This review contains spoilers
There is a lot to like about Spider-Man 2. It is wonderful to play, looks visually stunning, and carries on with wonderfully realized versions of Spider-Man and company. Still, there is also something missing at the core of Spider-Man 2 that weakens it on the whole. It is a game bursting with ambition, but without the space to let that ambition hit new heights.
From the top-down Spider-Man 2’s narrative is juggling three major narratives. First is Harry and Peter’s friendship, second is Kraven’s last hunt, and third is the symbiote. While they all do come together none are given the time they deserve. That lack of time tears away at the core of what made Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man games work so well—their sincerity.
Peter and Miles are at this inflection point struggling with their personal troubles while also being Spider-Man. Peter’s arc is focused on his own personal fulfillment. He is struggling to make the mortgage, to keep a job, to find that purpose outside of being Spider-Man. Yet, he is never really on the ground long enough to face those struggles. Instead, they seem to resolve unnaturally around him by the credits. Big ideas like the Emily-May Foundation are wonderful in concept, but in practice they are fully formed off screen. By the time Peter comes to interact with them there isn’t really anything for him to really do. His arc, about setting aside his heroics, doesn’t land because we don’t see the weight of his personal life on him.
Miles gets more of a chance to see his arc through as it is all about his grief and hatred of Mister Negative which ties directly into play time as Spider-Man. His personal struggles are directly about his life as a hero. It works much better and makes Miles a much more compelling character in a game where he is still “in training”. His supporting cast and ties to the city work better because they seem more earnest. Peter is caught up in the messy main story while Miles is allowed to be a real person in the side content. The problem comes in that it is all still off to the side. Miles is supposed to be the Spider-Man by the end of the game, but the runway to that moment is brief at best.
There are so many strong points to Insomniac’s approach, but at the heart of its Spider-Man 2 doesn’t give its characters the airtime they need. Kraven is a fantastic villain, but the dangers he poses aren’t delivered well. He kills Scorpion early on and then at some unspecified other point kills Shocker, Vulture, and Electro off-screen. By the time the story has started to elaborate on his purpose he is already shuffled off to the side in favor of the symbiote. And well, the symbiote stuff is not good. It transforms Peter (and later Harry) into these insufferable people who hurt those they love without a second thought. It is so out of character for Peter especially because there is no natural friction between him and his loved ones otherwise. He is so kind and affable that the black suit’s bitterness feels completely inorganic to who he has shown us to be in this title.
In 2018’s Spider-Man Peter has a moment where he wants to be selfish, he wants to save Aunt May and forsake the city. But he can’t. That’s who Peter Parker is. He is a man struggling between his personal responsibilities and his heroics. Spider-Man 2 seems to want to forget that those personal struggles need to be made manifest throughout the story for that selfishness to mean anything. The heroic struggle should mean something to the personal one. It does for Miles, but for Peter by the time the black suit is off it is all water under the bridge. Now it’s time to fight black ooze monsters. It is dramatic and grand in scope, but it feels so off the rails that it is difficult to meaningfully connect back to these characters as people.
At the end of this title Peter is in his garage starting the Emily-May foundation over again. (Norman must have pulled funding on the multi-billion-dollar facility.) There is an FNSM alert, and he hesitates, but Miles steps in to save the day. He lets Peter be Peter for once. It is a nice moment, but far from earned and undercut by moments later being dropped back into the world as Peter in his suit ready to swing off into the city. Spider-Man 2 hints at the personal struggle, but it is secondary this time around to the bombast of being Spider-Man.
Don’t mistake this as a fully negative teardown. Spider-Man 2 does a lot right. Spider-Man 2 does well to highlight a wide variety of peoples and centers a message about service throughout. Hailey Cooper’s FNSM mission in particular is a great start towards making strides in highlighting the deaf community through gameplay in the AAA space. Acts of service–like those from the FNSM app and beyond–feel important. Spider-Man 2 (and its predecessors) do well to highlight that helping one person helps everyone. Further, the time given to highlighting the cultural legacy of Black musicians from Harlem is wonderful. It fleshes out history, this world, and gives Miles a deeper emotional core.
The story does a lot well too. Harry and Peter’s relationship starts strong. The scenes of them and Mary Jane at the carnival are wonderful. It is a moment that allows you to see how good of friends these three used to be. Peter’s later rejection of the black suit and his efforts to save Harry from it are genuine because of these early scenes. The efforts to save Kurt Connors are also nice because they reflect Miles’ ability to see the best in people as he does with Mysterio and later Martin Lee. The fundamental idea of the Emily-May foundation is great. It allows Peter to be the scientist and I hope to see it really grounded as something he built in the next game.
These are still great renditions of these characters. Peter, Miles, Mary Jane, Rio, Ganke, and so on feel right. They echo the best versions of these characters. More than anything they also earnestly push for positivity. Each of these characters expresses some doubts throughout the story, but at the end of the day they still push for a positive outlook. They think about others and try to lift others up. It can be easy to forget that those kinds of things are still virtues that need to be on display whenever possible.
Gameplay additions are also great. Fighting is quick and weighty with new abilities that make it more fluid than previously. The wingsuit adds a speedy traversal option on top of the already excellent swinging mechanics. Plus, the city is stunning and full of life. It is a better realization of New York than I have seen anywhere else. You could spend a lot of time in this New York and as long as the characters are strong the game will be as well.
No, Spider-Man 2 is not a bad game. It is far from it. It is an ambitious title that seeks to share this version of Spidey canon. It just doesn’t do what it can with a weaker narrative that amounts to a weaker experience than Insomniac’s previous goes with these characters. Spider-Man 2 won’t stay with me like 2018 or Miles Morales. It also is hard for me to see where they take characters like Venom, Peter, Harry, or Norman after this. There is a lot to like about Spider-Man 2, but with great ambition comes great risk. Spider-Man 2 doesn’t hit the homerun it is aiming for, but it doesn’t miss completely either.
From the top-down Spider-Man 2’s narrative is juggling three major narratives. First is Harry and Peter’s friendship, second is Kraven’s last hunt, and third is the symbiote. While they all do come together none are given the time they deserve. That lack of time tears away at the core of what made Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man games work so well—their sincerity.
Peter and Miles are at this inflection point struggling with their personal troubles while also being Spider-Man. Peter’s arc is focused on his own personal fulfillment. He is struggling to make the mortgage, to keep a job, to find that purpose outside of being Spider-Man. Yet, he is never really on the ground long enough to face those struggles. Instead, they seem to resolve unnaturally around him by the credits. Big ideas like the Emily-May Foundation are wonderful in concept, but in practice they are fully formed off screen. By the time Peter comes to interact with them there isn’t really anything for him to really do. His arc, about setting aside his heroics, doesn’t land because we don’t see the weight of his personal life on him.
Miles gets more of a chance to see his arc through as it is all about his grief and hatred of Mister Negative which ties directly into play time as Spider-Man. His personal struggles are directly about his life as a hero. It works much better and makes Miles a much more compelling character in a game where he is still “in training”. His supporting cast and ties to the city work better because they seem more earnest. Peter is caught up in the messy main story while Miles is allowed to be a real person in the side content. The problem comes in that it is all still off to the side. Miles is supposed to be the Spider-Man by the end of the game, but the runway to that moment is brief at best.
There are so many strong points to Insomniac’s approach, but at the heart of its Spider-Man 2 doesn’t give its characters the airtime they need. Kraven is a fantastic villain, but the dangers he poses aren’t delivered well. He kills Scorpion early on and then at some unspecified other point kills Shocker, Vulture, and Electro off-screen. By the time the story has started to elaborate on his purpose he is already shuffled off to the side in favor of the symbiote. And well, the symbiote stuff is not good. It transforms Peter (and later Harry) into these insufferable people who hurt those they love without a second thought. It is so out of character for Peter especially because there is no natural friction between him and his loved ones otherwise. He is so kind and affable that the black suit’s bitterness feels completely inorganic to who he has shown us to be in this title.
In 2018’s Spider-Man Peter has a moment where he wants to be selfish, he wants to save Aunt May and forsake the city. But he can’t. That’s who Peter Parker is. He is a man struggling between his personal responsibilities and his heroics. Spider-Man 2 seems to want to forget that those personal struggles need to be made manifest throughout the story for that selfishness to mean anything. The heroic struggle should mean something to the personal one. It does for Miles, but for Peter by the time the black suit is off it is all water under the bridge. Now it’s time to fight black ooze monsters. It is dramatic and grand in scope, but it feels so off the rails that it is difficult to meaningfully connect back to these characters as people.
At the end of this title Peter is in his garage starting the Emily-May foundation over again. (Norman must have pulled funding on the multi-billion-dollar facility.) There is an FNSM alert, and he hesitates, but Miles steps in to save the day. He lets Peter be Peter for once. It is a nice moment, but far from earned and undercut by moments later being dropped back into the world as Peter in his suit ready to swing off into the city. Spider-Man 2 hints at the personal struggle, but it is secondary this time around to the bombast of being Spider-Man.
Don’t mistake this as a fully negative teardown. Spider-Man 2 does a lot right. Spider-Man 2 does well to highlight a wide variety of peoples and centers a message about service throughout. Hailey Cooper’s FNSM mission in particular is a great start towards making strides in highlighting the deaf community through gameplay in the AAA space. Acts of service–like those from the FNSM app and beyond–feel important. Spider-Man 2 (and its predecessors) do well to highlight that helping one person helps everyone. Further, the time given to highlighting the cultural legacy of Black musicians from Harlem is wonderful. It fleshes out history, this world, and gives Miles a deeper emotional core.
The story does a lot well too. Harry and Peter’s relationship starts strong. The scenes of them and Mary Jane at the carnival are wonderful. It is a moment that allows you to see how good of friends these three used to be. Peter’s later rejection of the black suit and his efforts to save Harry from it are genuine because of these early scenes. The efforts to save Kurt Connors are also nice because they reflect Miles’ ability to see the best in people as he does with Mysterio and later Martin Lee. The fundamental idea of the Emily-May foundation is great. It allows Peter to be the scientist and I hope to see it really grounded as something he built in the next game.
These are still great renditions of these characters. Peter, Miles, Mary Jane, Rio, Ganke, and so on feel right. They echo the best versions of these characters. More than anything they also earnestly push for positivity. Each of these characters expresses some doubts throughout the story, but at the end of the day they still push for a positive outlook. They think about others and try to lift others up. It can be easy to forget that those kinds of things are still virtues that need to be on display whenever possible.
Gameplay additions are also great. Fighting is quick and weighty with new abilities that make it more fluid than previously. The wingsuit adds a speedy traversal option on top of the already excellent swinging mechanics. Plus, the city is stunning and full of life. It is a better realization of New York than I have seen anywhere else. You could spend a lot of time in this New York and as long as the characters are strong the game will be as well.
No, Spider-Man 2 is not a bad game. It is far from it. It is an ambitious title that seeks to share this version of Spidey canon. It just doesn’t do what it can with a weaker narrative that amounts to a weaker experience than Insomniac’s previous goes with these characters. Spider-Man 2 won’t stay with me like 2018 or Miles Morales. It also is hard for me to see where they take characters like Venom, Peter, Harry, or Norman after this. There is a lot to like about Spider-Man 2, but with great ambition comes great risk. Spider-Man 2 doesn’t hit the homerun it is aiming for, but it doesn’t miss completely either.