Spider-Man 2’s pigeons are adorably ugly

In a game as beautiful as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, not everything can be as perfect as the stunningly modelled and animated superhero. With a gorgeous city, cutting-edge ray-traced reflections, top-of-the-line character models and more, something had to budge, and it turns out it was the pigeons.

Synonymous with New York City, the Big Apple’s overpopulation of pigeons is properly represented in Insomniac’s best game ever. However, they’re certainly not as pretty as the rest of the developer’s technical marvel.

Via Cade Onder, Spider-Man 2 screenshots show that the game’s avian population is looking a little scrungly in this latest release. There’s no fancy feather simulation or tessellated beaks here, it’s your usual gorgeous boxy boys flying up on high in the skies.

With both Spider-Men now able to glide through the concrete jungle with their own web wings, the pigeons of New York City are no longer the kings of the skies they once were. And, let’s be honest, with looks like these, they don’t deserve that title anyways.

A quick close up look at Spider-Man 2’s pigeons show blank expressions, low-poly V-shaped wings and little bumps to replicate features. Yes, I would have one as a pet, I’d name him Pidgey Parker, and he would be my ugly little box boy.

click to enlarge

Credit: Cade Onder

Spider-Man 2 on PS5 is a technical marvel, we even say so in our review, but it’s worth noting that not every asset in such a great-looking game will always look fantastic. In the new superhero game, you will be speeding past pigeons at the pace of an airplane; they will be blurs in your peripheral vision as you barrel around corners on the upswing. There’s no reason for them to look good.

Nevertheless, in an industry where gamers will get riled up by the thousands over a slightly different looking puddle, we highly expect someone will get miffed over these adorably stupid-looking birds.