Marvel's Spider-Man 2

20 Oct 2023

PlayStation 5
9.2 rating
14752 want
21172 played
9095 playing
1272 reviews
Developer
Insomniac Games
Publisher
Sony Interactive Entertainment

Tags

Single player Third person ⚔️ Slasher 🏹 Adventure 💥 Action 🚶 Stealth 🎭 Drama 🌍 Open world
Summary

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the next game in the critically acclaimed Marvel's Spider-Man franchise. Developed by Insomniac Games in collaboration with PlayStation and Marvel Games. Swing, jump and utilize the new Web Wings to travel across Marvel’s New York, quickly switching between Peter Parker and Miles Morales to experience different stories and epic new powers, as the iconic villain Venom threatens to destroy their lives, their city and the ones they love. Quickly swap between both Spider-Men as you explore an expanded Marvel’s New York. Fight against a variety of new and iconic villains, including an original take on the monstrous Venom, the ruthless Kraven the Hunter, the volatile Lizard and many more.

Insomniac have outdone themselves here and have created probably the best first party Playstation game to date.

Spiderman 2 is everything you loved about the original Spiderman and Miles Morales games elevated to a whole new level.

The story and writing here are excellent as the prior 2 games were. The relationships, character interactions, dialogue and character arcs are some of the best in video gaming. Spiderman 2 on a story level can be compared to some of the best Spiderman movies, arguably even better than the best movies. The raw emotion in some of the cutscenes here are unmatched.

You can tell the devs at Insomniac are big fans of Spidey as the level of attention to detail and care put into both Peter and Miles' character are some of the best we've seen. There is also so much here for Spidey fans in regards to references/callbacks.

The gameplay is the same great stuff that worked in the first 2 games, now with just better animation. Swinging is even more fun with the addition of the Web wings. It honestly makes it hard to go back to prior Spidey games without the wings. Combat is more of the same too, just with a couple new gadgets and abilities.

The most impressive thing about Spiderman 2 is that it happens to be an open world game, yet every mission here has the same effort that would be put into a linear single player game like a Naughty Dog game for example. Think of a setpiece like the Plane chapter in Uncharted 3. In Spiderman 2, every single mission has some sort of setpiece that is even more impressive than that Plane chapter. And I don't just mean main story missions either. All the side content here has the same effort the team put into the main missions.

From beginning to end, Spiderman 2 presented a fresh idea at every moment and never got stale. For the whole ride I had a smile on my face.

Insomniac have now taken the mantle of Sony's star developer and I cannot wait to see what they will do with their next game, Wolverine, who also happens to be my favourite superhero.

The Spiderman game we've always dreamed of as a kid is finally here.
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21 Oct 2023
This is peak Spiderman
9/10

Spider-Man 2 heavily improves on the foundation of the first title from gameplay to physics and even the density of its storytelling.


However, when i said (This is peak Spiderman) i meant that it has reached it's limitation and still yet hasn't been able to exceed a 9/10 rating!

Those improvements haven't really taken Spider-Man 2 way too far, especially when speaking of its soulless world with the Ubisoft'ish generic activities throughout it!

The lazy world-building which was introduced in the first Spider-Man has taken its way to Spider-Man 2 as well.. with more meaningless activities that are only "more rewarding" this time.

Thus far, the Foundation of Spider-Man games which Insomniac built is clearly reaching it's limitations here and may won't be able to go beyond this point.

But on the brighter side.. insomniac has made the right choice for investing a lot in "Traveling" and making it main focus this time. Which paid back generously in making the overal experience way more enjoyable than ever!!

Storywise, the journey was quite short yet too dense with a really good plotline. but again.. more cliffhangers!

Stories with cliffhangers should never score a full mark, for a simple fact that it is never a "fulfilling journey".. and for using this as a scheme to milking the series more than necessary up until it goes in a loophole! & Objectively, im glad that it hasn't won any awards so that it won't fuel this scheme.

Side-stories were also another step up and made far better use of its world than "World activities" ever could. While also filling the content-gap which made its world feeling only as a route for your next destination.


• Spider-Man 2 is an Enhanced version of the first title with the same Foundation only pushed to the limits.
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21 Dec 2023
Huge improvement over the first one especially in gameplay.
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04 Nov 2023
Phenomenal! Traversal is next level and the city has so much depth. Definitely my GoTY💙❤️
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06 Nov 2023
Played on: Playstation 5
Version: Playstation 5
Edition: Digital (Deluxe Edition)

Platinum 🏆(#40)

Insomniac has yet again made another good Spider-Man entry. Cool right? Yes & no. While it felt right at home by being back in New York, it felt as though nothing has changed (except for map size). The map is much larger & adds a lot more greenery compared to the grey aesthetic of the building skyline. But in the end, so what?

The story has a very slow burn for the first half & the second half is a boss rush that hits the gas & cannot find the brakes. I must also mention that it is unbelievably bloated with it trying to shove as much lore, characters, & fan service as humanly possible.

There are some really great moments throughout & some really cool set pieces. The highlight of the game is a part in which you are being chased by an evil Peter in the dark. It plays much like a horror game & is a very interesting, fresh, intense, & brilliantly executed sequence.

Sadly, somehow this game feels undercooked. It's visuals feel a tiny bit downgraded (in gameplay) & the life of the city feels oddly empty. Something certainly feels like it's missing here & I hope to find what it is exactly in a future playthrough. The game is also incredibly short & most of the roughly 20 hour story (Yes, only 20 hours) is spent doing things that are VERY rinse & repeat. To put things into perspective, I got the PLATINUM in just roughly 25 hours...that is absolutely horrendous.

All in all, this game is just...fine. I wanted to love it, but I will not fanboy my way to a perfect score just because I love the character. If you liked the previous entries, then you will like this. But expanding a map, throwing in new suits, & introducing fan favorites that often times feel forced doesn't cut it. I prefer the first as it is a much more condensed story that feels way more like Spider-Man than the rest. This is yet another great example that bigger doesn't always mean better.

P.S. Why is it mission impossible for Insomniac to get the Raimi suit right? The web lines look like mirrors glued on his suit..

Final verdict: Wait for a sale
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25 Oct 2023
+ Plot & Characters' Story Arches and Performances are top-notch
+ Next-Gen "Spider-Man" simulator, with its Combat & Web-Slinging (including options for a more realistic Physics-based slinging)
+ Peter's and Miles' activities promote different & unique plots and insights (while adding more replayability value)
+ Sub-Plots, Side Characters & New York City add another layer of immersion and depth to the game's world
+ Visuals & Animations (especially Facial ones) are excellent
+ Amazing DualSense & Audio details

- Stealth System (although fun) tones down the enemies' awareness element(s) too much
- Side Activities, Crimes & Challenges tend to be oversimplified & short (when comparing to the previous games)
- No additional or interesting post-end activities (so far...)
- Considerable number of Bugs, Glitches & Crashes

FINAL SCORE: 9.7
(Expectation: 9.5 - 10)
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27 Nov 2023
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