This is… not very good. And it makes me incredibly sad. As a big fan of the first game, this game tragically made me even question if the first is as good as I remember. This is functionally the same exact game with a new story, but it did not click with me throughout my entire playthrough. I think I’m mostly just exhausted by today’s AAA game design, where every ultra expensive game feels so focus-grouped to death that every single move I make in the game feels pre-determined, making it feel like I’m just watching an interactive movie versus interacting with game mechanics. Most annoyingly, the audience playing this game gets treated like idiots by having their hands held every second of the way, and this is done with characters talking out loud to themselves and with on-screen button prompts that tell you how to perform certain actions you’ve already been performing the entire game.

The set-pieces are certainly well directed visually, but the actual gameplay makes me feel like I’m playing on autopilot. The combat feels ok, but is not deep enough to feel dynamic or interesting. Swinging mechanics are a highlight, but swinging around a world full of stock buildings and skyscrapers feels so lifeless. The missions often feel like chores, which is a common complaint about open world games in the gaming world, but for some reason this game gets a pass (according to its overwhelming positive reception). Boss fights are atrocious and all play the exact same way, which is a baffling decision.The story, while occasionally emotionally engaging, is so risk-averse and stale. The dual protagonist structure had potential, but Miles is just so much less interesting of a character than Peter (I seem to be in the minority of this), and it doesn’t help that he just feels like a minor supporting character in Peter’s story. Kraven is such an underwhelming villain that he just feels like a plot macguffin, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if he wasn’t such a constant presence in the first two acts of the story. (Spoilers) The final act with Harry+Venom is so rushed it really feels like the developers ran out of time making this game.

All of this to say, having a big budget and state of the art graphics just doesn’t cut it when the game mechanics and story are so shallow. I’m happy that people seem to be really enjoying this game, but I pretentiously wish that gamers had higher standards when it comes to how we interact with video games and how gameplay actually engages with the story. A game about Spider-Man shouldn’t feel so constricted and limited with its mechanics.