Review // Is Spider-man 2 Worth It? An Unbiased Review
Video transcript:
Alright webheads, let’s talk about Spider-Man 2 because I’ve had a chance to think about this one for a minute and I think there’s a lot to talk about. Whenever a console exclusive comes out for Xbox or Playstation, it seems like people come out of the woodwork to either praise it or trash it like it’s the best thing, or the most overrated thing ever. But I don’t really deal in extremes, and I can honestly say I’m a huge fan of games on both systems, so let’s take a level-headed, unbiased look at Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac.
Insomniac struck gold with Spider-Man in 2018 and Miles Morales in 2020. The games were sort of a spiritual successor to the Batman Arkham series with fluid combat, powerful gadgets, and a parade of outlandish villains. Throw in a fully traversable New York City, some high-flying acrobatics, a top-notch photomode, and a slew of other additions and you have the formula that made these breakout hits and one of the flagship franchises for the PS4.
So how do you follow that up? Well I’m convinced there’s a design document on a server somewhere at Insomniac from a years ago that says “take everything that worked from the first games, make it a little better, and then smooth off the edges on the stuff that didn’t work.”
Gameplay
You like swinging? Now you get web wings to glide with. You like to sneak in the rafters? Now you can create your own catwalks with web lines. You like the combat? Now you can do twice as much. You liked playing as Peter and Miles? Fine, play em both. Plus venom Spider-Man, who has his own attacks (or maybe I should say their own attacks?) and hits hard.
There’s a slew of abilities and mini games that you mostly use in specific activities, like when you try to hack into and download data from these vulture bots by flying in their slipstream. Or using a scanner to find hidden clues, or playing with these little molecule puzzles that were way too easy. I think they could’ve made these more difficult, but add in a ‘gimme a hint’ option or something for the people who don’t enjoy puzzles. Hey, I’m old and I like puzzles ok?
And it’s an open world game with the typical open world trappings: the map is littered with icons for activities and there are basically different collectible currencies that allow you to unlock abilities, gear, and a wide variety of spider suits. And a lot has been made about the fast travel system and how seamlessly you can go anywhere on the map—no loading screens, nothing. But I wasn’t impressed with it and I’ll tell you why: this is one of the only games I can think of where I had no interest in using fast travel. I was perfectly content to just swing and glide my way across town and stop along the way for whatever I stumbled onto. That’s because nothing in the game felt like a chore. I get burned out on open world games from time to time, so this is actually one of the biggest compliments I can give a game.
So take something that was a drag in the first game, like the MJ stealth missions. This time around they gave her a taser and instead of just trying to avoid being seen, you go around sneaking up on everyone and sending 50,000 volts of peekaboo straight into their throats. Yeah, I know a lot of people have complained that she’s overpowered, and yeah, ok it’s a little weird that this reporter is suddenly taking down trained mercenaries like Sam Fisher. I mean, she’s the John Wick of throat zaps. But I don’t care because I’m a huge stealth junkie and these were actually some of my favorite missions. You got a problem with someone without superpowers being a hero? Eh, maybe you need to read some more comics.
Story
A common theme in Spider-Man media is that anyone can be Spider-Man. It’s a powerful message, and was integral to 2020’s Miles Morales. But Spider-Man 2 takes it to the next step, proposing anyone can also be the villain. And not just the good guys who struggle with the symbiote or their own feelings of vengeance and hate, but also the bad guys—who we see time again as either sympathetic characters who did bad things with maybe not-so-bad intentions, or they’re recovering from the ass-holery of their past and trying to make a new life for themselves. In fact, I’d say the entire story is really about second chances, and how we all may need them at one point or another.
Kraven the Hunter becomes an interesting villain inside that concept then, because he’s playing judge, jury, and executioner with impunity. In his eyes, if you’ve done something wrong, if you’ve been a bad guy in any sense of the phrase, then you’re fair game. Literally, fair game as in game to be hunted. The only other character we hear from in the game that thinks second chances are for suckers is J. Jonah Jameson, who literally says second chances are for suckers. And we all know he represents the worst of us, and if we agree with him on something maybe we need to re-examine ourselves. But where the second chances theme really shines is with the other supervillain: Venom and the alien symbiote.
We’ve seen the whole symbiote storyline before, and for some of us we’ve seen it many, many times. But Insomniac actually managed a fresh take on it: Eddie Brock is nowhere to be found and instead it’s Peter’s BFF Harry Osborne who initially hosts the symbiote. It’s a subtle twist if you’re a casual fan, but a major twist if you’re a webhead. And you know what? It works. I mean, it really works. It’s engaging to see people come to terms with the dark sides of their behavior, but even more so when those people really care about each other. And it makes the whole thing a great metaphor for addiction, or any number of personal demons.
We get a deep dive into the web of relationships between Peter, Harry, MJ, and Miles in a way that serves the story completely, instead of feeling tacked on or like we’re stepping out of the main story for a minute to do these other things. Of course there are side quests and minor storylines that are weaved into and around the main quest, but it all felt cohesive. If Spidey is on his way to confront Kraven, but stops to break up a bank robbery, it makes sense. That’s what a hero does.
Graphics
Ok look, if you’re a high end PC gamer there’s nothing here you haven’t seen before. But for couch commanders like me, this is state of the art console graphics. You can see the ray tracing and realtime reflections on the side of the buildings and in puddles on the street.
The streets are packed with life (and cars) while everything looks nice, one of the best things I can say about the graphics is that I didn’t really think about them that much. They went for realism in the environment, and, well, they hit their mark. There are a lot of amazing set pieces and atmospheric levels and enough beauty in the world around me that I was constantly wanting to switch into photomode to soak it in.
But the game is a technical marvel in that there really weren’t any loading screens. And not just with their super cool fast travel tricks, but even the way they hid the loading screens behind the action. I could be zipping along the rooftops, stop and go into a detailed interior of a building, and get back out into the city without ever seeing a loading screen. And kind of like the graphics, it’s something I stopped thinking about and just took for granted right away. I never really thought about a future where loading screens weren’t just shortened, but removed altogether and uh, yeah, sign me up.
Gripes
It’s not all fun and games, though, I did run into some technical issues. The game may have been super polished in the combat and animations and cutscenes, but it was surprisingly buggy and littered with graphical glitches. There were some patches in the first week or two and I think that fixed a lot of them, but I ran into a lot of things like this, where Peter’s feet weren’t touching the pedals on his bike. There was also a bug where I was required to press L1 and Square at the same time, and no matter how many time or how hard I pushed the buttons, the game never recognized it and let me get past the prompt. I had to do search for a workaround and I was lucky that an easy one was out there, but I was very close to abandoning the mission and losing about half an hour of playtime.
As for the gameplay, my only real complaint is that the combat was starting to feel stale by the end of the game. You get a ton of abilities and gadgets, but the enemies are such bullet sponges that it just takes forever to chip away and grind through them. I’ll be 100% honest with you, and if you ask me about it later I’ll deny it, but I actually dropped the difficulty setting down to an easier level—not because it was too hard, but just because I was tired and the battles were taking too long. I dunno, if you’re into combat or fighting games, that might not be an issue. But it was an issue for me.
Final Thoughts
If you’re into single-player action games, this is peak gaming in 2023, because there’s as much action and spectacle as any game to date. It’s challenging, and there’s plenty to master in combat and in movement. And it’s immersive, with story that has just the right amount of twists and turns and is worthy of it’s own comic book event.
Is it the greatest game of all time? C’mon, it’s way too buggy for that. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great game. Are some people gonna fire it up and bounce off of it? Of course, no game is immune to that.
But generally speaking, when you see people posting screenshots or videos claiming this game is boring, or just a minor update to the first games, then know that those opinions are trash. Just kidding, to each their own, but this is an objectively great game.
Spider-Man 2 goes hard, and that’s the unbiased truth. I give it a radioactive thumbs up. 👍
