Marvel's Spider-Man 2 review: Everything everywhere all at once

Propped up by some excellent gameplay loops, strong character arcs and a very cinematic look and feel (it still befuddles me as to why people think that’s a bad thing), it’s a very good follow-up to the 2018 and 2020 titles. (Image: Insomniac/Sony)

There’s a real temptation to go overboard when putting down thoughts about a game of this sort — one made by a Sony-owned AAA studio, with a rumoured budget of $210 million and based on an extremely popular comic superhero. The launch of this sort of title usually evokes two reactions.

The first is the outpouring of such superlatives as ‘best’, ‘greatest’, absolutely extraordinary’ and those two most (it’s got me going with the superlatives too!) cringe-inducing abbreviations, ‘GOTY’ and ‘GOAT’. That’s ‘game of the year’ and ‘greatest of all time’ if you were wondering.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

If by this point you’ve stopped squirming at all that, there’s the other reaction: This is a terrible game because it’s published by Sony, it’s too formulaic, it’s only a collection of cutscenes and it doesn’t make me die 100 times so as to make me ‘git gud’ and worship at the altar of the game’s brilliant developer.

Both are equally cloying, but both sets of views tend to dominate the discourse about such games.

Having played the PlayStation 5 exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (that launched on October 20) over the past few days, I’ve arrived at a conclusion about Insomniac Games’ latest blockbuster that falls somewhere in between the two reactions detailed above. But just where on the scale it lies is something you’ll only find out if you read on.

A proper sequel

Much like the mainline Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) that features Peter Parker and the briefer spinoff Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020), this game also starts with an elaborate set piece that acquaints you with the controls and the variety of tricks at your disposal. And there are a great deal more of these than before.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

For instance, the image above depicts the very moment that you learn that you can use Web Wings to glide and how to do it. Spider-Man 2’s opening set piece expands manifold on the takedown of Wilson Fisk in the first game and Rhino in the spinoff to put down a real marker for what gamers can expect from this instalment. While it’s a largely accurate marker, I’d be remiss not to mention one glaring fly (or spider, possibly) in the ointment. And that is that this is quite likely the buggiest first-party PS5 game I’ve seen this generation.

Compared with Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarök, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Returnal to name just a few, Spider-Man 2 is riddled with tiny visual glitches (like the odd NPC disappearing), a handful of non-responsive button cues and some blatant instances of untidy clipping (like leaves poking through Spider-Man’s head for instance). It’s worth noting that I also experienced all of this after installing the Day One patch.

While one of the bugs I encountered necessitated loading up an earlier save file, it’s a rare blemish on the record of a publisher that normally ships games in tip-top condition. Move on from all of that and what you have is a game that looks magnificent and plays wonderfully.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

And the first part of that is the city and getting around it. At first, it seems like the maps used for Spider-Man and Miles Morales have been stuck together for this game, but on closer examination, not only is the recreation of New York City far larger than both the previous maps combined but it’s also more detailed. Peek into windows and the scenes unfolding inside are less copy-paste and more thoughtfully placed across the city. Further, the city is no longer a glut of skyscrapers. Instead, different parts of the city have different architecture, types of buildings and concentrations of trees, giving them distinctly different looks and feels.

Nowhere is this more appreciable than during traversal. While I enjoyed the story and action of both Spider-Man and Miles Morales, it was the traversal that I found most enjoyable in both games. The ability to swing through New York City’s concrete jungle and zip past its most recognisable landmarks was addictive and had me coming back for brief sessions just to clear my head after a long day. Bear in mind, this was long after the credits had rolled and we were in post-game territory.

With Spider-Man 2, Insomniac Games has doubled down by making the traversal more customisable and adding the ability to use Web Wings. The former is important because it helps you reduce swing assist and gives your webbed heroes more realistic physics to deal with when making their respective ways across the city. What this means is that you can either find your own sweet spot in terms of swing physics or give yourself a real navigational challenge. What Web Wings does is effectively nullify the game’s fast travel system because no matter the distance, it’s a cinch to zoom across there while enjoying the sights.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

In a way, this is a shame because fast travel has been turned into a near-work of art, such is the speed at which it loads and the efficiency with which it drops you to within a few metres of the exact part of the map you select. And the manner in which you unlock fast travel has also been simplified, requiring you to merely locate a handful of collectables in a particular area. Interestingly, this seems to be a trend across the game with several tedious bits from past games (like unlocking fast travel towers and stopping runaway vehicles) being streamlined and simplified. Gone too is the absolute asininity of chasing pigeons around, as seen in the Miles Morales solo outing.

In this regard, Insomniac’s development team seems to have had a keen finger on the pulse of what gamers want and has accordingly expanded and shrunken different gameplay loops. Key among the former is the kicking and punching stuff. From the opening battle-cum-tutorial featuring Sandman, as seen above, to the adrenaline-pumping and admittedly exhausting series of fights that constitute the final boss battle, combat remains a major attraction of the franchise.

This time though, there are three branching skill trees (one apiece for Peter and Miles, and the third is a combined one) that include enough attacks, moves and combos to make every fight a different experience. With the addition of Venom abilities granted by the Symbiote, there’s an added move set baked in. Additionally, enemy AI has undergone a significant tweak with enemies seeking to flank you, box you in and eliminate you by any means necessary. This makes a lot of one-versus-many battles claustrophobic yet exciting experiences.

Kraven the who?

The bottomline is that gameplay has been elevated greatly by the expanded traversal and combat, and variety of minigames and side quests on offer. What’s more, even Mary Jane Watson’s customary stealth missions have been sharpened and made more fun. It’s worth pointing out also that there’s a far larger-than-expected number of side missions that have you riding around on a bicycle. Also, do note that my expected number of cycle missions was exactly zero.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

This brings us neatly to what in my view is the shakiest aspect of Spider-Man 2: The story. Very briefly, after shutting down Sandman’s initial bout of belligerence, Peter and Miles discover a new threat to the city — one who seems to have a small country’s army at his disposal, sophisticated technology to bring a city to its knees and a penchant for killing supervillains. Now I’ve never read the comic books but if you were familiar with Kraven the Hunter before this game, then kudos to you. I was not and remain thoroughly unconvinced by him and his central conceit.

We are to believe that Kraven is, well, a hunter, who only seeks out the most elusive prey with deadly knives, battle axes and arrows. And yet, it seems most of the hunting is done by his lackeys, who use drones, robotic dogs and sophisticated cloaking technology to trap and imprison supervillains for him to kill at his leisure. So much for being a hunter. Also, saving supervillains isn’t the ideal way for a pair of Spider-Men to be spending their time.

Further, Kraven’s flimsy motivation and raison d'etre might work in comic books. It may even work in the film adaptation that is set to release next year. But in order to follow up The Sinister Six (the supervillains Spider-Man tangles within the first game), you need a more interesting and dare-I-say less unidimensional primary antagonist.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

I’ll elaborate on this point for just a while longer. The genre of superhero games and films is such that after the origin story or the first chapter (or not at all in the case of Black Adam), the focus shifts from the protagonist/s to the antagonist/s. After all, it’s inconceivable that Thanos’ presence wasn’t responsible for most of the hype around the two most recent Avengers films. The Arkham series of Batman games have always done a very good job of keeping players interested by throwing a bevy of diabolical villains at them.

Now, considering the first three-quarters or so of the game see Kraven essay the role of the main baddie in Spider-Man 2, I found myself enjoying the side content far more than the main storyline for considerable stretches of the game.

Of course, things pick up considerably after the 75 percent mark, but that’s spoiler territory and I shall avoid it. However, sitting alongside the stodgy Kraven content though is some excellent and emotional storytelling.

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

Spider-Man and Miles Morales had the big emotional ‘losing a loved one’ angles covered quite fulsomely, but in Spider-Man 2, it’s a more subtle exploration of relationships and the pathos of Peter, Miles and those affected by their actions. The arguably more mature storytelling works incredibly well and almost serves to wash away the stale taste of the Kraven stuff. Elsewhere, while there is a fair bit of fan service at play, it all lands rather successfully.

GOAT or AAA bloat?

As promised earlier, my verdict is neither that Spider-Man 2 is the greatest thing since sliced bread nor the worst since COVID-19. If you were looking forward to this game, then I have some good news for you, because while it isn’t the sort of thoroughly polished Sony-published titles you might be used to, it’s a solid outing.

Propped up by some excellent gameplay loops, strong character arcs and a very cinematic look and feel (it still befuddles me as to why people think that’s a bad thing), it’s a very good follow-up to the 2018 and 2020 titles. Instead of seeking to merely advance the story, Spider-Man 2 does that and expands on almost every single aspect of the game in a manner that keeps all the moving parts perfectly in motion. It is serene yet frantic, streamlined yet bursting with things to experience, low on overt emotion but high on thought-provoking content. Spider-Man 2 is not the ‘game of the year’ for me, because that title belongs to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in my opinion, however, it is probably one of the best ways to spend the ongoing season of festivities. Oh, and did I mention it also features this guy?

(Image: Insomniac/Sony)

Game reviewed on PlayStation 5. Review code provided by publisher.