Since Spider-Man 2 is a sequel to two games that focus on different fan favourite characters, I was excited to see how Insomniac would give them both enough love in a sequel that saw them both be playable at almost any time, especially considering how different they both are.
I shouldn’t have been worried because Spider-Man 2 perfectly combines what made Peter’s debut and Miles Morales great in their own right, all while giving both characters time to shine in the series’ best story yet.
Spider-Man 2’s central story juggles a lot of threads. There’s Kraven, who is hunting other villains throughout New York. Miles and his role as the city’s second Spider-Man. MJ and Peter’s blossoming relationship. And even the introduction of the Venom symbiote you’ll have seen in trailers. Considering the main story is no longer than the first game’s, it’s really impressive how well Insomniac has managed to balance every strand.
Harry and Peter reconnect, certain villains come and go, and MJ struggles to find her place in the world of journalism, all before the symbiote becomes a significant part of the story.
It also allows the first half of the story to focus properly on Kraven the Hunter, who is a terrifying villain. As is the case with all of the best bad guys, Kraven doesn’t do a whole lot himself, but you can always feel his presence as Miles and Peter explore New York. He’s powerful and a real match for both Spider-Men.
The highlight of the story for me, though, is its use of Miles Morales. Peter is great, largely because of how lovely a kid he is, but Miles gets the most growth of anyone.
As the younger, less experienced Spider-Man, Miles feels secondary in Peter’s world. An assistant of sorts who turns up when his friend needs him. When Harry returns to Peter’s life and Kraven starts causing havoc, Miles finds himself being ghosted by his fellow Spider-Man and feeling a little out of place.
As a result, Miles isn’t used a whole lot in the first half of the game, which initially feels like a waste, but it’s a great way of accentuating how he feels. As the story evolves, so does Miles, showing more growth than any other character and setting him up for a brilliant future. Much like Peter, he’s a great human being, and he comes into his own in Spider-Man 2.
From start to finish, Spider-Man 2’s story is wonderfully paced and punctuated by well written and performed characters. It starts off at break-neck speed before settling down as the story builds. The level of cutscene quality and writing is levels above almost any other open world game. It’s all well and good feeling as good to play as Insomniac’s Spider-Man series does, but this sequel matches the story-telling quality of PlayStation’s other big exclusive series.
And wow does Spider-Man 2 feel good to play. The combination of fluid traversal and satisfying combat make for one of the most consistently enjoyable action games out there. While the two Spider-Men are different personalities out of the suit, ensuring they’re different enough with the mask on is a tough ask, but I think Insomniac has done a good job.
When swinging through Manhattan or wing-suiting around Brooklyn, both Miles and Peter feel the same. The thing is, that traversal feels so good that it doesn’t matter. The speed of it is so satisfying, and the fact you can play around with point launches, tricks, and dives makes it all significantly more engaging than just swinging about. The addition of the wingsuit does add enough variety over the first game too. It allows you to cross large open spaces quickly and reach top speed easily.
The way Insomniac has altered fast travel is perfect too. Instead of finding or unlocking points, it’s a reward for exploration and completing enough of a district’s open world activities. That encourages you to do one of two things: just travel anywhere manually, or engage with the side activities enough that you unlock the ability. When traversal feels this good though, why would you want to fast travel at all?
Once faced with bad guys, combat is once again fluid and satisfying, but with some really smart new features. On top of the gadgets that mess with enemies, phenomenally cinematic finishers, and attacks that pack a punch, you now have an arsenal of abilities tied to R1 and a face button.
They’re different for Miles and Peter, and differ once again when the symbiote comes into play, and they’re excellent additions to the flow of combat. They fit perfectly into combos and add a level of power that I didn’t feel like Spidey had in the first game.
They can also be combined in smart ways. One gadget pulls all nearby enemies together and one ability launches any nearby enemies into the air with a burst of lightning, taking them all out at once.
It’s impossible to understate quite how good combat in Spider-Man 2 feels. Swinging up on a ground of Hunters and smacking the life out of them with electric, venom, or gadget based attacks all in one combo is one of the best feelings in gaming. It provides a rush few other games do, all with spotless presentation.
Stealth is less abundant in Spider-Man 2, but one key improvement has been made to it. Both Spideys now have the ability to fire a web line from any perch to anything else, for you to sneak across and silently grab enemies from.
It adds so much more freedom to stealth encounters, to the point I often had 5 to 10 different web lines dotted around an area as I took every enemy out one by one. Once again, it’s just massively satisfying.
Everything Spider-Man 2 does well is allowed to shine by the fact that it is absolutely flawless technically. Aside from one bug that meant the final Spider-Bot collectible mission wouldn’t activate, the game is immaculate. New York, as well as the new Queens and Brooklyn areas over the river, are gorgeous, and while some of it feels familiar, the map is certainly more varied than it has been before.
Spider-Man 2’s side content is where I think most players’ issues will be. The fact that Spider-Man 2 is one of the only games I’ve ever completed to 100% during the review period will tell you how much I enjoyed it all, but some of it is a little simple.
It’s all new for the series, with new enemies to face, new puzzle designs to get your head around, and new characters to meet, but they’re almost all short lived. Puzzle tasks take a matter of second, and combat encounter are often limited to single groups of bad guys.
It’s all fun to play, albeit a bit safe. New, complex ideas would be welcome, as enjoyable as swinging around and ticking things off is.
It’s hard to find any small issues frustrating when Spider-Man 2 is such a joy to play. I could swing around as the two friendly neighbourhood superheroes forever without getting bored. For the story to be so spectacular on top of everything is pretty stunning.
Reviewed on PS5. A code was provided by the publisher.