Insomniac has confirmed that, despite suggestions that there’s some trickery going on, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s fast travel really is as fast as it appears to be.
A few days ago, a clip hit Twitter that showed Miles Morales fast travelling across New York. From the player’s perspective, they chose a location from the map, pressed the button and, hey presto, they were there. It’s impressive to say the least, but some doubters have suggested that the reason you have to hold a button down to activate fast travel is so that it gives the game time to load the new area.
It wouldn’t be the first time a game’s done something along those lines. From Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland’s tunnels to Mass Effect’s elevators and beyond, there are plenty of ways of hiding that a game’s loading in the next area. But, according to Insomniac, that’s not the case Marvel Spider-Man 2’s fast travel really is that fast and the fact you have to hold the button to fast travel isn’t any kind of dodge.
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“Many people think the actual loading is hidden during that time”, one ResetEra user posted in the site’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review thread.
Insomniac’s Director of Core Technology Mike Fitzgerald responded in that same thread (as spotted by PlayStation Lifestyle), explaining, “That’s a hold-to-confirm prompt, not hiding a load. If anyone wants to check, they can look at how late it’s possible to cancel it out when they’re playing.”
Responding to suggests that it be removed, he added “.. it was correctly pointed out to me that having a confirmation window was important for player usability.”
Why? Because without it, players are in danger of hitting the button accidentally and finding themselves flung across the map.
So, there’s no trickery going on with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s fast travel, but there’s no need to rush. Never underestimate the sheer joy of just swinging around New York.
