Spider-Man 2 Review
Spider-Man 2
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Insomniac Games
Genre:
PEGI: 16
Comments:
The time has come for my most anticipated game of the year Spider-Man 2. When Insomniac Games released the first Spider-Man in 2018 people were excited but didn’t know 100% to expect, after they got their hands on it, many people (me included) considered it to be in the top tier of superhero games with the likes of the Arkham Series.
Traversal was done in such an amazing and fun way that had never been done before, so people were having a blast. They followed that up with the 2020 release of Miles Morales and the Spider-Man Remaster to follow it up, each one looking and playing better than the game before it.
When they first announced Spider-Man 2, and the fact we would play as both Peter and Miles, I was a little skeptical on how that would work. Along with the announcement of Kraven and Venom and more villains as well I thought it might be a case of, they are throwing in too much for this game. I am very happy to report, that is 100% not the case, this is video game perfection.
Yes, you can change between Spider-Men on the fly whenever you want to for the most part, there are character specific missions, however. Also, each character has their own skill tree as well as a combined skill tree for abilities that are common between the two. One of the other cool things is because the city of New York really is alive in this game you can actually run into the other Spider-Man when stopping a crime and also have some sweet double team finishing moves. To top it all off too, you can even recreate the iconic meme right in game.
As mentioned above New York is totally different this time around. The city is MUCH more crowded and more accurate to how it should be, busy streets, traffic, it’s all there. Cars do not simply pop in and pop out in the horizon; you can follow them around as they drive around the city.
People will walk for blocks and blocks and have dialogue as it goes along. There are street peddlers, protestors, people playing basketball, sitting at the park. It really is quite a marvel (pun intended) at the capabilities of the PS5, this is all done with no load times or buffering that we can see. You can completely traverse from one end of New York to the other seamlessly. Insomniac really outdid themselves with the sights and sounds of NYC.
With this games addition of webwings, you can glide very long distances in a high speed thanks to jet streams. Pair that up with the already amazing web slinging and it’s a blast just to travel around the city. Sure, you can unlock fast travel locations, but I found myself only using them VERY rarely, as it just feels so amazing to travel.
Combat too feels as good as ever, the speed in which the Spider-Men move is just amazing. You can blend the typical punches and kicks with gadgets, special abilities and devastating finishers.
In Spider-Man 2, Miles uses his electric Venom powers; Peter uses the Iron spider arms or symbiote powers depending on where you are in the game. You do again have the ability to play as MJ, although she’s gotten quite an upgrade since her first adventure and with her time overseas and can now handle her own. There are a few others you take control of, but I will leave those as a pleasant surprise. But the whole gang is back, MJ, Genke, Harry, Norman, and many others to boot.
Aside from the spectacular game mechanics, the writing again is top notch. The team with Insomniac has this great ability to take familiar story lines but truly twist them and make them their own in a unique and entertaining way even for the oldest comic fans.
One of the greatest achievements they did was give both Miles and Peter unique plot points that let each of them stand out on their own, confront their own problems, their own insecurities, and the balance of being themselves and Spider-Man. While Miles may look up to Peter as a mentor, they both teach each other and are both the main character in this tale, Miles does not feel like a sidekick this time around.
This game also makes side missions and quests important; you aren’t just getting more XP to grind out your characters, you are getting more of the story and figuring out what is going on.
So sure, you can mainline the story and get the gist, but to experience everything they want to tell you and want you to experience you will need to spend some time on these. But that’s the great thing, they do not feel like a chore, they are rewarding in themselves as well as getting unique suits and parts along the way. As with most 1st party exclusives they also do a great job utilizing the dual sense as well as 3D spatial audio.
All in all, this game is an absolute masterpiece, both technologically speaking and in gameplay, story and fun factor. It is hard to imagine a more perfect superhero game. Yes, I know on Metacritic both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City rank higher, but they are in NO way a better game than this, and I am a massive Batman fan. Spider-Man 2 is an absolute must play for any Playstation owner, hands down.
Trailer
Article By Kevin Austin
Kevin Austin has been in gaming journalism in one way or another since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube. Married and father of 3 children he has been gaming since the ripe age of 6 when he got his first NES system and over 30 years later he is still gaming almost daily. Kevin is also co-founder of the Play Some Video Games (PSVG) Podcast network which was founded over five years ago and is still going strong. Some of his favorite gaming series includes Fallout and Far Cry, he is a sucker for single player adventure games (hence his big reviews for Playstation), and can frequently be found getting down in one battle royale or another. If it's an oddball game, odds are he's all about it.
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