This review contains spoilers
As a kid, I loved Spider-Man. My grandfather used to help me collect the comics as a kid, I loved the first Raimi movie and watched it more times than I could count, and I loved the games like the movie tie-in Spider-Man 2 and Web of Shadows. Sadly, at a certain point everything Spidey started to turn to shit. The Amazing movies weren’t great, the games were even worse, and I haven’t heard anything good about the comics in years. A lot of people like Tom Holland's Spidey but everything I’ve seen of him really rubs me the wrong way. In 2018, Insomniac released the first piece of Spider-Man media that made me feel happy in years. Miles Morales was also incredible, but Spider-Man 2 has reminded me why I love Spider-Man so much.
Something I really love about Spider-Man 2 is the humanity on display throughout. There is something incredibly heartwarming about the way Peter and Miles actually care about the villains they put away and actually want to see them turn things around. The way they handle Tombstone and Mysterio in this game is really great and seeing them actually care about Sandman and do everything they can for him even after he destroys part of the city was incredible. There are a few moments in the game that hit me in the gut, but two in particular really got to me, those being the Find Grandpa and Howard side missions. The grandpa mission was just a really sweet and human moment that games tend to gloss over. All it is is an old man wandering off and sitting on a park bench, but him talking about his late wife and being afraid of the end he knows is fastly approaching really got me. The Howard mission takes a character with a cute but ultimately inconsequential role in the first two games, and closes out his story in a more beautiful and touching way than some games can muster for main characters. It knocked me on my ass for a few minutes because despite him not having a big role before, he was a fun character that stuck with me. Part of what makes both of these missions work so well is they show just how much Spider-Man actually cares about the people in the city. He takes time out of his day just to stop and sit and talk with these people. He didn’t have to sit and listen to Grandpa talk about his wife, he didn’t have to stop and talk to Howard about his life and ultimately give his pigeons a new home, but he did because he genuinely cares about the people of the city.
The main story is expectedly amazing. Peter and Miles both come out the other end having grown a lot. Miles gets probably the best arc in the game with him learning how to deal with his hatred of Martin Li. Speaking of Li, the villains in general are really great. Kraven is incredibly menacing. He and his hunters truly feel like this unstoppable force. All that is great, but what I really want to talk about is Venom. Insomniac made one of the best versions of Doc Ock and then followed it up with one of my favorite interpretations of Venom. The tragedy of Harry succumbing to the symbiote and causing all this pain and suffering while thinking he is living out his dream of healing the world is a really good way to use it. Being able to play as him when the symbiote first takes over Harry made me fucking squeal I was so happy to be able to play as him again. The final fight with him is absolutely incredible.
Being able to come out of a Spider-Man game and feel this excited about this franchise again makes me feel so good. I love Spider-Man and I feel like I haven’t been able to feel that way in forever.
Thank you again Insomniac for Rio Morales.
Something I really love about Spider-Man 2 is the humanity on display throughout. There is something incredibly heartwarming about the way Peter and Miles actually care about the villains they put away and actually want to see them turn things around. The way they handle Tombstone and Mysterio in this game is really great and seeing them actually care about Sandman and do everything they can for him even after he destroys part of the city was incredible. There are a few moments in the game that hit me in the gut, but two in particular really got to me, those being the Find Grandpa and Howard side missions. The grandpa mission was just a really sweet and human moment that games tend to gloss over. All it is is an old man wandering off and sitting on a park bench, but him talking about his late wife and being afraid of the end he knows is fastly approaching really got me. The Howard mission takes a character with a cute but ultimately inconsequential role in the first two games, and closes out his story in a more beautiful and touching way than some games can muster for main characters. It knocked me on my ass for a few minutes because despite him not having a big role before, he was a fun character that stuck with me. Part of what makes both of these missions work so well is they show just how much Spider-Man actually cares about the people in the city. He takes time out of his day just to stop and sit and talk with these people. He didn’t have to sit and listen to Grandpa talk about his wife, he didn’t have to stop and talk to Howard about his life and ultimately give his pigeons a new home, but he did because he genuinely cares about the people of the city.
The main story is expectedly amazing. Peter and Miles both come out the other end having grown a lot. Miles gets probably the best arc in the game with him learning how to deal with his hatred of Martin Li. Speaking of Li, the villains in general are really great. Kraven is incredibly menacing. He and his hunters truly feel like this unstoppable force. All that is great, but what I really want to talk about is Venom. Insomniac made one of the best versions of Doc Ock and then followed it up with one of my favorite interpretations of Venom. The tragedy of Harry succumbing to the symbiote and causing all this pain and suffering while thinking he is living out his dream of healing the world is a really good way to use it. Being able to play as him when the symbiote first takes over Harry made me fucking squeal I was so happy to be able to play as him again. The final fight with him is absolutely incredible.
Being able to come out of a Spider-Man game and feel this excited about this franchise again makes me feel so good. I love Spider-Man and I feel like I haven’t been able to feel that way in forever.
Thank you again Insomniac for Rio Morales.