Marvel's Spider-Man 2

A Spectacular Web Of Refinement

Insomniac Games have long held a very dear spot deep within my heart, having shaped my childhood with Spyro and Ratchet and Clank in my formative years, and then Resistance through my early teens - an IP that I continue to mourn and sing the praises of to this day. When they publicly took the helm of Spider-Man, my favourite superhero in my favourite overall IP of all time (Marvel), my head nearly exploded.

Miles Morales and Peter Parker prepare for an incoming threat.

Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) and its 2020 successor Miles Morales have, as many know, taken the world by storm and has become an iconic take on the characters and that world. Penetrating into comics and mainstream blockbuster films like Across The Spider-Verse is the tip of the iceberg. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 launched a mere month and a half ago at time of writing, and received unprecedented critical and commercial success. But to me, the unbridled success of this highly anticipated sequel is something hard to truly and wholly quantify.

A contextual piece of information hard to overlook is the fact that I had the honor of covering the game for IGN during my ongoing freelance tenure, meaning I was among the first to start swinging pre-release. For those that have played it, you can comprehend that experiencing the opening hour of Spider-Man 2 weeks before release and having to stay quiet was a herculean task. I had already pre-ordered the Collector's Edition for the game, and I knew within moments that my (admittedly large) impulse purchase was a great decision.

For all the talk of iterative versus innovative, I personally believe that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 strikes the perfect balance between not fixing what isn't broken, and making small quality of life improvements and additions that lead to a far more refined and well-rounded experience. Beginning with an evident step up in visual fidelity, LOD's, draw distances, and NPC asset density, the game looks leaps and bounds above its predecessors. This extends to things like lighting and more trivial elements like intricate design details on the numerous suits that shine best in the industry-leading Photo Mode that Insomniac continues to implement into their projects.

The PS5 leads the charge in making this a truly immersive and "next-gen" experience, with the SSD allowing for instantaneous load times and the most impressive Fast Travel system I've seen - a GTA V-style zoom in to any point on the map with no fading or loading screens. It never fails to amaze, and the possibilities of how and where Insomniac could capitalize on this tech in the future has me salivating. The Dualsense is also an MVP here, providing a near unparalleled range of vibrations and tactile senses, fully utilizing the adaptive triggers and haptics in very clever ways that never cross the line into gimmick territory.

Moving on to the game itself, it's arguably one of the smoothest and best "feeling" games ever, offering unrivalled mobility in traversal and combat. The cliche of making you feel like Spider-Man rings as true as ever, and it's inarguably among the best superhero experiences ever created, if not the best. The additions of the Web Wings (whilst controversial) are an excellent and much needed tool in Spider-Man's roster that rounds out various moments where web swinging is impossible or is a less desirable option due to loss of momentum and/or obstacles in your navigating path. 

Additional features have also been implemented for those looking to maximise their web-slinging experience, including a full loop-de-loop, corner tethers for sharp turning, and even some modifiers in settings that disable the safety rails, make swinging even more realistic and physics-based, and even fall damage; all features that have been highly requested from the community that was missing in the previous installments.

The narrative of Spider-Man 2 is arguably lesser than its predecessors in a number of areas, but I believe there is an unavoidable air of familiarity that sequels can't avoid. We know how this version of Peter and Miles thinks, we know what they've been through, and SM2 hits the ground running as a result. But there is something lost in the transition - it just depends on how subjectively fundamental those elements are to you as a player. 

Another contentious element of the game is its length, which is understandable in an era where wallets are stretched thin, global economies are more often than not hanging by a thread, and "value for money" is the name of the game. This conversation often devolves to "the more content, the better" where full price titles are now judged by their prospective hours available in-game. Insomniac is one of the few AAA studios in the industry attempting to buck that trend. With both Miles Morales and now Spider-Man 2, they have stripped much of the fat and bloat that was present in the 2018 original, and have created leaner, more focused products as a result. Miles Morales as a spinoff and a cheaper title gave just cause for its shorter narrative, and Spider-Man 2 packs a far more potent punch on a more frequent basis. There's not a wasted moment, and the momentum never wavers.

Venom is a terrifying foe... if only you could control him?

Each side mission and collectible compels you to seek out the next, the revamped design of New York makes it feel more alive and vibrant than ever before, and each easter egg to the wider Marvel universe is intricately crafted and placed, tantalising you with the concepts of what *could* be in the future. With Wolverine confirmed to be taking place in the same universe, the possibilities seem endless.

Spider-Man 2 also escapes a trapping of the original in terms of its villains. Whilst some can subjectively argue the handling of the sequels villains could have been better, there's no denying that the time with which you deal with the primary antagonists feels far better in terms of pacing. The first two thirds of the game primarily revolves around Kraven the Hunter, and the final third around the Venom symbiote (in its iconic form). 

Kraven is intimidating, but doesn't contribute much. 

Compare this to the Sinister Six and there's no comparison. The villanous team broke out of prison two thirds of the way through the game, and within a couple of missions you'd dealt with them all so the finale with Doc Ock could have its time in the spotlight. With almost every iconic Spider-Man villain now dead, the stage is primed for Norman Osborn to finally assume his Green Goblin alter ego and (one would hope) dominate the entire runtime of the conclusion to this web-thwipping trilogy. 

One gripe that I do find compelling is the number of threads established in this sequel that are left very much wide open by the time credits roll. This includes introductions of new core villains, teases of additional Marvel heroes, and much more. The assumption was that at least a few of these would be neatly tied up in story DLC, much like the original game. This was further cemented via the devastating Insomniac breach in late 2023, and an accidental dev debug menu being left in-game after a major update - both of which detailed planned DLC arcs. However, with the announcement of Spider-Man 2 debuting on PC in the coming months, Insomniac also stated no story DLC is coming. Plans have changed.

So where does that leave the subplots? Can all of them be wrapped up effectively in Spider-Man 3, whilst that game also tackles its own main story? Seems unlikely. Is the prospective standalone Venom game revealed through the data breach still happening, and has this cut content/storylines transitioned to help bolster that titles content? These questions remain unanswered, but it's a tightrope that Insomniac will have to carefully walk in the coming years. Do I believe that can stick the landing? They've given me no reason to doubt their superhuman ability to entertain and deliver thus far. 

During an interview with Kinda Funny after the release of the game, creative director Bryan Intihar stated that if Spider-Man was their version of the MCU's Iron Man, and Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2 equate the Civil War, then the inevitable Spider-Man 3 is set to be "their Endgame". That is a lofty statement weighted with immediate, tangible, and potent implications. Much like the eponymous hero they're depicting, a great responsibility rests on their shoulders, but I'm pretty sure they've got great enough power to navigate and succeed.

SH