I suspect this game will be revered as a quintessential Spider-Man story, along with Raimi's movies and the comics which inspired this take on them. Insomniac was able to fit together many iconic stories together without making any of them feel under-developed or shoved in, and at the same time perfectly set up their next big villain.
As a fan of the recent Venom comics, seeing elements taken from Absolute Carnage and King in Black show up was exciting. With the news that Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman (creators of the new venom run) didn't get compensated for their work appearing in this game is very disappointing.
The new gameplay gimmicks are a good branch of the first game. The symbiote suit feels really powerful without sacrificing the new increase in difficulty. I like these stealth sections better, making a web in the rafters to capture prey feels and looks cool, and now if you are caught you can't just swing around until they lose you. Web Wings are great if you don't abuse them.
My main and only real complaint is that Miles once again does not have an interesting enough story. It doesn't condemn the game because he's a bit of a secondary character for this story, but its disappointing to see writers disservice him every time its not from the spider-verse team. More of a personal issue of mine is that I don't think insomniac is good at making original Spider-Man suits. A lot of them are just odd, and at their worst they can actually be nasty to look at.
Spoilers Below
That second end credits scene has me worried for Spider-Man 3, I feel like silk will draw away from peter and miles' story. Hopefully it doesn't complicate the main narrative.
The mid game twist was surprising, getting to play as Venom and then so quickly killing Kraven was staggering. The second half really feels like a different story.
Harry fits right in and quickly became a favorite character of mine. He feels really important to the friend group dynamic that I didn't see in the first game. I think he actually works better for this story than Eddie Brock as Venom. Norman grows into an intimidating character, I'm glad they planted seeds for the goblin.
The final fight with Venom is my favorite boss fight in a while. The music, multiple stages, and cutscenes make for an amazing climax.
As a fan of the recent Venom comics, seeing elements taken from Absolute Carnage and King in Black show up was exciting. With the news that Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman (creators of the new venom run) didn't get compensated for their work appearing in this game is very disappointing.
The new gameplay gimmicks are a good branch of the first game. The symbiote suit feels really powerful without sacrificing the new increase in difficulty. I like these stealth sections better, making a web in the rafters to capture prey feels and looks cool, and now if you are caught you can't just swing around until they lose you. Web Wings are great if you don't abuse them.
My main and only real complaint is that Miles once again does not have an interesting enough story. It doesn't condemn the game because he's a bit of a secondary character for this story, but its disappointing to see writers disservice him every time its not from the spider-verse team. More of a personal issue of mine is that I don't think insomniac is good at making original Spider-Man suits. A lot of them are just odd, and at their worst they can actually be nasty to look at.
Spoilers Below
That second end credits scene has me worried for Spider-Man 3, I feel like silk will draw away from peter and miles' story. Hopefully it doesn't complicate the main narrative.
The mid game twist was surprising, getting to play as Venom and then so quickly killing Kraven was staggering. The second half really feels like a different story.
Harry fits right in and quickly became a favorite character of mine. He feels really important to the friend group dynamic that I didn't see in the first game. I think he actually works better for this story than Eddie Brock as Venom. Norman grows into an intimidating character, I'm glad they planted seeds for the goblin.
The final fight with Venom is my favorite boss fight in a while. The music, multiple stages, and cutscenes make for an amazing climax.