Insomniac Games has been PlayStation’s most prolific developer for a while now, and leveraging the Spider-Man IP has proved to be an excellent decision for them. Even if the first game wasn’t perfect, I doubt that any superhero fan was even slightly disappointed with it, and despite some minor issues, the game’s core loop was fun. And here comes its sequel, with the developers listening to a lot of the feedback from its predecessor and addressing many of the problems and annoyances, creating something that surpassed my expectations.
There are times when the story in a game really absorbs you, and I’m glad to report that this is one of those times. The central narrative is truly exceptional, with a lot of returning and new Spider-Man characters, numerous familiar plot threads from the comics taking on flesh, like the iconic black suit, and much drama that acts as fuel for the game’s events. It is perhaps slightly shorter than the prequel, but it actually feels a lot more fleshed out. The first half is mostly used to establish the characters and their inner conflicts, like Peter’s struggles with balancing his life or the introduction of Harry Osborn and the changes he brings to the group’s dynamics. Characters like MJ have a much more central role as well, while Miles Morales has been promoted to a deuteragonist, carrying his own burdens as an equal to Peter Parker. The rogues gallery of the game is honestly some of the best I’ve seen, with the main villains, Kraven and Venom, really shining through it. Venom especially is the best depiction of the villain I’ve seen, encapsulating everything people love about the character, and his presence dominates every scene he is in, so thankfully he got a lot of love in this.
The use of dual protagonists is something new, and it actually works very intuitively. Both have their own plotlines, where you get to control them to progress the story, but they also meet and cooperate very frequently, making the whole experience very organic. Furthermore, while exploring the city of New York, you get to switch freely between the two to complete shared or exclusive side content. As sort of a breather, other than controlling the Spider-Men, similarly to the first game, Spider-Man 2 has a lot of sections where you control them as civilians or where you play as MJ. While those used to be my least favorite parts, they actually work out really well in this. There’s a lot more variety in them, some short mini-games here and there, and they never overstay their welcome. The MJ sections especially become rather fun eventually, and while the stealth is nothing to write home about, the gameplay is much more involved than it used to be.
The biggest strength of the game is certainly that it feels like a proper sequel. As I mentioned earlier, its core loop doesn’t change much compared to its predecessor but I’d argue that the quality is on a different level. Everything serves its purpose, and a lot of the fat has been trimmed, including both the main story and the side content. There’s a significant effort and budget behind the game’s spectacle and its setpieces, with some really big battles or some very cool chases throughout the city. Of course, every transition from gameplay to cutscene is always seamless. The cinematic nature of the game has been improved considerably overall, and while the generational leap between the games might not be huge, the indoor environments and the night view of the city are stunning. The only visual aspects I’d like to see improved are probably the faces, especially of NPCs, and the facial animations that, at times, feel somewhat stiff, but regardless, it’s a very good-looking game. On another note, I was very surprised by the number of bugs and glitches, even soft locks, I encountered, as they are in complete contrast to how polished the game is most of the time, though hopefully they’ll be addressed soon.
As for the sidequests, they have much more of a purpose in this game, and even collectibles always have a bit of story attached to them, and come with their own surprises usually. Insomniac was a lot more careful with quantity and variety regarding them, and they rarely felt like a chore or a checklist in need of completion but rather an integral part of the core loop. There’s a lot of focus on exploring both Peter’s love for science and Miles’ passion for music, while, of course, New York and its people are taking a front seat in a lot of them, with some hard-hitting ones.
Spider-Man 2’s gameplay has seen its own share of improvements, both regarding traversal and combat. The former has been streamlined significantly, and the addition of a gliding suit, while it may conflict with the idea of how Spider-Man doesn’t fly, complements the swinging mechanics perfectly and is a much-needed addition considering the map has been doubled and there’s also a huge body of water between the two parts of the city. New York is full of airways or slingshots that boost Spider-Men’s traveling speed, so going from one part of the city to the other is very fast, which is somewhat amusing, as the fast travel of the game is nearly instantaneous, but there’s barely any reason to use it.
Regarding combat, it’s as fun as the first game, there’s quicker access to gadgets and abilities, but the big addition to it is a parry system, something that seems to pop up more and more where you least expect it. While it adds variety to what you can do, the somewhat button-mash-y nature of the combat doesn’t really lend itself well to such a mechanic, with the dodge feeling much more natural and flowing much better. It fares somewhat better on boss fights, where you often have to quickly decide whether you need to parry, jump, or dodge, but even then, they feel rather simplistic. Peter and Miles have their own arsenal of abilities, and they both feel really nice to use, with some clever uses of their respective mechanics to give a real sense of power when needed, especially regarding the depiction of Peter’s black suit.
To conclude, Spider-Man 2 is a big step up in almost every aspect compared to the two previous entries of the series, with the story in particular being a real delight to follow. As a Spider-Man fan myself, I feel there’s hardly anything fans of the hero will not love about this game, and the various small and big improvements make it a very pleasing experience, with a very nice pace. The game is rather short, at around 25 hours for everything, and while such a thing might feel a bit steep, I think its overall quality provides many reasons to try it out, even if you had gripes with the previous entries. A fantastic game that I highly recommend to anyone, especially those who enjoy cinematic experiences and a good story! Very sad that the wait for the inevitable sequel has only just begun.
There are times when the story in a game really absorbs you, and I’m glad to report that this is one of those times. The central narrative is truly exceptional, with a lot of returning and new Spider-Man characters, numerous familiar plot threads from the comics taking on flesh, like the iconic black suit, and much drama that acts as fuel for the game’s events. It is perhaps slightly shorter than the prequel, but it actually feels a lot more fleshed out. The first half is mostly used to establish the characters and their inner conflicts, like Peter’s struggles with balancing his life or the introduction of Harry Osborn and the changes he brings to the group’s dynamics. Characters like MJ have a much more central role as well, while Miles Morales has been promoted to a deuteragonist, carrying his own burdens as an equal to Peter Parker. The rogues gallery of the game is honestly some of the best I’ve seen, with the main villains, Kraven and Venom, really shining through it. Venom especially is the best depiction of the villain I’ve seen, encapsulating everything people love about the character, and his presence dominates every scene he is in, so thankfully he got a lot of love in this.
The use of dual protagonists is something new, and it actually works very intuitively. Both have their own plotlines, where you get to control them to progress the story, but they also meet and cooperate very frequently, making the whole experience very organic. Furthermore, while exploring the city of New York, you get to switch freely between the two to complete shared or exclusive side content. As sort of a breather, other than controlling the Spider-Men, similarly to the first game, Spider-Man 2 has a lot of sections where you control them as civilians or where you play as MJ. While those used to be my least favorite parts, they actually work out really well in this. There’s a lot more variety in them, some short mini-games here and there, and they never overstay their welcome. The MJ sections especially become rather fun eventually, and while the stealth is nothing to write home about, the gameplay is much more involved than it used to be.
The biggest strength of the game is certainly that it feels like a proper sequel. As I mentioned earlier, its core loop doesn’t change much compared to its predecessor but I’d argue that the quality is on a different level. Everything serves its purpose, and a lot of the fat has been trimmed, including both the main story and the side content. There’s a significant effort and budget behind the game’s spectacle and its setpieces, with some really big battles or some very cool chases throughout the city. Of course, every transition from gameplay to cutscene is always seamless. The cinematic nature of the game has been improved considerably overall, and while the generational leap between the games might not be huge, the indoor environments and the night view of the city are stunning. The only visual aspects I’d like to see improved are probably the faces, especially of NPCs, and the facial animations that, at times, feel somewhat stiff, but regardless, it’s a very good-looking game. On another note, I was very surprised by the number of bugs and glitches, even soft locks, I encountered, as they are in complete contrast to how polished the game is most of the time, though hopefully they’ll be addressed soon.
As for the sidequests, they have much more of a purpose in this game, and even collectibles always have a bit of story attached to them, and come with their own surprises usually. Insomniac was a lot more careful with quantity and variety regarding them, and they rarely felt like a chore or a checklist in need of completion but rather an integral part of the core loop. There’s a lot of focus on exploring both Peter’s love for science and Miles’ passion for music, while, of course, New York and its people are taking a front seat in a lot of them, with some hard-hitting ones.
Spider-Man 2’s gameplay has seen its own share of improvements, both regarding traversal and combat. The former has been streamlined significantly, and the addition of a gliding suit, while it may conflict with the idea of how Spider-Man doesn’t fly, complements the swinging mechanics perfectly and is a much-needed addition considering the map has been doubled and there’s also a huge body of water between the two parts of the city. New York is full of airways or slingshots that boost Spider-Men’s traveling speed, so going from one part of the city to the other is very fast, which is somewhat amusing, as the fast travel of the game is nearly instantaneous, but there’s barely any reason to use it.
Regarding combat, it’s as fun as the first game, there’s quicker access to gadgets and abilities, but the big addition to it is a parry system, something that seems to pop up more and more where you least expect it. While it adds variety to what you can do, the somewhat button-mash-y nature of the combat doesn’t really lend itself well to such a mechanic, with the dodge feeling much more natural and flowing much better. It fares somewhat better on boss fights, where you often have to quickly decide whether you need to parry, jump, or dodge, but even then, they feel rather simplistic. Peter and Miles have their own arsenal of abilities, and they both feel really nice to use, with some clever uses of their respective mechanics to give a real sense of power when needed, especially regarding the depiction of Peter’s black suit.
To conclude, Spider-Man 2 is a big step up in almost every aspect compared to the two previous entries of the series, with the story in particular being a real delight to follow. As a Spider-Man fan myself, I feel there’s hardly anything fans of the hero will not love about this game, and the various small and big improvements make it a very pleasing experience, with a very nice pace. The game is rather short, at around 25 hours for everything, and while such a thing might feel a bit steep, I think its overall quality provides many reasons to try it out, even if you had gripes with the previous entries. A fantastic game that I highly recommend to anyone, especially those who enjoy cinematic experiences and a good story! Very sad that the wait for the inevitable sequel has only just begun.