Spider-Man 2 fast-travel could be even faster, but confirm prompt needed for player usability
Miles per hour.
No, Marvel's Spider-Man 2's fast-travel hold-to-confirm prompt is not hiding a load point. It could have been even faster, but developer Insomniac made the decision to value player usability over speed and scoring points on the internet.
Spider-Man 2's fast-travel capabilities have been widely shared across social media, and are so slick that some players have said they believe the requirement to hold down a button and confirm your fast-travelling before shooting off across the game's map was all designed as a bit of trickery to hide background loading.
Well, that's not the case. This theory has now been squashed by Insomniac's own director of core technologies Mike Fitzgerald. As part of a ResetEra thread discussing Spider-Man 2's review scores, Fitzgerald said Insomniac discussed removing the hold-to-confirm prompt in a bid to "address that accusation", before it ultimately decided this wasn't the best idea.
"It was correctly pointed out to me that having a confirmation window was important for player usability, which at the end of the day is far more important than internet cred points (even though we love our internet cred points)," Fitzgerald wrote, adding a smiling emoji at the end.
"If anyone wants to check, they can look at how late it's possible to cancel it out when they're playing."
So, there you have it. Spider-Man 2's fast-travel is not hiding a load, it just makes good sense for the user.
We will all be able to find out just how this feels in use tomorrow (or right now, if you are in New Zealand), when Spider-Man 2 releases on PlayStation 5. As a reminder, Insomniac recently encouraged those who have purchased a physical copy of the game to download its launch day patch for the best experience.
"This update features polish to the gold master version of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 available on disc, which improves the opening sections of the game and includes other general refinements to your Spidey experience," Insomniac explained. This includes some additional accessibility options.