I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t get enough of Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man series. Perhaps it is the recreation of New York, or the exceptional swinging and traversal, maybe it’s the fast-paced combat. In any case, it just does it for me! When I got my Platinum trophy for Spider-Man, at around 30 hours of playtime, I felt the same. I was happy that I got more of what I wanted… up to a point, that is.
That’s because Spider-Man 2 is more of the same with some additions. And that’s great for someone like me (or you) who likes this formula. Changes are incremental and mostly of a technical nature. However, even as a fan, I hoped for more out of its side content, worldbuilding, and the rushed final act.
Story and characters
Spider-Man 2 perfects the “responsibility” theme that underlines the character. We see both Peter and Miles struggle to balance life with the weight of the suit. Peter is in search of jobs and a stable relationship with Mary Jane, Miles is figuring out what person he wants to be, as his friends seemingly have that figured out already. Both Spider-Men feel lost as they deal with loss, trauma, and the new threats posed by Kraven the Hunter and Venom, both of whom are featured in the promotional trailers. It is also a story of redemption, acceptance, letting go, and friendship.
The story itself is shorter, and the pacing is uneven, perhaps because of how many themes it tries to pack. The First Act takes time to properly set-up the character dynamics, the main plot, the struggles, and Kraven as the villain, but the Second Act starts rushing through the symbiote and black suit missions. By the Final Act, we are left with incredibly fast-paced events that lead us to a mostly unsatisfactory ending where the player feels like Insomniac did not have enough development time to wrap the story up. As such, I preferred the 2018 Spider-Man story more because it had more focus, better pacing, and took its time to deliver an impactful ending that still resonates in this sequel.
The characters, however, shine throughout. Peter and Miles come to rely on each other as they struggle together, and, for the first time in these games, we play as both. The Peter and Miles dynamic is excellently written. Once a mentor-mentee relationship, the shared struggles they face bring them closer, now as friends and brothers — Peter relies on Miles to help him out of some really dark moments, Miles learns from Peter what sort of Spider-Man he wants to be (or doesn’t!). These moments are earned as the game takes its time to explore the similarities and differences between the Spider-Men and how they react to being brought down to their lowest point.
The supporting characters are also written well — Harry is introduced as Peter’s childhood friend with a longing to reconnect with his best pal. This longing for connection and friendship forms the central theme of the Peter-Harry dynamic. We instantly buy this theme through effective storytelling and flashbacks to simpler times. Mary Jane, Rio, Ganke, and Hailey act as the emotional support for our main characters. These also receive welcome development. Fear not, MJ fans, there are also several missions here that feature her as the playable character (and I enjoyed these more this time than in the first game due to a combination of stealth and third-person shooting — you read that right).
Combat
Spider-Man 2’s combat builds upon the previous entries but stays familiar. The combat is as fast-paced and slick as we know it, and parrying is now possible if you can correctly time it. Because I am so used to dodging during fights, I rarely found myself parrying (you will however have to use this mechanic in some boss battles). Nonetheless, the excellent combat rhythm is still present here — chain combos without getting hit to increase focus, which you then use for finishers and abilities, and throw in gadgets into the mix for good measure.
Speaking of abilities, the symbiote suit powers are also new. These powers really make you feel the anger and violence that is brewing behind Black Suit Peter as you toy and punish enemies. It is a power trip, and I loved just rushing into fights, dispatching enemies with savagery not seen before in these games (Spider-Man doesn’t kill, remember?). Miles also benefits from new Venom abilities like Chain Lightning (this one zaps multiple enemies), Reverse Flux (pulling enemies close to you for even more zapping), and some returning ones like Venom Jump, Smash, and Camouflage. I appreciate that Insomniac made both Peter and Miles powerful enough as to not feel like you are missing out when playing as the two Spider-Men. No one takes a backseat here! There is a care and respect for what the Spider-Men bring to the table in terms of combat differentiation. This makes the combat engaging and varied.
Gadgets are plenty, too, with some cool additions like Web Grabber, which pulls enemies together for devastating area damage. The Web Shooter and Concussion Burst are also back. The use of gadgets is overpowering during fights, especially once you max these out. I often found myself deploying all these gadgets first into a fight and watching the ensuing mayhem prevail. The fight was over before I — or they — even knew it! The gadgets definitely make you feel powerful and overly technologized, but there is little tact and strategy when deploying all of these at once and headfirst.
Unfortunately, stealth takes a back seat here too. There are no meaningful additions except the opportunity to shoot web lines that give you better vantage points for stealth takedowns. I know Spider-Man 2 is most exciting when combat is in full swing, but the stealth mechanics should be given more attention. The enemy AI is completely blind to you most of the time, even when you are effectively breathing down their necks or taking down one of their buddies in front of them. Also, there is no incentive to pursue stealth sections when the combat is so quick, which brings the question: “Why have stealth in the game in the first place if it’s just padding?”. Insomniac can do much better here.
World and traversal
Spider-Man 2 has the fastest and most satisfying swinging mechanics of any Spider-Man game. There is speed, weight, and gracefulness to the movements. There are slight variations, too, among the Spider-Men — Peter has more mechanical swinging perfected through years of experience, while Miles swings with youthful carelessness and flashier movements. The Spider-Men swing effortlessly among the Manhattan skyscrapers, glide across the East River, and zip through the smaller Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods. That’s right, they glide now! The inclusion of the web wings provides traversal variety and increased speed and height. Deploying these wings activates wind tunnels, which provide a welcome speed boost. These are positioned well across the map, especially across the river (one of my favorite trophies is the continuous wing gliding from the Manhattan Financial District to Astoria across the East River).
Worldbuilding is decent but lacking to some extent. The traffic and pedestrian density is increased owing to the performance of the PS5, and New York is more believable as a busy place. Yet, the world is marked by an emptiness that is apparent when looked upon closely. There are even fewer interactions that you can have with pedestrians compared to the first Spider-Man game, the social media feed is gone, and so are the funny reactions from the crowd to the day’s events. There are several easter eggs here and there, which provide a wink to the player (looking at you, Daredevil and the Hand). Yet, all these references to other heroes serve only to bring into doubt their whereabouts.
I call this “the escalation problem.” Heroes, like the Avengers, are absent in the story despite the escalating threat posed to New York and the world. They are nowhere to be seen. They don’t intervene. Insomniac should incorporate some of these heroes in future games (or come up with some better explanations as to why they are absent) for the sake of their own universe and worldbuilding, but also as a payoff to fans that hope to see Spider-Man interact and play off of other famous characters. I think that Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 should have sections of the story that go beyond New York and still return to the city as a hub for activities. In this sense, New York remains Spidey’s home, but we, as players, get more environmental diversity and scope for worldbuilding.
Another glaring worldbuilding issue is the post-game. Imagine my surprise when I eradicated the big bad at the end, only to be met with leftover enemies that should’ve been gone. These randomly appeared across the city as if nothing happened. There is a lack of story consequences showing here. New York moves on instantly from the threat, and besides some podcast interventions from J.J. and Danika, the city gets nothing.
Side Missions
Insomniac learned from the criticism of the first game to some extent because there still is some filler side content like Marko’s Memories and the Spider-Bots, but these are featured alongside some great, emotional missions like “Howard” and “The Flame.” There are fewer side-missions this time, but these have more variety because we also get to play as another character. This diversifies the pacing. However, the 42 Spider-Bot collecting is the worst offender of these side missions because it has no satisfying conclusion and no reward. It is random padding designed to somewhat connect with another Spider-Man property. Several side missions also act to potentially set up future DLC and villains. In this sense, they are worth doing for their potential implications, even if they are not always satisfying.
Technical
This is the strongest aspect of the game. The power of the PS5 is on display first through the ray-traced reflections that are featured regardless of the graphical options you choose and second through the fast SSD that allows quick loading and fast travel. The fast travel is noteworthy as it takes about 1 second to fast travel to any part of the map, making it seamless. This feature may just be the most “next-gen” aspect seen so far on the PS5.
Graphically, Spider-Man 2 looks and moves great on all settings. This is evident from the stirring set pieces and boss battles to the traversal across the city. I couldn’t help but toggle through the different options during the first hours of the game to compare. I decided to stick with the 40-45 fps Fidelity, Uncapped VRR setting as it looked impressive and smooth on my 4K 120hz display. If you have a 60hz display, I recommend you choose the Performance, Smoothed VRR setting that provides a faster and stable 60 fps with only small reductions in resolution quality.
There is an undeniable AAA quality and polish to the game that I appreciate. I encountered a few bugs on release, like enemies getting stuck in objects, but none of the bugs were game-breaking or ruined my experience. Many of the larger issues experienced by the community have already been patched as of this review. All things considered, this is a standout game and a technical showcase for the PS5, especially impressive given its open-world scope.
Summary
Spider-Man 2 is great fun — a very concise package of technically exceptional set pieces webbed together by compelling characters dealing with friendship, loss, and trauma. The story, however, is unevenly paced with a short and quick tail-end, leaving players asking for more. Combat is as fun and familiar with more enemy variety, but still lacking in stealth mechanics. Traversal is the best and fastest in the series owing to the new web wings and wind tunnels, although the worldbuilding still leaves much to be desired.
So, is it the 2023 Game of the Year? No, not in a 2023 full of great titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, that remind us of what AAA titles should aspire to be. But that shouldn’t stop you from giving Spider-Man 2 a chance, even if you are not the biggest fan. There is much to love here. Insomniac treats its characters with love and care, and the “next-gen” technical achievements are on full-display. Who knows, these web-heads may just grow on you, as well! That said, Insomniac must realize that after three installments, too much of the same may nonetheless get stale…
The Review
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 [Great]
Great
