Review: Insomniac Games hits a new high with ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’

Confession time — while I enjoyed 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was “in love” with it.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s an incredible game from start to finish that brought developer Insomniac Games back from a low point in the studio’s history. But — and perhaps this is a result of me coming off the highs of Breath of the Wild and the God of War reboot — Spider-Man‘s engaging combat and polished presentation was, to me at least, brought down a peg or two by its rather by-the-numbers open world, which would slot neatly into Ubisoft’s catalog of bloated, waypoint-riddled open world games.

To Insomniac’s credit, the studio clearly listened to the scant few complaints that were levied against its first foray into the superhero genre. 2020’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales injected life and vibrancy into its digital recreation of the Big Apple, one filled with fully realized characters and more heartfelt, personal, narrative beats. In retrospect, that particular standalone expansion might have been a test run for what the team hoped to accomplish with Spider-Man 2.

While I’m sure die-hard Spidey fans will have some criticisms, and sure, parts of the story are pretty predictable, but on the whole, Spider-Man 2 weaves an incredible tale from start to finish. Players are able to (for the most part) freely swap between Peter and Miles, and this is used to great effect when it comes to pacing and player agency. The two Spideys are key figures in the overarching plot, but there are also plenty of side missions and questlines that are specific to either OG or the new Spider-Man. Swapping between the two is seamless, and the game will regularly switch who you’re controlling in between missions, in an effort to make sure you don’t just barrel through the story from a single perspective.

Speaking of story; I won’t go into too much of the plot, seeing as how it’s (arguably) the main attraction. I will say that Spider-Man 2 is more akin to a greatest hits collection than a new album. The game is packed full of franchise mainstays, whose respective storylines weave in and out of each other. Kraven the Hunter and the symbiote Venom do most of the heavy lifting, but Martin Li/Mister Negative, Curt Connors/Lizard, Flint Marko/Sandman, Black Cat, and plenty of others all have their moment in the spotlight, even if they only join in on the action for a mission or two.

Needless to say, there are a lot of players to keep track of (unfortunately, there is no in-game dossier with character bios and details), but at the center of it all is the relationship between Peter, the original Spidey; Miles, his teenage protege; MJ, Peter’s reporter girlfriend; and Harry, a longtime friend of Peter and MJ’s who has been missing in action for a few years. Harry’s sudden reappearance paves the way for a few twists and turns that some Marvel experts will see coming from a mile away, but they make for an enthralling experience; one that has as many slower, more intimate story missions as it does breakneck high-flying ones.

The focus on a more personal narrative is certainly a step in the right direction, but there are plenty of other changes and additions outside of the core narrative. For starters, each Spider-Man has its own unique moves that layer on top of the foundation laid out in the first game. In addition to his (presumably) MCU-inspired Spider-Armor, at some point in the story, Peter bonds with the Venom symbiote, giving him access to some truly devastating attacks that are distinctly more violent and aggressive compared to his usual repertoire. Miles, on the other hand, has the ability to perform electrically charged attacks, as well as moves that are reminiscent of Mister Negative’s moveset.

Depending on how you look at it, the combat in Spider-Man 2 doesn’t deviate too far from the already-established formula, but these new additions liven up the moment-to-moment gameplay, and they are just different enough to dodge any accusations of being overly familiar. Hand-to-hand combat, aerial acrobatics, web yanks and web throws — all of the old standbys are present and accounted for, and in an… interesting move, you’ll need to unlock some abilities that you already learned during the previous games. Something something gameplay conceit, I guess.

In nearly every regard, Spider-Man 2 improves and builds upon a tried-and-tested combat system, though it’s not completely clear of warts. On paper, the newly added block and parry should add an element of risk/reward to the proceedings, but in practice, it can sometimes be a bit much to juggle all of the abilities and systems on offer.

The game isn’t short on spectacular boss fights, but a couple of them include villains that make use of attacks that can only be parried, others that can only be evaded by dodging, and some that require the player to jump in order to avoid taking damage. When it works, it works well, but there were a couple of times when the frenetic action felt a bit too bloated, which isn’t helped by the half a dozen meters and bars you need to keep track of. Seriously, there’s a focus bar, a health bar, a counter that tracks web shots, separate UI elements for both web gadgets and character-specific abilities, as well as a gauge that, when filled, allows you to unleash a special attack to deal massive area-of-effect damage.

If it sounds like this clutter is a deal-breaker, rest assured, it’s not. In fact, while writing this review, I was struggling to think of any negatives. Seriously, Spider-Man 2 is incredibly polished and offers some of the best animation and cinematic work I’ve seen in a game to date — its presentation is top-notch, which makes the handful of missteps stand out, even if they don’t really detract from the overall experience.

Heck, the team even managed to improve on those boring stealth sections from the first game, where you play as MJ. This time around, she has access to a stun gun, and eventually, the ability to web up enemies. Unfortunately, whether you’re playing as MJ, Miles, or Peter, you’ll eventually find yourself throwing rocks or shooting webs at random objects in order to create a distraction. One day, far off in the future, gamers will finally be free from the terror that is the overused “throwing a distraction” mechanic. Unfortunately, today is not that day.

This brings us to the other elephant in the room: the open world. Yes, Spider-Man 2 has plenty of waypoints to investigate and items to collect. That being said, it doesn’t feel nearly as rote as it did in 2018’s Spider-Man. To be clear, this improvement isn’t a happy accident — new traversal abilities (namely, the Web Wings) make zipping around the city much more enjoyable, and Insomniac has clearly poured a lot of love and effort into the so-called side content, with optional storylines that are reminiscent of Batman: Arkham City or Arkham Knight. One brief optional quest tasks you with tracking down an elderly gentleman who’s gone missing, and, without veering into spoiler territory, I’ll say that it features one of the more touching moments in this 20+ hour journey.

During launch week, I am absolutely certain that there will be a lot of rejoicing, both among fans and the developers over at Insomniac Games — Spider-Man 2 is a tour-de-force, a triumph from start to finish, and it will easily go down as one of the best superhero games ever made. I do feel sorry for all of Sony’s other first-party studios working on their own single-player AAA behemoths. To them, I say “the bar has been raised even higher. Watch out.”

This review is based on the PlayStation 5 version of the game, and all screenshots captured by We Got This Covered are from time spent playing the game with its Fidelity graphics mode. A review copy was provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment.