Marvel's Spider-Man 2 takes everything about the past titles and improves upon it in all the ways that make these games great while not really addressing some of the flaws of the past games. This one definitly shines the best and is easily the best spider-man simulator out there bar none.
I don't think the games is without it's flaws like I said but how can you complain when the overall package is this good. Some of the minor gripes I have was that I find the combat actually improved since the last title, however I feel enemy encounters are much worse in this one. It always feels like an enemy is constantly sniping at me preventing me from really getting a good ground game and making some flashy combos. The ground combat mixed with aerial combat is much better in this one and the improvments made to the gadgets and special abilities work really well but I'm repeaditly dodging and disarming baddies nonstop that my cool cinematic improvised combo is always ruined by the annoying spammer. The side content which was really lacking in the first title is much better in this one thankfully but I still feel like scratching my head at some of them. They are wildly different in quality. Like compare the Flame questline to the Science Foundation questline. The side stories are great but there are so few of them in this one. There is a lot to collect in this game for sure but I wish the side content was fleshed out a bit better. It's still not where I think it sound be. The only thing I can really think of is the pacing in the first half is kinda bad. There is so much stretched out content in the Kraven arc that were I felt I put so many hours into the game and I don't even have the symbiote yet. Also I feel the costume selection is somehow not as good as SP1. Am i misrembering? But how the hell could they get rid of the animated classic spider-man from SP1. That was one of my favorites. We really got to have 10 different versions of classic variants expect for that?
Dispite that I was surprised how much I ended up liking this one. I was always kinda mid on the first title, as I thought it had a lot of potential, especially with the traversal. I liked Miles Morales even more after that where I felt the combat and story was much better. Plus with that being a smaller title I felt the pacing was really good in that game. I was starting to think could they pull it off with Spider-Man 2? There seemed to be so much stuff in the game thematically. 2 playable characters, more mary jane sections, kraven, lizard, symbiote and venom on top of several skill trees. Will each character have enough unique content? Relevance and character progression in the story? There felt like there was a lot of ideas here but I'm glad to say that I think they did a great job with all of it. I was also worried that Miles would be swept to the sidelines being a Peter symbiote heavy story but I never felt like he was and was always center stage just as much as peter, which I really appreciated.
I knew I was going to like the gameplay loop. I knew the traversal was going to be great. I knew the double map size with no loading or any pop in was going to feel next gen. What I didn't expect was how much I was surprised by the quality of the story and character developments. There is some real good spider-man shit in here. Once the symbiote starts taking control of peter, oh man I feel the story and pacing really pick up there and never lets go. The story takes many liberties by changing certain aspects and traditional spider norms but it does really work in favor of this game. I did not expect so many emotional beats as there was. There were a lot of surprises and set peices that I really did not expect and glad they were in there.
Venom was everything I wanted him to be. I always knew Tony Todd would do an excellent Venom the second he was cast. I just wanted more lines from him. I would have loved some more quips and insults with that voice but I get thats not what they were going for in this version.
Spider-Man 2 is an easy Game of the Year material and makes me much more excited for a Spider-Man trilogy ender if the escalation is anything to go by til then. I wouldn't mind if they take their time crafting that one as well. Hell, wolverine will be a perfect stop gap until then.
Platinum #191
I don't think the games is without it's flaws like I said but how can you complain when the overall package is this good. Some of the minor gripes I have was that I find the combat actually improved since the last title, however I feel enemy encounters are much worse in this one. It always feels like an enemy is constantly sniping at me preventing me from really getting a good ground game and making some flashy combos. The ground combat mixed with aerial combat is much better in this one and the improvments made to the gadgets and special abilities work really well but I'm repeaditly dodging and disarming baddies nonstop that my cool cinematic improvised combo is always ruined by the annoying spammer. The side content which was really lacking in the first title is much better in this one thankfully but I still feel like scratching my head at some of them. They are wildly different in quality. Like compare the Flame questline to the Science Foundation questline. The side stories are great but there are so few of them in this one. There is a lot to collect in this game for sure but I wish the side content was fleshed out a bit better. It's still not where I think it sound be. The only thing I can really think of is the pacing in the first half is kinda bad. There is so much stretched out content in the Kraven arc that were I felt I put so many hours into the game and I don't even have the symbiote yet. Also I feel the costume selection is somehow not as good as SP1. Am i misrembering? But how the hell could they get rid of the animated classic spider-man from SP1. That was one of my favorites. We really got to have 10 different versions of classic variants expect for that?
Dispite that I was surprised how much I ended up liking this one. I was always kinda mid on the first title, as I thought it had a lot of potential, especially with the traversal. I liked Miles Morales even more after that where I felt the combat and story was much better. Plus with that being a smaller title I felt the pacing was really good in that game. I was starting to think could they pull it off with Spider-Man 2? There seemed to be so much stuff in the game thematically. 2 playable characters, more mary jane sections, kraven, lizard, symbiote and venom on top of several skill trees. Will each character have enough unique content? Relevance and character progression in the story? There felt like there was a lot of ideas here but I'm glad to say that I think they did a great job with all of it. I was also worried that Miles would be swept to the sidelines being a Peter symbiote heavy story but I never felt like he was and was always center stage just as much as peter, which I really appreciated.
I knew I was going to like the gameplay loop. I knew the traversal was going to be great. I knew the double map size with no loading or any pop in was going to feel next gen. What I didn't expect was how much I was surprised by the quality of the story and character developments. There is some real good spider-man shit in here. Once the symbiote starts taking control of peter, oh man I feel the story and pacing really pick up there and never lets go. The story takes many liberties by changing certain aspects and traditional spider norms but it does really work in favor of this game. I did not expect so many emotional beats as there was. There were a lot of surprises and set peices that I really did not expect and glad they were in there.
Venom was everything I wanted him to be. I always knew Tony Todd would do an excellent Venom the second he was cast. I just wanted more lines from him. I would have loved some more quips and insults with that voice but I get thats not what they were going for in this version.
Spider-Man 2 is an easy Game of the Year material and makes me much more excited for a Spider-Man trilogy ender if the escalation is anything to go by til then. I wouldn't mind if they take their time crafting that one as well. Hell, wolverine will be a perfect stop gap until then.
Platinum #191