Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is made up of excellent peaks and confusing valleys. Though it’s a primarily strong follow-up, the peculiar pacing and tiring stealth missions just barely keep it from being a top-tier sequel.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Developer: Insomniac Games
Price: $70
Platforms: PS5 (reviewed)
There’s no fictional character in the world that I am as deeply invested in as Spider-Man. For as long as I can remember, the adventures of Peter Parker have entertained, excited, and motivated me through good periods and bad – both in my own life and of the character’s editorial existence. As such, I loved Marvel’s Spider-Man and the Miles Morales follow-up and was looking forward to no game as much as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Now that it’s here, I’m pretty happy with it, but not as happy as I had hoped.
Splitting the story between Peter and Miles is an admirable idea, though having two main characters – especially in an existing Peter-centric story like the Symbiote arc – leads to some narrative difficulties. Miles doesn’t have too much to do for massive chunks of the game, making him feel like less of a central character. Peter, on the other hand, deals with the majority of the story beats, but these end up being a bit rushed. It feels as though he barely has the symbiote suit himself before it leaves him and thrusts the story into its final act.
As such, Peter gains and loses the symbiote quickly and Venom isn’t in the story for very long, while Miles isn’t given too much to do until the end. I wish more time was spent on these later portions, as they’re meant to be the meat of the story but end up speeding by. The Kraven-focused portions are great and the side-missions include some fun stories, but the main symbiote stuff didn’t quite come together for me. It’s a shame, as the character dynamics between Peter, MJ, and Miles, as well as Miles and Peter, are really excellent as well.
On the other hand, the gameplay of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is incredible, with the newly added web wings providing both Spider-Men with additional mobility that makes traversing New York City more exciting and satisfying than ever. Swapping between swinging and gliding makes for a riveting experience whenever you need to go anywhere, to the point where I never used the game’s fantastic fast-travel system.
Combat is a blast as both characters are unique enough from one another to make each of their sections equally enjoyable. Miles’ venom abilities all pack such a weighty punch that every hit feels incredible, while Peter’s mechanical arms and symbiote moves feel quick and slick and convey where his character is at nicely. I found myself immediately charging into any ongoing crime that would pop up just so I could fight some more, as you really do feel like a superhuman as you wallop thugs across streets with surprising elegance.
I’ll say, though, that I’m definitely tired of non-Spider-people segments in these games. I could get past the Mary Jane segments of the first game but cramming them in when there are already two Spider-Men to swap between really kills the momentum. Even if they give you an offensive option this time around, I just didn’t buy Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to play as characters who cannot soar through New York and battle foes with superhuman ability. These parts grind the game to a halt to swap to MJ or Hailey and the narrative conveyed through them just doesn’t make up for how much less fun they are. They’re great characters on their own — they’re just not interesting to play as.
I wish the game was a little bit longer with a bit more side content, but everything that’s present is fulfilling. Possible future villains are teased, the activities range between different neat little minigames, and Insomniac seems to have mastered the endorphin-releasing loop of making me stay up to do “one last side thing.” Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is also a gorgeous-looking game, as the city and character designs look remarkable and the different suits have shockingly detailed levels of damage.
The Final Word
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is largely the most fun Spider-Man game yet, even if its story is more uneven than I would have liked. I’m hoping the next game will finally drop the stealth missions, but fighting and flying is the best it’s ever been. Insomniac clearly gets Spider-Man, and how to make these games fun, so I hope the third main title (or whatever the next smaller spin-off is) continues to build on the best parts of this sequel.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
