Spider-Man 2 Borrows Unique Gameplay Element from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is nothing short of amazing. Throughout the game, loads of Easter eggs and gameplay elements used from other first-party titles showcase the years of outstanding work Insomniac Games has done for the PlayStation library. One element, in particular, seems to be lifted straight from another one of Insomniac’s beloved franchises – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Easter Egg Sneaks into Spider-Man 2

While completing the main story of Spider-Man 2, one mission has Miles Morales helping an old fling of Peter Parker from falling victim to the Kravan Hunt. The fling is Felicia Hardy, AKA Black Cat.

During the quest, Black Cat obtains the powers of a teleporting device that can create portals between two destinations. In this mission, you need to help Black Cat defeat the Hunters who are after her and help her reach her girlfriend, who is out of the country.

In the mission, you go on a cat and spider chase, jumping through multiple portals. Using L2 and R2 together, you jump through these portals to try and catch up with her and, once caught up, can use the portals to your advantage in trying to help Black Cat.

Being groundbreaking at the time, we first witnessed this gameplay element in the ​​Ratchet & Clank sequel, Rift Apart. The game, like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, was made exclusively for PS5. For this feature and many others, ​​Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart collected the Outstanding Technical Achievement and Outstanding Achievement in Animation awards.

Using the new capabilities of the PS5, Insomniac introduced seamless teleportation between two worlds. This came into effect after Clank built the Dimensionator for Ratchet to help him get home. This small but powerful device was stolen by Dr. Nefarious, unfortunately causing havoc in the Ratchet and Clank universe.

The doctor’s device causes rifts between time and space, and you have to quickly travel between two points, two locations, or two worlds. The rifts look and behave just as they do in Spider-Man 2, with the only difference being the buttons pressed to travel through them.

Because the Rift Tether worked so brilliantly as a gameplay element during missions, Insomniac brought it to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, making for an interesting and fun main storyline mission.

Insomniac Spoke of Introducing New Features & More Ahead of Spider-Man 2 Release

Ahead of the release, Insomniac spoke about how they will use bits and pieces of elements from previous titles while building on accessibility from recent titles in the past, which include Marvel’s Spider-Man predecessors and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

They felt all of these additions would improve the gameplay and enjoyment, and they were right. In all honesty, it caught me off guard that we would see such a close comparison between Rift Apart and Spider-Man 2.

Besides the direct similarities between the Rift Tether and the Black Cat portal, some button functions, quick menu features, and other small details were added from other Insomniac titles that players familiar with their work will easily notice.

While plenty more features come forth throughout Spider-Man 2, this one stands out the most. For Insomniac fans, seeing references to their award-winning library just makes the web-slinging experience that much better.