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Oct 16, 2023 · But somehow, the film's subsequent video game adaptation, 2004's Spider-Man 2, was just as pioneering. Even though Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas debuted the same year, Spider-Man 2 had something ...
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By Simon Cardy
Updated: Oct 16, 2023 10:07 pm
Posted: Oct 16, 2023 2:00 pm
With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac has the unenviable task of following up two riveting superhero fantasies full of excitement and heart. While that may sound like a good problem to have, the question becomes where do you go from there? Well, its answer is to double down. Double down on Spider-Men. Double down on the size of the map. Double down on explosive action sequences. In doing so, the studio has crafted another consistently exciting rollercoaster ride and the best story of the series yet – but stand the original alongside this sequel in other ways, and it can look a bit like two Spider-Man games pointing at each other. The excellent combat hasn’t gotten old, but it is largely the same fun as before, and despite that larger map, most of the open-world activities found within it are in desperate need of evolution. The result is a blockbuster in the most modern sense of the word: undeniably thrilling for long stretches, but by the numbers for others.
Despite a couple of new tricks up its sleeve, Spider-Man 2’s combat is very familiar – it doesn’t have that new suit smell anymore, but it still feels incredibly comfy to slip back into. The rhythm of precision dodges, the new perfect parries (so you’re not only swerving and striking now), and acrobatic finishers are hugely satisfying, as is chasing high-hit combos to keep the fight as stylish as possible. The movement is smooth and the hits are crunching, like some sort of peanut butter hybrid that every one of your foes is allergic to. Power and elegance are brought together in a brick-to-the-face ballet as enemies are thrown around like dolls, juggled in the air, slammed across concrete floors, and slung into each other like body-armoured bowling pins – but, naturally, never killed. Every bone in their body may be broken and every organ punctured, but of course, they'll somehow live to commit crimes again.
Overall, there’s slightly less emphasis on stealth encounters this time than in either Spider-Man or Miles Morales. As someone who found the stealth action of the previous games a little simplistic and routine, this new, louder approach is welcome. Naturally, there are story missions where Miles or Peter have to slink across ceilings and take out thugs who never look up, but Spider-Man 2 is much more eager for you to get into the action, with many abilities designed to let you group up enemies and then deal big damage to all of them at once, rather than spreading them out to pick them off one by one.
Spider-Man 2 is, on paper, the perfect sequel. It takes all of the elements that made the first games so much fun and builds and improves on them. Bigger battles, improved ray tracing, wider story choices, more flamboyant combat, dual characters, improved visuals, staggeringly fast and dense city travel are all excellent. The sheer wow factor it delivers will impress, but some of the shine is dulled by comparison to Insomniacs own previous success and work on the remasters of the original and Miles Morales for PS5. Going from the original PS4 or even PS4 Pro Spider-Man games to this is a night-and-day difference in almost all areas, with the most noticeable being seamless loading, ray tracing, AI muscle deformation, vast performance increases and visuals that push the PS5 hard. But from the PlayStation 5 updates, the leap is smaller, if still impressive. None of this diminishes the excellent, varied and amazing game within, but just how amazing that is depends on when you last slipped into the tights of New York’s favourite web head. – Michael Thompson, October 16, 2023
Read the full Spider-Man 2 Performance Review
On the topic of covert ops, the playable MJ sequences from the original return, and while they are more involved this time around and serve the story well, they never add up to more than simple stealth missions or splashes of basic third-person shooting. She’s certainly not sidelined, but it does feel like a little more could’ve been done to make her gameplay sections a bit more exciting – or at least more in line with her established character as an intrepid investigative reporter than the missions she’s sent out on here.
Combat aside, our Spider-Men can now swing around their friendly neighborhoods in more stylish ways than ever, with new spins and flips added to the repertoire providing a Tony Hawk-like edge. Performing web acrobatics is as gratifying as you remember, and still one of the best ways to get around any open world. The new web wings are undoubtedly a standout, however: like Batman before him, Spider-Man can now glide and soar with ease through the city, but not without limits – you’ll need to get the hang of managing your altitude and forward momentum, with the aid of windy corridors through the city that can quickly carry you from one district to the next.
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There are also smaller stories at play, though, ones that may seem less important when compared to city-wide chaos, but feel like potential world-enders to those who inhabit it. Both Spider-Men tackle the most extreme examples of trying to manage a work/life balance you can imagine, exploring a range of personal issues including strained relationships and loss that plague us as humans, no matter how superpowered we may feel. It's the best-written story in the series yet (if still a bit cheesy at times), with performances worthy of the script. It’s a real triumph that it manages to cover such a wide spectrum of themes without suffering from tonal thwip-lash. A particularly memorable mission under the dancing lights of Coney Island’s amusement rides is a highlight that manages to impressively capture the story’s essence and bottle up its emotional tension before emphatically smashing it.
Primarily a Peter Parker story, Spider-Man 2 explores his relationship with MJ and the reintroduction of childhood best friend Harry Osborne into his life. It’s always compelling to watch him contend with which pieces of the past to leave behind and what future self he wishes to be. In some of the missions where you control normal, everyday Peter, I couldn't help but feel the Uncharted influence more than ever, both in the techniques it uses to tell his story and the show-stopping action sequences when he slips into the suit. No matter how hectic a scenario gets, though, he always has a quippy one-liner ready to be expertly delivered by actor Yuri Lowenthal.
It's the best-written story in the series yet, with performances worthy of the script.
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Miles still gets his time in the spotlight, however, and has some fantastic moments towards the end of the main campaign, even if some of the more interesting explorations of his Puerto Rican/African American culture are reserved for side missions. Obviously, what you take away from the story and its diverse cast of characters will be unique to you. On the surface, it's another thrilling superhero story packed full of surprises, cameos, and Easter eggs – but there are deeper meanings to be found here, too.
Spider-Man 2, and to an extent all great Spider-Man stories, tackle themes of adolescence and puberty – a time of uncertainty for even the most normal of teenagers trying to control bodily fluids. We join Miles at this exact point in his life, with family ties straining, friendships facing fresh challenges, and life decisions of genuine importance being posed for the first time. Actor Nadji Jeter displays all the range needed for the role, continuing to excel as a younger Spider-Man maturing before our eyes. For Peter, these themes manifest in a much more physical sense. He's in his early twenties so has already navigated the difficult years that Miles finds himself in, but thanks to the symbiote suit, he's working his way through yet more bodily changes.
The main story took me around 18 hours to complete before I hit 100%, and the subsequent platinum trophy popped up to congratulate my efforts after 27 in total. To earn that precious trophy, you’ll be spending a lot of time mopping up the many, many side activities that Spider-Man 2 throws your way – and while not everybody must or should do all of that, it’s a reminder that quantity doesn’t always equal quality. Despite whatever loftier ambitions the story may have, this is still unapologetically an old-school approach to open-world game design, and nowhere is this displayed more clearly than in its optional quests.
To their credit, the way you can highlight side objectives by pressing the right stick is a welcome upgrade over mere icons on a map. Even without that, you can spot ominous clouds or glowing purple rooftops with the bare eye signaling activities are there to be found. This isn't a world that beckons exploration or discovery, necessarily, but it is a step in the right direction toward creating greater immersion and mercifully less time spent looking at the map screen.
It’s a bit disappointing to see Insomniac’s series stuck in time when it comes to its side content
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That being said, I can't help but have hoped for a few more flashes of Gotham City to make their way into New York. Something like the spontaneous shock of Manbat jumping at you out of nowhere went a long way to making Rocksteady's superhero open world feel more reactive than what we get here (even though it always cheated by finding ways to keep civilians off the streets). When you consider the evolution of open-world game design that the Arkham series took over the course of the trilogy, and its multilayered villain side quests, it’s a bit disappointing to see Insomniac’s series stuck in time when it comes to its side content and the way it presents itself to you.
Standard open-world filler activities are here aplenty, and that’s one area where Spider-Man 2 hasn't moved with the times or shown ambition at all. Collectibles, photo opportunities, and rather basic street crimes are still here and, despite having a few slightly more interesting quirks this time around, they only very occasionally excite. You’ll regularly be stopping the same getaways with the same few button presses (the button-mashing from previous games is mercifully largely gone) or stopping a break-in by battering the same few goons. Granted, the additional enemy variety in play makes these activities take a little longer to get old than they did in the past, but that still isn't quite a strong enough twist to make prioritising photographing a couple of amateur cosplayers over saving a house full of people from a raging fire not seem ridiculous.
All of this contributes to fighting back against crime in each district of New York, a city now twice the size of what we’ve seen before including the leafy residential roads of Queens and the bustling borough of Brooklyn. There are 14 unique districts, each with its own set of objectives to complete before you can unlock fast travel to that part of the map. Not making fast travel readily available is smart, and truthfully, I barely used it anyway as swinging and gliding around the city is so much more fun, even though the load times are nonexistent and the speedy, swooping camera effect of switching between Peter and Miles is very cool. Gliding is especially great for crossing long distances thanks to the numerous wind tunnels that carve their way through New York's seemingly endless grid of streets flanked by art deco architecture and modern mirror-like skyscrapers.
Of course, if you’re going to be catching your ray-traced, 4K reflection (if you opt for the 30fps fidelity mode) in that glass so often, you’ll want to look your best. Fear not, because there are dozens and dozens of suits to unlock, with myriad colorful skins to pick from on each of them. From modern interpretations of classics to returning fan favourites, there are treats waiting for Spider-Man fans of all generations. They are now all pure cosmetics as well – a smart separation of form and function means picking the skills and abilities you equip are separate from your choice of suit.
In keeping with Insomniac’s track record, the music behind it all is stellar.
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In keeping with Insomniac’s track record, the music behind it all is stellar, with Miles' and Peter's respective signature tunes playing depending on who you're controlling. A highlight, though, is the theme that follows in Kraven's footsteps, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Howard Shore's Uruk-hai war march from The Lord of the Rings score. It soundtracks a world that looks stunning, even when played in performance mode at a stable 60fps as I did for most of my playthrough.
In fact, Spider-Man 2 is a technical marvel as a whole. From the near-instant load times, the ability to pinpoint a fast-travel location and be there in a second, atmospheric lighting, and crisp reflections, all of the pieces fit into place wonderfully – aside from the very occasional NPC getting stuck where they shouldn’t. I can't say that I noticed one dropped frame in my dozens of hours of playing. This allows Spider-Man 2 to shine in its most jaw-dropping moments – of which the main story offers many – as explosive action, sparkling electrical effects, and fittingly slimy symbiote gloop fill the screen.
As a sequel in a spectacular series, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is both blessed and cursed. Its story of two Spider-Men is a great time and a Spidey fan’s dream to play through as comic book pages are brought to life, elegantly walking the tightrope between light humour and heavier themes. Meanwhile, Insomniac refines a successful formula of combat and ...
Review scoring
great
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip.
Simon Cardy
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Oct 16, 2023 · I’m unaware of another blockbuster game with anything close to the feel-good vibes of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Insomniac Games’ follow-up to its 2018 hit Marvel’s Spider-Man (and the 2020 spinoff Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales) has so much positive energy and progressive political messaging that at one point I actually found my cheeks hurt from prolonged grinning.
