Buy Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 opens up a while after the events of Miles Morales. Peter and Miles are the heroes of the city, but both are struggling with balancing their real lives with the demands of superhero life. Peter can't keep a job, and Miles can barely focus on his college applications. Things get far worse for them with the arrival of Kraven the Hunter. The most dangerous man in the world, Kraven and his band of Hunters arrive in New York looking for the ultimate prey, and before the heroes know it, they're forced to contend with Kraven's minions as they go after every superpowered individual in the city … including Martin Li, the man who murdered Miles' father. As if that weren't enough, Peter's longtime friend Harry Osborn has returned to the spotlight, seemingly cured of his terrible illness and eager to resume friendship with Peter. Of course, that cure doesn't come without costs, and before long, the Spider-Men are thrown into a massive melee that threatens to tear apart their lives — and New York City.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has a larger cast to juggle, so the plot isn't as focused as it was in the first game, but it does a good job of making it work. You spend a lot more time with various cast members who are dealing with their own particular foibles, flaws, fears and dramas, and at times, the game can feel like a soap opera. This is perfectly fine because most of the best Spider-Man comics and movies feel the same way. It still feels very much like Peter's game, but Miles gets enough focus and time to shine that he doesn't seem shortchanged. He probably comes out of this looking better than Peter.

If I had one complaint about the plot, it is that it feels like it's the middle part of a trilogy. While it does have its own self-contained story, it also spends a lot of time building up for Marvel's Spider-Man 3, and I don't know if that does it any favors. There are several plot threads that get shuffled off to "wait for the sequel," which feels weak compared to the first game. It also relies too heavily on "Parker Luck," with Peter never seeming to catch a meaningful break and spending most of the game getting his butt kicked either emotionally or literally. It's part of Spider-Man mythos that Peter Parker can't catch a break, but Miles feels like a more well-balanced character this time around.

In Marvel's Spider-Man 2, you play as both Peter and Miles. While free-roaming, you can swap between the two at any point unless the story has a reason for not allowing it. Certain missions and side objectives require you to choose one, but otherwise, you can use your favorite Spider-Man. Each has a different set of skills and abilities, but one doesn't feel inferior to the other. The game balances both well, and I never felt like one was the "true" Spider-Man.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 still takes place in the same New York City as the first two games, but it's been slightly expanded. There are plenty of changes to the world, but there are also a lot of familiar landmarks. It can be tricky to make a familiar map feel exciting after two previous games have already explored it.

What has changed is how you move through the world. All of the movement mechanics from the first two games are back in full force, and you begin with the same level of movement techniques as you had ended with in the previous games. The game has added new techniques that provide more options. For example, you can set up web catapults that give you a huge forward momentum boost. In some locations, they can give you a huge vertical boost, too.

The most significant addition is the Web Wings, which I was most worried about. Using special web gliders positioned under the arms, Peter and Miles can both glide through the air. In certain areas, they can even catch wind streams so they can fly extremely quickly forward, briefly making the game feel more like Superman than Spider-Man. Like many gliding mechanics, this is limited, and the longer you glide without wind, the slower you get, but you can dive downward to gain momentum and keep going forward at a cost to verticality.

I was worried this would devalue the swinging mechanics, but it doesn't. Gliding is useful in areas with lots of wind or few buildings to swing from, but web-swinging is faster almost every other time. Instead of flying over everything, you're rewarded far more heavily by using the same swinging mechanics and adding gliding where it seems right. It still feels a little odd to see Spider-Man flying through the air, but it adds fun to your mobility.

On the surface, the combat system is very similar to the one from the first game. It's still a fast-paced, almost Arkham-like system, and almost every move or ability from the first game has translated over. You begin with a lot of moves that you originally had to unlock in the first game, but some still require an investment of skill points. It's like Miles Morales and the DLC for the first game in that it expects that you've honed your skills on the system, and it quickly starts to hand out new moves and gameplay mechanics.

One of the biggest additions is that you now have two different defensive actions. The first is the same dodge mechanic from the first game, while the second is a new parry move that allows you to block and counter melee attacks. Both moves are effective defensive options in most situations, but parry is more useful against melee attacks and not particularly effective against ranged attacks. However, some color-coded attacks can only be parried or only be dodged, and they are usually some of the more dangerous in the game, so you'll need to keep an eye on the enemy instead of just mashing the dodge button.

Another change is how skills and gadgets work. Each character now has a slot for four skills and four gadgets, which are activated by holding either L1 or R1 and pressing one of the face buttons. Skills, which are moves like Miles' Venom abilities, are powerful damaging abilities that have a cooldown. While there are four skill slots, certain skills can only be equipped in certain slots. Miles can keep his Venom Punch or trade it out for Chain Lightning, a move that has better crowd control but is less effective for a single target. However, he can't trade that for his new Galvanize move, which electrifies an enemy when Miles punches them in the air. Each character also has a super move with its own meter. Miles has the Venom Mega Blast from Miles Morales, while Peter can let the symbiote take over and smash things, which gives him increased attack power for a short amount of time.

Gadgets receive a big buff in usability in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. They are now bound to simple button presses and are easily integrated into combat. Most of the gadgets are new and designed almost exclusively around combat rather than stealth. Unlike skills, they don't function on a cooldown but are recharged by using skills, finishers and combos. This encourages you to get in with your fists, since gadgets are incredibly strong tools.

Combat strongly encourages players to use every tool in their arsenal, unlike the first game, which treated tools as a fun extra. It's most effective to wipe out enemies if you're constantly swapping between various combat options. This is important because one of the other big changes with Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the significant increase in the number of enemies at one time. Most fights have more enemies (and more special enemies, like Brutes or Shields), so skirmishes can quickly get overwhelming, especially when you consider balancing the two defensive options. The boss fights also use tools more, so it makes them feel like an integrated part of the combat system.

In comparison, stealth feels largely the same as in Miles Morales. You have almost all of the same skills and abilities, but you're trading away some of the gadgets for the new Web Line feature. It allows you to create a tightrope anywhere you can see, so you're no longer limited to specific areas when trying to stealth-defeat an enemy. This makes stealth much easier, and the game seems to have de-emphasized stealth, so it's a fun option rather than a requirement.

This carries over to the Mary Jane segments, which also return from the first game. For a lot of people, that probably elicits a groan of displeasure, but the developers seem to have taken the complaints to heart. Mary Jane received combat training from Silver Sable in the time between games, and now, her "stealth" segments are extremely aggressive and no longer insta-fail. Instead, she's able to take down enemies from behind or by getting close enough to shock them with her super-taser, which also gets upgrades. Being discovered puts her at risk, but she can take several hits from enemies before going down; being alerted to her doesn't prevent foes from taking a shock to the neck. It may still not please people who only want to play as a spider-person, but of the playable characters, Mary Jane almost felt like the strongest.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 also does away with the large number of customization options from the first games. Rather than unlock mods by unlocking new suits, players now have Suit Tech trees, which are passive upgrades available at all times. Some of the trees have multiple choices, such as regaining health on dodge versus regaining health on parry, but you can swap between those choices. New suits are still in the game but are entirely cosmetic. For most of the suits, you can unlock three alternate color schemes, with the only exception being the suits from the various Spider-Man movies, which are locked to their specific color schemes.

To some degree, "bigger but fewer" is true of most of Marvel's Spider-Man 2's design. The open world has had its various collectibles severely trimmed back. There are still plenty of collectibles, such as Spider-Bots themed after various characters from the Spiderverse movies, but a lot of the cruft has been cut out. You don't need to grind random crimes or activate towers or anything of the sort. Instead, the game seems to be focused on making individual sequences more meaningful. The Hunter bases are a great example. Similar bases existed in the first game, but there are far fewer of them in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Each base is a longer affair where you have to find three Hunter Blinds to find weaknesses in the base to exploit, such as communications to disable to prevent reinforcements. The base is an extremely large environment you can approach however you'd like, and it usually has multiple rooms and floors. The result is that there are fewer bases to beat, but each one is more involved and interesting.

It is a choice that is an overall improvement, even if I was initially skeptical. To some degree, it makes the game feel a tad smaller, but it also means that you're usually doing something that's more interesting than a cookie-cutter activity. There are still some randomly occurring crimes, but it ends up feeling more focused. There's still an absurd amount of things to do, but the number feels low enough that completing all of the challenges feels nice and natural.

The game also has a lot of delightful little touches that help make the world feel more alive. For example, when playing as one Spider-Man, you might discover the other in the middle of a fight, or they might find you in one, and you'll team up, which includes special co-op moves. If you're fighting alongside someone else, they'll also have their own moves and gimmicks, even if it's just for that sequence. There's even a short period of time when another vigilante is helping out, and they might appear in fights, just like the other Spiderfolk. Sadly, the in-game Twitter featured in the first two games is no more, which is a shame because it really added some nice texture to the world.

With all of that positivity out of the way, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 feels a lot like more of the first game. The changes are mostly for the better or side-upgrades, but it feels a lot like the first game. That is far from a criticism since the first game was excellent, but you shouldn't expect upgrades like Breath of the Wild to Tears of the Kingdom. It's bigger and better in most places, but it's also a very safe sequel. It just happens to be a very safe sequel to an excellent game, and if it feels any lesser, it is just because that level of quality is expected instead of a pleasant surprise.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 looks great. The environments, animations, and pretty much everything look amazing. The character models are great, and Peter's new character design looks way better than in the adjusted Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales. One detail I really like is that suits now show battle damage, with each suit having different ways of showing wear and tear. The voice acting is also superb, with some fantastic performances from most of the major cast members. The Candyman's Tony Todd as Venom in particular is basically perfect casting and absolutely owns the role, despite having not a huge amount of dialogue.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a great sequel to a great game. It's bigger and more focused, and it captures everything that made the first game work. From start to finish, it is as fun to play as its predecessor, and if it has one "flaw," it is that you're getting exactly what you'd expect. I can't get enough of the game, so when I completed it, I instantly set out to finish all of the challenges. Kudos to the development team.

Score: 9.0/10