SpiderHeck Weapons and Combat Review: The Lightsaber Spider Brawler

SpiderHeck weapons and combat, explained

Pitch SpiderHeck to someone and the first reaction is usually a laugh. The game puts spiders in a lava-lined arena, hands them lightsaber-like swords and lets them fire guns and swing from a web. It is a very silly premise, and the game commits to it so thoroughly that it becomes a precise, skill-heavy fighter. Anyone who remembers the flash-animation era of stick-figure fights will recognize the energy.

Neverjam developed the game alone and tinyBuild published it. SpiderHeck launched on September 22, 2022, on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC through Steam, the Epic Games Store and the Windows Store. Steam also ran a free weekend that lasted until September 26, 2022, which made it easy to try without paying.

The core of the game is the combination of two things: what a spider holds and how a spider moves. A spider swings from a grappling web in any direction, jumps off whatever surface it stands on, and carries a weapon that has real weight. Every weapon pushes the spider around, so aiming a gun, parrying a strike or catching an explosion changes where the spider ends up.

That is why searches for SpiderHeck weapons tend to turn into questions about feel. The list of items is simple, and the interesting part is how each one changes the way a player moves. The next sections go through the weapon types, the physics that give them weight, and what the game offers around them.

Particle swords: the lightsabers

The game calls its lightsabers particle swords, and they come in several shapes. There is a regular saber style, an elongated spear style and a double-ended style that recalls Darth Maul. Each sword that spawns can have its own length and width, so a lucky spider can end up holding something that looks like a Buster Sword from Final Fantasy.

They also behave like swords. Weapons have weight and momentum, and all of them can parry a strike, which means real sword fights are possible. A particle sword can reflect most gun projectiles back at the shooter, which pushes the spider-Jedi image further. Players can throw a sword and recall it Force-style to stab an enemy in the back.

There is even a crossbow that fires entire lightsabers, which can be picked up again if the shot misses. Swords are not permanent, though. Every weapon has limited use: swords have durability, guns have ammo and explosives blow up, so spiders spend the match swapping tools.

Guns, explosives and the recoil problem

The gun list covers the classic archetypes, including shotguns, revolvers and rifles, and a few creative designs. One laser gun takes several seconds to charge and then hits everything in a line regardless of terrain. A rocket launcher fires five rockets at once. Higher-caliber guns cause enormous recoil, and because the spider is tiny and the gun is not, a shot sends the shooter flying.

Mines, remote explosives and RPG-style weapons add another layer. The result is that every SpiderHeck weapons choice carries a risk. A flying sawblade can eviscerate its own thrower, and the game answers the question of whether a given hit is lethal with a firm yes more often than players expect. Experienced players treat spidercide as a skill check.

The grappling web and the physics

The grappling web is what lifts the game above a simple weapon brawler. Each swing follows predictable momentum, with the grapple, weapon recoil, gravity and swing speed all pulling the spider in different directions. Learning to read those forces is the main skill, and the payoff is a death-defying run through tight terrain that skims the lava.

The learning curve is real. Movement in SpiderHeck is hard to understand at first, because a spider's sense of up and down is not a human one. A useful tip: the spider does not jump against gravity, it jumps against the surface it is standing on. Once that clicks, the game becomes far easier to read.

Maps, modes, modifier cards and menus

Maps matter as much as weapons. One is built like a pachinko board, with a lava death zone at the bottom and items, enemies and boxes raining from above. Others have elevators, falling platforms, jump pads, rotating blocks and swings, and a selection has zero gravity, which changes movement completely.

At launch, the game offers three modes: a versus mode with limited crossplay, a wave survival mode with optional co-op, and Tiers of Heck, a challenge trial that gets progressively harder and has a significant speedrun element. Modifiers are cards that change the rules, such as improving air control, increasing the pull of the grapple, or making particle swords spawn more often and grow longer. One card reduces an enemy's fear of lava, which makes it easier to bait AI into killing itself.

The computer-controlled enemies deserve respect. The yellowjackets that appear in solo modes are very good with swords, particularly those carrying the Mace Windu-style or Darth Maul-style sabers, and they punish careless approaches. Fighting them teaches the same lessons the multiplayer modes do: control the high ground, keep the web ready and never stand still.

The interface is quick. Every menu interaction is crisp, which means less time in menus and more in matches. Starting a mode involves moving the spider to its platform and waiting for a 3-2-1 countdown, which adds a little slowdown, but otherwise the design favors the player. For a game this focused on speed, that is the right instinct.

SpiderHeck weapon types at a glance

• Particle swords: saber, spear and double-ended forms with varying length and width.
• Guns: shotguns, revolvers, rifles, a charged laser and a five-rocket launcher.
• Explosives: mines, remote explosives and RPG-style weapons.
• Thrown and recalled swords: a Force-style throw that returns to the owner.
• The grappling web: the movement tool that ties every other weapon together.

SpiderHeck review: controls, limits and verdict

The game supports keyboard and mouse as well as a controller, but the controller is clearly the better way to play. Dual-stick aiming is almost required, because the player has to aim both the weapon and the web. On keyboard, the web can be aimed with the mouse or with WASD, and the keys are the better choice, but they limit the web to eight directions, which hurts mobility in a fast deathmatch. The game values movement over aim.

At release, the game had several technical limitations. Only one player in a lobby could use keyboard and mouse, even online, and the keybinds could not be changed, with a patch planned for later. Crossplay was limited to Steam with Epic, Windows Store with Xbox, PlayStation with PlayStation and Switch with Switch. The graphics options were thin for a game with heavy physics, and some interactions caused lag. A basic customization system lets players pick a preset color scheme and a hat for their spider.

The developer planned Twitch integration, difficulty sliders, new challenge types, meta progression and more map mechanics, but there was no official roadmap at release. The verdict follows from that. The soundtrack, by Professor Kliq, and the visual style are excellent, even if the track list is short, and the core fights are among the most satisfying in a recent indie release. The rough edges are in the menus, the options and the amount of content.

The SpiderHeck weapons list is short enough to learn in an evening and deep enough to keep surprising players after dozens of matches, because every weapon interacts with the physics in a slightly different way. A sword can reflect most gun projectiles, yet a charged laser hits everything in a line regardless of terrain, and a grapple that saves a spider from lava can still leave it in front of that line. That kind of rock-paper-scissors depth is hard to design, and it is the best argument for the game.

For a game that cost nothing to try on its launch weekend, SpiderHeck makes a strong case. Anyone who enjoys Smash-style arena fights with a physics twist should try it, ideally with a controller and a couple of friends.

Sources

• SpiderHeck on Steam — release, platforms and modes
• SpiderHeck at Humble Games — publisher page