single-player and multiplayer, which is something that Marvel's Spider-Man players cannot presently boast. Both titles do with the character what they can, and should also be appreciated for these differences.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is available now on PS4 and PS5. Marvel’s Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.