An Unreal Engine 5 Spider-Man demo has popped up online, and it's an impressive showcase for the new engine.
Tinkerers have certainly gotten some mileage out of the city in that Matrix Awakens UE5 demo, and this Spider-Man demo is a solid testament to the flexibility and forward compatibility of the engine. There's definitely some wonkiness, especially with the web-swinging and some impacts, but Spider-Man moves about as you'd expect. It's not going to dethrone Insomniac's Spider-Man anytime soon – as a fascinating follow-up comparison shows – but for a relatively quick mock-up, it's a pretty authentic Spidey sim.
It hasn't even been out for a month, but this isn't the first superhero simulator to come from Unreal Engine 5. Just days after its launch, someone prepared a rough Superman demo with flight and super strength – everything except Superman, really, but at least we got a vaguely I, Robot-y approximation of him.
Many major game developers are actively working in Unreal Engine 5, including PlayStation studio Firesprite with its mystery horror game, CD Projekt Red as it embarks on a new Witcher saga, and Crystal Dynamics, who's now working on the next Tomb Raider game.
As it happens, Crystal Dynamics was part of a newly announced $300 million sale from Square Enix, which saw the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex studios and IP, among many others, move to mega-publisher Embracer Group.
