Death To The Spider-Man Radial Menu

thegamer.com:

Marvel’s Spider-Man has a lot of antiquated systems that already felt dated back in 2018. Its old-school checklist approach to open world design has been largely supplanted - Ubisoft games notwithstanding - by more thoughtful gameplay and its monotonous busy work i.e., catch the pigeons, find the backpacks, take the pictures, is the very definition of filler. As much as there is to love about Spider-Man’s crisp animations, fluid mobility, and exceptional web-slinging, there’s nearly just as much to criticize about, well, everything else.

But if I had to pick one Spider-Man gripe to groan about for roughly 500 words, it would have to be, without contest, the radial menu, AKA the pause button that ruins every fight in the game. This momentum killer of a mechanic is by far Spider-Man’s most outdated mechanic, and the fact that it was never altered or improved through multiple rereleases is baffling.

Related: The Copaganda In Marvel's Spider-Man Is A Symptom Of Its Neoliberal Attitude

The briefest summary: Spider-Man unlocks eight different gadgets and web attacks throughout the game that he can use in combat. His Web Shooters are the default gadget, and any time you want to switch to a different weapon, like Impact Webs or Spider-Drones, you have to hold down R1 and select the gadget you want from a radial menu by tilting the right analog stick. While you’re choosing your gadget, time will slow to a crawl. But as soon as you release R1 time will resume and your new gadget will be selected.

Radial menus have been around almost as long as controllers. They’re frequently used in RPGs to simplify menu options. In Mass Effect, the radial menu allows you to select weapons and direct your squad mates to move or use abilities,