Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

To be fair to this game I feel like it needs to be said, but I’m a huge Spider-Man fan, so even if this game was bad, a part of me would love it. Thankfully that is not the case, it’s incredible, and within the first 5 minutes I was hooked. I played through the first 2 games in the week leading up to Spider-Man 2 as a refresher and 2 feels like a natural progression. I felt right at home, I felt like I was Spider-Man. 

I could talk about how much I love Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 all day, but in the interest of being fair, let’s start with the bad parts of the game. The third act pacing is a bit off. The ending doesn’t have a proper build up. Don’t get it mistaken, it is an amazing story and ending that rivals some of the best superhero stories across all of media. Even the ending of the game is incredible, and rivals some of the best endings across all of video games, but the build up feels rushed.

Even with a rushed ending the story is amazing. From the opening of the game, until the credits rolled, and even after I was hooked. It’s not a 200 hour epic, and it is not as long as the first game, but with all the side content included, the $70 is more than justified. 

Length aside, the actual plot of the story is also great. This game feels like a part 2 more than a sequel. It is a really good progression of the story Insomniac has been building throughout their saga. There are contunitions of plots from both Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales. Everything is extremely well thought out, and of course they even leave room for so much more. One complaint about the plot is that some villains could have played a larger role, but would that have fit the story they are trying to tell? And even though they may have played a smaller role this time around, only the future will tell how big of a role they could play. I don’t want to go too into detail on the plot because it is fun and the surprises and big moments are best experienced blind. I am a firm believer in having an idea of what you’re getting into that makes an experience so much better, and with this, I could set expectations high, and you would still be blown away. Let’s get back into what got me so invested in those first few minutes though. The opening to this game would be the epic finale to most other games, and it’s just the opening. All I really want to talk about is the plot but I don’t want to spoil it, but if you like superheros in any capacity this is a must experience. 

Now one of the best parts of the game is Yuri Lowenthal, the voice of Spider-Man (Peter). Lowenthal did an incredible job. All the voices in the game are amazing, but Lowenthal takes it to another level. In the emotional hits of the story, you can really feel the emotion in Spider-Man’s voice. There is a late game section where Spider-Man is fearful of something, and the voice acting is on another level. I was emotionally invested because of how good Lowenthal’s performance is. 

With all of that out of the way, there are a lot of changes to the game. The core combat is the same, but gadgets have been reworked, and now both Spider-Men have abilities they can use in combat. The Spider-men have 4 gadgets, and abilities they can use during combat. There are only 4 ability slots, but they can be switched on the fly and each Spider-Man has several they can use. The abilities are great. The abilities make each Spider-Man feel like a unique fighter and add a refreshing mix to the combat system. If you played the first two games and liked the combat you will like this.

One part of the game that added a lot to the experience was the attention to detail. When the Spider-Men swing through trees leaves will follow, Breaking a fire hydrant will spew water everywhere. Even sometimes in random fights throughout the city the other Spider-Man will join in the fight. The most impressive part of the attention to detail is suit damage. As a player takes damage during a fight their suit will take damage in real time.

Spider-Man wouldn’t be Spider-Man without New York City, and Insomniac has created a good one. The buildings feel huge, and with the addition of Brooklyn and Queens there is more city than ever to explore. The city is huge, but it is also filled with things to do. There are many collectibles, side missions, and challenges that will keep players invested long after the credits roll. However the collectibles this time around are not as fun as in the previous games, but there are still a lot of fun easter eggs here.  

Getting around the huge city is easier than ever because of the addition of webwings. The webwings work extremely well. The wings are an addition that the player doesn’t have to make use of, that add another layer of an already great traversal system. Another interesting feature is the addition to turn on fall damage and turn  off swing assist. Turning off swing assist makes gravity and physics play a much bigger part in swinging.  Having to deal with gravity and such may sound like a chore, but it makes swinging a bit more rewarding because it’s a bit harder. Although I only used it once to test it, fast travel is in this game, and impressively it is instant.  There is a lot to say about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 but to put it shortly this is a game of the year candidate. From the plot to the gameplay the game is a masterpiece.