Yes, Spider-Man 2 Has Fall Damage, But You Can Toggle It On/Off

If you’re excited to play PlayStation 5 exclusive Spider-Man 2 and looking to add a bit more realism (and challenge) to your web-slinging adventure, you can turn on fall damage, developer Insomniac has confirmed to IGN.

The new feature was first pointed out by YouTuber Caboose. While the creator has no footage of Spider-Man 2’s fall damage in action and admits to not testing the feature out during his hands-on demo with the game, he admits he discovered the feature exists in-game as he was fiddling around in the settings and saw a toggle button to turn fall damage on or off.

In a statement to IGN, Senior Programming Director Doug Sheahan said the feature does exist in Spider-Man 2 and confirmed fall damage is not enabled by default. “Something we’re seeing more and more of is that players like to be able to customize their experience,” Sheahan explained. “For those players, we added the ability to enable fall damage (fall damage defaults to Off) and even let people tweak how swinging feels with our Swing Steering Assist setting. We hope players who enjoy a deep dive into the details have fun experimenting.”

Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man games do not include fall damage, though the feature has existed in previous games featuring the webhead, including the 2004 game Spider-Man 2. The idea of fall damage is a practical one to implement, especially in a Spider-Man game, as Peter Parker and Miles Morales are traversing the Big Apple and reaching great heights. Some reckless traversal could realistically cause one of them to get hurt.

While fall damage as a feature has existed in games for years, it can be a topic of discourse. While some oppose the idea of fall damage, arguing it takes some of the fun away in games that include it, others appreciate the feature, saying it adds realism. Some Spider-Man fans argue it makes being the Webslinger much more fun. In either case, Insomniac allowing players to turn fall damage on or off is the right choice: if you want the added challenge of fall damage while playing, you can turn it on. If you don’t, leave it off.

Spider-Man 2 is out on October 20. For more, check out our hands-on preview and an interview where Insomniac answers all our tech-centric questions about Spider-Man 2.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.