Platforms: PS5
Genre: Open-World, Action, Comic Book

“With great power, there must also come great responsibility.”

That was the original quote in the very first issue of Spider-Man in Marvel Comics’ Amazing Fantasy #15. Spider-Man is amazing, ultimate, spectacular, sensational, iconic, legendary and every other adjective in between. However, what makes Spider-Man one of the best heroes of all time is how human he is, and how relatable his problems are. Those are primary elements in any of the best Spider-Man stories in any medium.

These final two pages from a special issue (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310) by writer Chip Zdarsky perfectly encapsulate what kind of hero Spider-Man is…

… and I believe that Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 captures that, and as a result, is one of the best superhero (or comic book) games ever made.

Thwip Thwip

What makes Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 so good? To put it in the simplest terms I can, it’s an improvement over 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man in almost every way, especially gameplay-wise. The first game still adhered to and followed conventional open-word tropes and mechanics such as having to open up areas of the map by completing the radio towers, lots of busywork that felt like chores (every area in the city had a progress meter where players had to grind random crimes and other activities), and too many of the same repeating side activities, forced stealth sections with human characters with no powers (the Mary Jane and Miles Morales sections).

Of course, these flaws were not too glaring, especially considering how great the first game was as a whole package. With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac has managed to fix, if not all, most of the few problems and issues that were in the first game, as well as several additional improvements. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 cuts out all the fat and imperfections of Marvel’s Spider-Man for a game that is leaner, streamlined, more focused, and an overall better experience.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 begins similarly to 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man; with an opening setpiece that’s bigger in scale and more epic than facing off against Wilson Fisk AKA the Kingpin in the first game. Of course, I won’t spoil what happens because this will be a spoiler-free review so as to not ruin the experience for anyone playing the game for the first time when it launches.

The biggest new mechanics introduced in this opening setpiece (that essentially acts as a tutorial) include the traversal ability to glide through the air by using the new Web Wings and improvements to how the combat works (more on this later). The Web Wings are a tremendous innovation for a Spider-Man game and it will be extremely hard to play any other future Spider-Man games that don’t include the Web Wings. Why? The Web Wings make it much faster to traverse and travel across New York City, especially in areas that don’t have tall buildings like Central Park, Queens or between boroughs.

In addition, since there are no loading screens in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 due to the power of the PS5, although that does sadly mean the removal of those charming Spider-Man Subway loading screens that’s always a pleasure to look at. Does that mean that there is no fast travel mechanic? There still is, actually, and the fast travel mechanic in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 doesn’t feature a loading screen. It’s much more seamless because as soon as you hold down the fast travel button, your current Spider-Man will instantly swoop in via Web Wings to the exact location that you pressed fast travel for.

As previously mentioned as well, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 fixes many of the issues from the first game. For instance, players no longer have to painstakingly open up areas or districts of the New York City map by completing radio towers like it’s a Ubisoft game. Instead, the whole map is immediately open at the start of the game. There’s a catch though. At the beginning of the game, most of the NYC map will technically be somewhat greyed out, but all you have to do is pass through that district to make it visible. This makes opening up the map more natural and in another improvement, Insomniac has made it so that the map isn’t immediately cluttered with collectibles or side activities from the start.

The way it works in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is that you’ll have to stumble upon a particular collectible by actually passing by it while exploring the city. This makes the act of finding collectibles feel more natural as a part of the exploration process instead of being a checklist of collectibles that you feel forced to do just because it’s already shown on the map. Sure, having to find collectibles by actually exploring the city does take more effort than simply just looking at the map and going there knowing that it’s there, but the new style makes it finding collectibles more dynamic and fun, similar to how it works in more innovative and less conventional open-world games like Red Dead Redemption 2.

Just like in the first game, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 also has completion progress meters for each district in New York City. However, it’s been streamlined and improved so that players no longer have to grind random crimes just to complete a district, Random crimes are now almost completely optional, and they’re basically only there in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as a way for players to obtain the one of the game’s main resources, Tech Parts. The other three resources in the game are City Tokens, Hero Tokens and Rare Tech Parts. That being said, they’re a lot easier to actually obtain this time around, and they don’t feel as much of a grind as in the first game. There are even boxes of Tech Parts lying around the city if you don’t want to do much of the random crimes. As for side activities and side missions, the ones in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 feel less repetitive to play and there is more variety in gameplay this time around.

A lot of them still require players to engage in various minigames and puzzles to complete, but you can just toggle Simplify Puzzles if you really don’t feel like playing them. Still, I’d say that I enjoyed playing all the minigames and puzzles in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 since they don’t repeat themselves too much as to become a chore like in the first game (you know it was a chore in that game when Insomniac even added a Skip Puzzle option back then).

In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, you can pretty much instantly switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales at any time throughout the game when outside of missions. However, certain story missions and side missions will specifically require either Peter or Miles. You don’t have any choice in that regard. The game doesn’t actually offer freedom or multiple choices in terms of whether choosing one or the other Spider-Man will affect or influence the story or narrative outcomes. The story and plot progression are still basically linear and straightforward for the most part, just like it was in the first game. That being said, the freedom comes through in other aspects of the game, including the combat and customization options.

If you’re swinging into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 after having played 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales, the combat will be mostly familiar to you. The basics are the same; square to attack, triangle to web strike or web yank, circle to dodge, cross to jump, triangle and circle to perform stylish Finisher moves, etc. However, the combat has been further refined, polished and with added mechanics to make it feel even more smooth, seamless and satisfying. First, the biggest change is that both Spider-Men now have special abilities or supers to execute during combat. Each Spider-Man has four abilities mapped to a shoulder button and one of the four face buttons, which can be used by pressing L1 and the required face button. For instance, Miles can use Venom Punch by pressing L1 and square. Since Peter doesn’t have Venom powers, his abilities utilize the Spider-Arms. For example, his L1 and square ability is unleashing a combo flurry of attacks using those Spider-Arms.

The other abilities mapped to different face buttons focus on different aspects of combat. The L1 and circle ability is usually for area-of-effect attacks targeting groups of enemies. And no, you can’t spam these abilities because you’ll have to engage in combat (punching, dodging, parrying, etc.) to refill them and make them usable again. I won’t lie, I honestly grew somewhat bored of the combat in the first game because all Peter could do was punch, dodge, and use gadgets. These new abilities spice up the combat, make them more dynamic, and they look awesome as heck too. Plus, the abilities are no longer tied to the suits, so you’ll unlock them as you progress through the story and you can even swap them out.

Meanwhile, gadgets are still available during combat in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Unlike their different abilities, both Peter and Miles use the same four gadgets, which include a drone that shoots at enemies, a concussion grenade, a web gadget that webs up multiple enemies at once and another gadget that I was particularly fond of. This particular gadget shoots a device that pulls in all surrounding enemies towards itself so that they’re gathered in one spot, which is especially useful for enemies who are flying or are far away. Just like abilities, gadgets are mapped to a shoulder button and one of the four face buttons, but they can be used by pressing R1 and the required face button. Just like in the first game, gadgets can be upgraded to be more effective and powerful. Most importantly of all, the combat in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is better than in the first game or 2020’s Miles Morales because you no longer have to disrupt combat flow by opening up a gadget wheel whenever you want to change gadgets. Since all the abilities and gadgets are mapped to the shoulder and face buttons, there’s nothing to disturb the flow of combat anymore. It all flows much more smoothly and seamlessly, and that is amazing.

As for skill trees, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features three skill trees; one for Peter, one for Miles and a third shared skill tree for both of them. These are quite extensive, and many of them usually feature upgrades to either the abilities. Besides that, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 also features another upgrade tree separate from the skill trees and gadgets; Suit Tech upgrades. Just like gadgets, Peter and Miles share these Suit Tech Upgrades, which are to upgrade health, damage and other miscellaneous stuff like faster swinging. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 also features yet another new mechanic; parrying. There are some powerful enemy attacks that you can’t dodge, so you’ll have to parry them. You can also parry light attacks that you’d normally dodge from if you want, but after playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I found myself rarely parrying when I could just dodge instead. It feels more natural and more satisfying to dodge as Spider-Man anyway since that’s part of his whole Spider-Sense schtick and all.

Don’t worry, this isn’t a Soulslike game, so it doesn’t require extreme precision. You can even go into the settings to increase the game’s parry/dodge window if you want. It’s one of many accessibility settings available in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which means that, yes, everyone can play this game regardless of their age or skill level. Yes, this isn’t surprising when most first-party AAA PlayStation games also have extensive accessibility options but I still think it’s worth mentioning every time due to how they improve the experience of playing a given game.

Oh, do you think I’m done discussing the combat? Not yet, of course. The trailers for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 already showed us that Peter will have symbiote abilities, and yeah, they feel very powerful and satisfying to use. Once you unlock the symbiote abilities, you can actually choose to swap between the Spider-Arms or symbiote abilities. Who am I kidding, though? Who in their right mind would choose Spider-Arms over the symbiote, but it’s great to have a choice. It works similarly for Miles as well. No, Miles doesn’t get symbiote abilities, but he does unlock a few more new Venom abilities, so you can swap between those for him. What about other playable characters?

All I can say is that besides Peter and Miles, you will once again play as Mary Jane (MJ). Thankfully, it’s a more enjoyable experience this time around. While the MJ sections still focus on stealth, she now has an offensive ability to take down enemies using a stun gun, so it feels more active this time around rather than not being able to do anything except avoid enemies in the first game. There are only three times you play as MJ, so don’t worry about being forced to play as her too much. Are there any other playable characters? Yes, there are, but I can’t reveal who, so just believe me when I say that one of them is a shocking one. The only exception to that rule, and one I want to mention, is being able to play as a girl named Hailey in one of the game’s side missions. She’s a friend and potential love interest of Miles, and she’s also deaf. In the side mission, you play as Hailey to draw some graffiti around a neighbourhood but what’s unique about it is that you get to experience the world through her unique perspective as a deaf person (this reminds me of that Hawkeye comic run by Matt Fraction and David Aja where there was no dialogue because Clint Barton experienced hearing loss).

One truly last thing about the combat that I want to mention about how they improved the boss fights in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The boss fights in 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man were one of the weakest aspects of the game since they were mostly underwhelming and too brief, like “That’s it?”. That’s been changed and improved in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, as bosses now have actual health bars, but the biggest change is probably that now every boss fight in this game consists of multiple phases, which means that they last longer and players will have the time to actually soak in the epicness of it all when it happens.

Last but not least, let’s touch on the story, plot and narrative of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I can’t, and won’t, go into the specifics. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 follows up a lot on what happened in 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, and 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales to a lesser extent. The story in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 explores subject matter and themes such as grief, second chances, redemption and achieving balance. While I personally don’t think that anything in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 comes close to the emotional wallop of the ending (you know what I’m talking about) in the first game, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (as a whole) has more big moments and unexpected twists that will leave players shocked and excited. Both the story missions and the side missions in the game have some prominent easter eggs and references for fans of the comics as well.

Both Peter and Miles are fleshed out and receive a lot of character development and growth in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but it’s clear that this game is still more Peter’s game than it is Mile’s (in terms of story, not gameplay). Not overwhelmingly so, but just enough that this could be a swansong for Peter if Insomniac wants it to be.

There’s also a lot of emotional depth in the relationship between Peter and Harry Osborn, which was a pleasant surprise considering that we’ve never even physically met Harry Osborn in the previous two games. The game fleshes out their relationship via a long but much-needed flashback sequence (to when they were still teenagers in school) in the first few hours of the game, as well as in other scenes throughout the game. There are also some nice surprises in store for players when it comes to Harry’s character. Also, while their relationship is a highlight in the game, Insomniac doesn’t ignore Peter’s relationship with other characters as well, including Mary Jane and Miles.

As for the elephant in the room, Peter Parker’s new face model definitely looks much better in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, probably because Insomniac has had more time to work on the new face model for this game. You’ll definitely warm up to it pretty quickly when playing through the game. And with Yuri Lowenthal’s brilliant voice acting, you’ll soon forget Peter ever had another face.

With games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, you really don’t need reviewers like me to tell you how beautiful it looks, but I’ll confirm it anyways. This is truly one of the best-looking games on the PS5 since the console launched back in 2020. Just like Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart (also by Insomniac Games and a must-play if you have a PS5) and God Of War Ragnarok before it, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a showcase for the console. It’s one of those games that you can confidently show off to non-gamers to impress them on how far games have come in terms of graphical and cinematic prowess.

The graphics don’t just look pretty either. Insomniac Games has managed to insert so much loving detail into the world of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. One new feature that might be easy to miss, but will be appreciated by many, is how both Spider-Men will look battle-damaged (with rips and tears in their suits) if you sustain a certain amount of damage in a fight. This battle-damaged look only lasts for a bit before the game resets the Spider-Men back to their clean look, but it’s nice to see. When Miles joins you in battle during story moments or random crimes, it never gets old seeing two Spider-Men in action at the same time. These are all probably only possible on the PS5, so I’m glad that Insomniac decided to make this a PS5 exclusive and not cross-platform like God Of War Ragnarok.

I’m happy to say that there are no major flaws in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. It already improves on the first game and fixes almost all the problems from that game. If I were to mention any problems in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it would likely be the camera. The camera sometimes struggles to follow the intense action, and it’s easy to have it stuck somewhere annoying, which is what happens when you fight enemies indoors or in tight enclosed areas.

Other than that, it depends on your preference but I reckon some players would find the shorter length of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as being a flaw. I’d argue that it’s not. It took me around 26 hours (give or take) to obtain the Platinum trophy for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. I remember 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man being at least a few hours longer.

However, the only reason that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is shorter than 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man is because there’s not as much busywork in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. There aren’t as many collectibles, and as I mentioned above, you don’t have to perform frustrating activities like opening up the map with radio towers. When you subtract and remove all that unnecessary content from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, you get a leaner and more satisfying game, albeit one that doesn’t offer as much playtime. It’s simply quality over quantity in this case, and this is not a case of there being less content in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

That being said, I admit that there’s not really much to do post-game, as the game doesn’t offer a New Game Plus mode yet at the time of writing.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is as close to perfect as a Spider-Man game can be. It has emotion and heart; as well as inspiring me to be a better person just like the best superhero stories do. The gameplay in this game is undeniably the best of any Spider-Man game ever made to date. This marks a new gold standard for superhero and comic book games in this current generation, just like Activision’s Spider-Man 2 did in 2004 and Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham Asylum did in 2009.

If I could choose just one game that can boast of being a console seller for the PS5 and also be a massive reason to justify buying a PS5, it’s definitely Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

PROS

• Many improvements over 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, such as removing the radio towers and busywork.
• Refined and more polished combat with new mechanics such as abilities, removing the gadget wheel, abilities no longer being ties to suits, parrying and more.
• Better and more epic boss fights.
• Brilliant story, plot and narrative, with the relationship between Peter and Harry being the highlight.
• Some of the best and most astounding visuals yet for a current-gen PS5 game.
• Being Spider-Man never felt this good.

CONS

• The game can be “relatively short” (around 25 or 26 hours to Platinum and complete everything 100 percent) & no New Game+ (yet).

FINAL SCORE: 100/100

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was reviewed on PS5 based on a review copy provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation Asia. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is slated to launch for the PS5 on 20 October 2023.