There is little reason to use fast travel in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Manhattan, as Insomniac Games draws it, is a sparkling but compact metropolis: no two points are far apart. More importantly, getting from A to B is an authentic delight for this particular Spider-Man. The web-swinging is endlessly enjoyable with its lullaby see-sawing between the city streets and the wild blue sky. Why would you want to skip all that just to get to your destination a few seconds sooner?
If you do use fast travel, however, you’ll realise afresh just what a charming outfit Insomniac Games truly seems to be. Fast travel is handled with a loading screen, sure, but what a screen! Here’s Spidey on the subway, in full costume, checking his phone, arm hanging from an overhead strap, swaying gently with the shuffle of the carriage. There are several takes on this idea, inevitably. In one of them he nods along with a stereo that’s been propped on a seat next to him. In another, a man is asleep and resting his head on Spider-Man’s shoulder. There is something brilliant about Spider-Man, in costume, amongst the disinterested crush of fellow travellers. Batman would never ride the tube like this.
It’s partly a comment on player desire, I guess. You wanted fast travel in a game in which non-fast travel is the defining joy? Well here you go, then. Partly, though, it’s something that I think more games should try and have a go at. There is a special kind of richness to what Insomniac’s doing here, which is essentially squeezing a joke – and a little bit of character and world-building – into a place where most games play it straight. It speaks of luxury, of a game design team who are alert to the possibilities in every moment. Reading Giada’s piece on RPG Maker recently, I was struck by the fact that middleware engines sometimes come with their own save systems and that kind of jazz pre-packaged. Even when they don’t, designers sometimes seem to feel that there is a cut-off point for creativity, a place where it is acceptable to revert to type, because nobody’s really paying attention, and nobody’s expecting anything special.
Source: Eurogamer The fast travel in Spider-Man is touched with genius