Preface: this review comes from a massive spider-man fan with around 250 hours logged across ps4, ps5, and pc. Story discussion at the end because spoilers.
The best part of this game is definitely how it improves the already excellent core gameplay from the first game. The web swinging is mostly similar to the first game with a few tweaks that make it feel more fluid. There are 2 new abilities learned throughout the game, venom jump and venom dash, which feel really good to use. The lackluster trick system from the first game is greatly expanded upon, with many more tricks and combos to do while swinging, with all animations flowing into each other near seamlessly. Another change I appreciate is the buff to mid air dodging while swinging. In the first game this animation cut off the swing and left Peter awkwardly floating for a second. In this game it is much more fluid and can be used to quickly turn while maintaining all momentum. The level of fluidity also expands to the combat system. This game maintains all of the fundamentals from the first game while adding substantial new combo potential with Miles’ venom abilities. This game has one of my favorite combat systems in any game. Stealth is also much more viable now, with the addition of Miles’ camouflage as well as wall and ceiling takedowns. This game makes me so excited for Spider-man 2 given how many small changes were made to enhance the experience in a game this small scale.
The main missions in this game cut the fat from the first game and also improved in some areas. First things first, there are no more missions where you don’t play as spider-man. In fact, I don't think there's a single main mission in this game that isn't fun to play. The main area improved in the story is the boss fights. There are less than the first game, but all 4 major boss fights are great and allow for a bit more freedom in combat than the first game.
This game is insanely short. More of an expansion to the first game than its own game worthy of full price. I was able to 100% the game on steam in about 15 hours, while the first game took about 40 when including all dlc. I would advise waiting for a sale unless you’re like me and are a massive fanboy.
Overall, this is a very well made game that serves well to bridge between the first game and the upcoming sequel. Super excited to see how the gameplay further evolves with both improvements to Miles' moveset and Peter's new Symbiote abilities
SPOILER ZONE
The story is more of a mixed bag. Unfortunately the villains don’t work nearly as well as the first game for me. The Tinkerer starts off fine but as the story goes on she loses all logic processors in her brain, not realizing Miles was telling the truth about the nuform reactor until literally the last second. She also constantly rails on Miles for lying to her and it gets insanely annoying. I find her especially disappointing after the legendary depiction of Doc Ock in the previous game. The secondary antagonist, Simon Krieger, is entertaining purely because of how much of a mustache-twirler he is. Problems with the writing aside, voice acting is pretty great across the board. Even the low points of the writing are still tolerable because the VAs do an excellent job. In particular, I think this game’s version of Prowler is really good. He is a middle ground between his very sinister comic counterpart and the more sympathetic Spider-verse version. He’s only an antagonist because of his own fear of losing Miles like he lost his brother. Great work with him.
The best part of this game is definitely how it improves the already excellent core gameplay from the first game. The web swinging is mostly similar to the first game with a few tweaks that make it feel more fluid. There are 2 new abilities learned throughout the game, venom jump and venom dash, which feel really good to use. The lackluster trick system from the first game is greatly expanded upon, with many more tricks and combos to do while swinging, with all animations flowing into each other near seamlessly. Another change I appreciate is the buff to mid air dodging while swinging. In the first game this animation cut off the swing and left Peter awkwardly floating for a second. In this game it is much more fluid and can be used to quickly turn while maintaining all momentum. The level of fluidity also expands to the combat system. This game maintains all of the fundamentals from the first game while adding substantial new combo potential with Miles’ venom abilities. This game has one of my favorite combat systems in any game. Stealth is also much more viable now, with the addition of Miles’ camouflage as well as wall and ceiling takedowns. This game makes me so excited for Spider-man 2 given how many small changes were made to enhance the experience in a game this small scale.
The main missions in this game cut the fat from the first game and also improved in some areas. First things first, there are no more missions where you don’t play as spider-man. In fact, I don't think there's a single main mission in this game that isn't fun to play. The main area improved in the story is the boss fights. There are less than the first game, but all 4 major boss fights are great and allow for a bit more freedom in combat than the first game.
This game is insanely short. More of an expansion to the first game than its own game worthy of full price. I was able to 100% the game on steam in about 15 hours, while the first game took about 40 when including all dlc. I would advise waiting for a sale unless you’re like me and are a massive fanboy.
Overall, this is a very well made game that serves well to bridge between the first game and the upcoming sequel. Super excited to see how the gameplay further evolves with both improvements to Miles' moveset and Peter's new Symbiote abilities
SPOILER ZONE
The story is more of a mixed bag. Unfortunately the villains don’t work nearly as well as the first game for me. The Tinkerer starts off fine but as the story goes on she loses all logic processors in her brain, not realizing Miles was telling the truth about the nuform reactor until literally the last second. She also constantly rails on Miles for lying to her and it gets insanely annoying. I find her especially disappointing after the legendary depiction of Doc Ock in the previous game. The secondary antagonist, Simon Krieger, is entertaining purely because of how much of a mustache-twirler he is. Problems with the writing aside, voice acting is pretty great across the board. Even the low points of the writing are still tolerable because the VAs do an excellent job. In particular, I think this game’s version of Prowler is really good. He is a middle ground between his very sinister comic counterpart and the more sympathetic Spider-verse version. He’s only an antagonist because of his own fear of losing Miles like he lost his brother. Great work with him.