With the power of the PlayStation 5’s screaming fast SSD, you might not even want to fast travel around New York and Brooklyn in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. With the dual protagonist system, players can freely jump between Peter and Miles at a moment's notice and the other masked superhero is just a phone swipe away.
That being said, as players progress into later chapters and begin unlocking new side missions and collectible types, they’re going to pop up all over the map across each and every borough of New York City. Players could easily swing across the bay to collect a rogue spider-bot, but why not fight crime smarter, not harder?
Fast travel works more dynamically than in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man. After picking out a spot on the menu map, Peter Parker will automatically zip out over to there, or if it isn’t immediately on a main thoroughfare, will move the marker ever so slightly towards the next major street before initiating the teleport. Within less than two seconds from selection to web-slinging, players are already off and swinging at full speed by the time the fast travel kicks off.
So, how is fast travel unlocked in the first place in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2? First off, it isn’t immediately accessible in any of the numerous districts around New York City and secondly, it has to be unlocked on a per-district basis. Unlocking fast travel in, say, the Financial District won’t carry over into Central Park, for example. As part of that quest for 100% completion across all districts, anticipate a slight grind for each district over time.
The grind itself to unlock fast travel in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is not as bad as one might expect. Each district around Brooklyn comes with a separate reputation gauge to grind out. Every collectible and tracked side mission or diversion fills in the gauge. Stopping random crimes throughout the city, such as hijacking or attempted robberies, won’t count for this, although they remain a great source of experience.
Once a borough has progressed to its second node (the first progression tier unlocks two Rare Tech Parts for upgrading Spider-Man's gear), fast travel is permanently unlocked for both heroes. At any time while free-roaming, open up the Map from the main inventory screen and hover over anywhere you want to go. Press and hold the triangle button for two seconds and Spider-Man will instantly fast travel to the intended location and either start off swinging/web gliding or perched on a building, seemingly at random.
Nearly all side activities will automatically pop up on the map for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 while some of the more recurring activities, such as Mysterio's Mysteriums or Prowler Stashes, can easily be spotted from miles away simply by scanning the horizon and looking for the digital beacons. Others, like the 49 collectible Spider-Bots or tech part stashes (without the unlocked skill upgrade), might only be visible when you get close enough to see their signature lights.
With fast travel nearly instantaneous on PlayStation 5 (no more having to ride the subway for our masked vigilante), wanting to make a quick pop over to Brooklyn Visions or Uncle Ben's grave is only a few seconds away. The enhanced fast travel is one of the best new features of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, even if you have to put in the effort and do some good around the neighborhood before you're given that great responsibility.
* This article was originally published here