Marvel’s Spider-Man was easily one of the best games of last year. Developer Insomniac crafted an entirely new adventure for the wall-crawler, complete with tight combat, fluid movement, and web-swinging mechanics that just felt right.
Before that, if Spider-Man fans really wanted the best-possible web-slinging experience, they’d have to revisit the excellent Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in. It seems slightly mad that it took nearly 15 years for a new video game to come along and improve on the 2004 game, and even madder that one modder managed to crack the formula himself in a matter of years.
As spotted by Kotaku, J16D is a modder who’s put together all manner of fun mods the beloved Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Previous efforts have included a Dragon Ball Z map, a Deadpool mod, and a mod that puts Spidey’s arch-nemesis Green Goblin into the Rockstar game, complete with a glider.
Perhaps his most ambitious effort so far though, is the one he’s been working on and improving since 2015. A Spider-Man mod that doesn’t just reskin CJ as the friendly neighbourhood webhead, but actually implements entirely new web-swinging mechanics, complete with animations inspired by the Insomniac game, and multiple costumes to choose from.
Check it out below to see just impressive an effort it is. It genuinely looks like the sequel to Spider-Man 2 that we deserved, rather than the putrid monkey turd of a sequel we actually got.
Just like in Marvel’s Spider-Man, our fearless hero twirls, flips, and pirouettes high above the streets of Los Santos. It even looks like you need to find solid objects to attach webs too (like in Spider-Man 2 and later games), and I really dig the cel-shaded look of Spidey in contrast to the rest of the city.
While this is already a mightily impressive piece of work, J16D has no intention of stopping anytime soon. He’s said that he plans to introduce even more animations for jumping, swinging, and wall-crawling, and wants to incorporate some kind of HUD.
Since releasing his latest update video, J16D has thanked everyone for the influx of messages, but clarified that there won’t be a demo or release beta for the mod. He explained he’s working as fast as can, and does plan to release the final version when it’s finished, but acknowledged that San Andreas has a lot of limitations.
You’ll also be able to choose between a mouse/keyboard or a controller when the mod finally does launch, which is a lovely touch for all those PC gamers that don’t get to play Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Speaking of the webhead, it was recently announced that Marvel’s Spider-Man has officially overtaken Batman: Arkham City to become the best-selling superhero video game in the US.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.