Insomniac Games’ latest comic book video game sequel has drawn both controversy as well as accolades ever since October.
Among its criticisms is how fast its fast travel feature was and how the studio attempted to hide it. Mike Fitzgerald, Insomniac’s director of core technologies, has since clarified that the “hold-to-confirm prompt” wasn’t a hidden loading screen but a feature that it implemented to minimize player misclicks. Without it, fast traveling from one edge of the map to the other end in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would take less than a second.
Nearly six months later, the studio’s design director, Josue Benavidez, took to the stage at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2024 to discuss this feature further.
As initially spotted by IGN, Benavidez revealed that Insomniac initially thought the fast travel feature broke immersion in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The main concern was that players wouldn’t want to swing across the map anymore as either Peter Parker or Miles Morales because they could get to where they want faster using the fast travel feature.
Because of how effective the fast travel feature in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was when it came to showcasing the PlayStation 5’s rapid processing capabilities, Insomniac thought of removing it instead.
Eventually, Insomniac decided against it. Benvidez’s realization, in his words, was it “wasn’t wrong” but the game was. This led Insomniac to redesign the open world and gameplay loop. The result was a world designed to encourage players to explore and interact naturally, forgetting about fast travel.
To address these challenges, Insomniac introduced new gameplay elements, such as additional currencies and a greater emphasis on landmarks. Their introduction of the district progression system encouraged players to engage more deeply with each area, offering incentives to explore and complete various activities. Insomniac also added pop-up messages to minimize players’ reliance on checking the map, fostering a more immersive experience.
The decision to retain fast travel in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and modify the game around it proved successful. The studio’s Usability tests revealed that players were exploring the world more organically, with some choosing not to open their maps at all. Players and critics alike loved this approach as well, praising the game for its balance between fast travel convenience and the joy of exploration. It has since achieved commercial success, surpassing 10 million units sold and garnering numerous Game of the Year nominations over the past few months.
The discussion surrounding fast travel in open world games has evolved. Back then, it used to be that games with massive worlds had to have fast travel. But now, gamers are asking if not demanding developers to fill the large expanses of virtual land with content and stuff to do.
In Dragon’s Dogma 2‘s case, Capcom didn’t remove fast travel but it made it difficult. One reason for its last-minute microtransactions was to restrict its fast travel system. Its reasoning was that it wanted players to explore the in-game world and trek across great distances, making the open world feel more significant. Players appear to be loving how an enemy can drag them across several miles in Dragon’s Dogma 2, creating an immersive experience.
On the other hand, when the open world setting of a game falls flat, like in Rise of the Ronin, players are quick to call it out.
As consoles become more powerful and loading screens devolve to become a thing in the past, it’ll be interesting how fast travel will evolve in games in the future.
