Spider-Man 2 Review: Better Together

Spider-Man 2 is an exceptional sequel to 2018's Spider-Man. It fixes almost every issue that plagued the original - disjointed pacing, boring stealth missions, frustrating puzzles -  and replaces them with more meaningful encounters while doubling down on everything that made Insominac's first two outings with the Spidey boys so compelling. 

It's a sequel brimming with spectacular set pieces, diverse missions, and heartfelt story moments, all packed together in the most vibrant and colorful NYC in an open world game to date. 

Despite all its greatness, Spider-Man 2 still, at times, succumbs to the creative limitations that come with adapting Spider-Man to the video game medium. How do you make a refurbished open world setting compelling enough to explore? How do you improve the Arkham-inspired combat system that didn't really have room for improvisation? How do you make someone care about the characters and stories that have already been depicted innumerable times across different platforms? These are some of the questions that invaded my mind before I started my 45-hour journey through Spider-Man 2.

Insomniac Games addresses all these questions with one simple answer - balance. While this isn't enough to make Spider-Man 2 flawless, it's enough to make it a sequel worth diving into.

Spider-Man 2 Story & Presentation

Miles is easily the star of Spider-Man 2, functioning like this big ball of energy that revitalizes the plot and thrusts it forward every time it becomes too grim.

Spider-Man 2's narrative strikes a near-perfect balance between portraying the mundanity of Peter and Miles' everyday lives and the more action-packed moments when they are the Spider-Men. 

The game doesn't waste any moment thrusting its vigilante heroes into a gritty situation (pun-intended) involving Sand Man and introducing one of the new traversal tools - Web Wings. The opening mission is an incredible appetizer for everything Spider-Man 2 offers. It's filled with witty writing, a solid dynamic between Peter and Miles, a visually enthralling set piece with a few QTEs, and a lot of hovering over the skies with the new Web Wings. 

The next two missions are polar opposites in tone, with one being a joyful bicycle ride where Peter reunites with his best friend Harry, and they both reminisce about their high school days. 

Insomniac puts a similar spin on its supervillains, diligently exploring their motives and exhibiting their vulnerabilities while eventually putting their deadliest sides on display. The result is complex characters that you learn to empathize with and dread. It's brilliant. 

Harry is the catalyst in Spider-Man 2, and the main narrative revolves around him and Peter finally getting to work on their dream project that could eventually "heal the world."  The game spends a surprising amount of time establishing Harry's character, exploring his relationship with Peter, and eventually transitioning him to a menacing Venom. The build-up is worth it, even though it takes longer than you anticipate. It's all done to make you empathize with Harry and, to some extent, Venom, which sounds absurd, but Insomniac smartly leverages storytelling to make Venom vicious but also humane. 

Jim Perri is just as terrifying as Kraven. Initially, he feels like another run-of-the-mill villain who arrives in NYC searching for his final prey. But his true motives are eventually revealed, and it all ends up making Kraven a really compelling and complex villain.

It's not just the supervillains that are well portrayed. Miles is easily the star of Spider-Man 2, functioning like this big ball of energy that revitalizes the plot and thrusts it forward whenever it becomes too grim. Even though his personal redemption arc involving Martin Li feels a bit rushed, Insomniac has done a great job setting him up not just as a successor to Peter but as someone Peter and this city need.

Likewise, MJ is back with her stealth missions, but they are few and far between and, unlike the original, feel both necessary and refreshing. I would be lying if I said Insomniac's version of MJ isn't my favorite, and thankfully, in Spider-Man 2, the studio has found ways to make her more notable than ever. 

I especially liked MJ's dynamic with Peter and Harry. There's one mission where the trio attends the festivities at Coney Island, and there's just the right amount of awkwardness and intimacy in the air. As someone who doesn't get to meet their college friends anymore for long periods of time due to work and adult responsibilities, all of this hits hard. 

While it's great to see Miles, MJ, and Harry's arcs evolve through the story, Peter's left me a bit disappointed. Except for when he puts the Black Suit, there's not much going on with him. Yuri Lowenthal is phenomenal as the Black Spider-Man, and there are some moments that really left me awestruck at his vocal ranges, but other than that, there wasn't much to really be excited about. With so many characters to toggle, I feel like Insomniac either purposely put Peter in the back seat or just didn't know what to do with him. 

Spider-Man 2 Gameplay

Boss battles are mere brawls with up to three phases where you simply button-mash your way to victory. They feel rushed and uninspired. 

Spider-Man 1 had a pretty tight and precise gameplay with buttery smooth traversal. With the sequel, Insomniac went with the "if ain't broken, don't fix it" idealogy, and it's okay for the most part.

It doesn't mean the gameplay in Spider-Man 2 is identical to its predecessors. For instance, it feels much more weighty, thanks to the DualSense features. There are also subtle changes that make it a better-feeling Spider-Man game. 

The initial reveal had me really skeptical about Web Wings because one of the best things about being a Spider-Man is that you get to swing from building to building, and having a mechanic that lets you glide instead would belittle that one major thing that makes you feel like Spider-Man.

As it turns out, Web Wings are pretty great. It feels refreshing to switch back and forth between swinging and gliding, and the latter is especially handy when you want to cross the Hudson and reach the other side of the city. However, it does take a while to get used to, but it's okay since it's completely optional, and you can continue to be the good old swinging Spider-Man if you want. 

Spider-Man 2 features over 65 suits, but saying that feels a bit of a stretch since most of these suits return from the first game and the Miles Morales spin-off. However, it's not a bad thing, as some of those old suits, like Peter's Anti-Ock one, is easily one of my favorite, and I'm glad they are here. The new suits, like the Miles' Brooklyn 2099 one, are well thought out, and I really liked most of the designs.

Most Spider-Man suits become available to craft as you level up. Some are also tied to side missions and collectibles, while others are unlocked at key story moments. Without spoiling anything, Miles gets a brand new original suit around the end of the main story, which is downright my favorite Miles Morales suit, period. 

With two playable protagonists comes the responsibility of managing three distinct skill trees, a wide array of suit tech upgrades, and numerous gadgets. It feels a bit overwhelming at first, especially when you notice two ability tabs on the screen - one for skills and the other for gadgets - but it's fairly easy to get used to since there are not a lot of options. 

There are only six gadgets, four, if you exclude the web-shooters, and while they are quite handy, a few more options would have elevated the combat experience in the late game. 

Likewise, Peter and Miles only have four major skills they can use throughout the game. Peter gains an additional four after acquiring the Symbiote, but they function pretty much the same way. Thankfully, every ability is quite satisfying to use, even more so because of DualSense's haptics, but the lack of more options makes combat repetitive very quickly. It also doesn't help that there are only a handful of combo moves to learn, so you will keep repeating those same couple of moves throughout your 30-35-hour playthrough. 

Boss battles are mere brawls with up to three phases where you simply button-mash your way to victory. With the exception of the Lizard boss fight, where you actually use the environment to deal damage, every boss battle felt rushed and uninspired. If it's any consolation, the cinematography of these encounters is pretty great, but despite the fancy cutscenes that the wizards at Insomniac had pulled together, it's hard not to feel disappointed by their gameplay limitations. 

Spider-Man 2 Open World

Insomniac doesn't have a history of making incredibly detailed and lively open world games with story-driven dynamic encounters. Instead, its past open worlds felt more like a playground than anything, full of repeatable but fun activities and collectibles that catered to a particular audience.

I'm not a huge fan of such open world designs, even less of a one set in NYC, a setting that has been explored innumerable times in video games. As such, I wasn't excited to explore every nook and cranny of an open world playground that takes place in a refurbished setting.

However, Spider-Man 2's open world isn't like Insomniac's past titles. While there are still plenty of collectibles to find and repeatable open world activities to pursue, most of these activities are sprinkled with juicy narrative beats worth discovering. 

It's the most vibrant NYC open world in a video game since Grand Theft Auto 4.

More importantly, Spider-Man 2's open world feels alive in a way only a Rockstar Games open world does. It's easily the most vibrant NYC in a video game since Grand Theft Auto 4. NPCs actually have jobs and activities they pursue irrespective of your presence. Cops line up outside buildings looking for hostages as nearby pedestrians gasp and get frightened. NPCs sob near graves, and if you stand near enough, you can hear grief-ridden conversations. Buildings have transparent glass windows, so you can see the interiors and the people residing in them. NPCs on call have actual conversations, and I found a random student in Brooklyn who was reciting the story of a teacher (Peter) bunking his class to a friend.

Basketball courts are scattered all over NYC, and I can't remember how many times I stopped by to watch a game or two. Once, while swinging by a building, I noticed two people playing frisbee on the terrace with what seemed like a replica of Captain America's shield.

There are so many incredible details like this it's absurd that Insomniac put so much effort into making such a detailed open world where it's easy to miss out on all the things happening down on the ground where the regular people exist and thrive. Photo-ops are a great way to experience these random moments and explore the culture of NYC. It's easily my favorite activity in the game as it turns a game about two web crawlers into a celebration of everything New York City has to offer.

Speaking of web crawlers, you can stumble upon the other Spider-Man while exploring the open world, usually at crime scenes. You can choose to help them or move on your way, but staying will usually result in an endearing handshake or a hug that gets me smiling like anything.

FNSM requests are side missions with some of the most heartwarming encounters in the game. There's one where you sit down with an old grandpa next to the lake in Central Park to talk about love and its importance in this chaotic world. Moments like these are so unexpected and wholesome that they compel you to pursue every FNSM request in the game.

 Spider-Man 2's open world feels like a character of its own, which gives you all the incentive to empathize with its citizens and protect them at all costs. These include stopping every random crime, completing all Hunter Blinds, and every repeatable activity that otherwise you may have gotten bored with after a few tries. 

Completing certain open world activities also unlocks exclusive suits and flesh out the overarching narrative of Insomniac's Spider-Man universe. Needless to say, there are some sweet surprises tucked away in here for you.

Spider-Man 2 Performance 

With the exception of occasional pop-ins and floating characters, Spider-Man 2 on PS5 is quite a polished experience.

With the exception of occasional pop-ins and floating characters, Spider-Man 2 on PS5 is quite a polished experience. I also experienced a few crashes in the late game, but nothing game-breaking. It's also important to add that I played mostly on the game's Fidelity mode instead of the Performance mode. 

Fidelity mode targets 30 FPS at native 4K and ray-tracing, but there's an option to enable VRR and 120 HZ Display mode to improve the experience. It's such a great way to encourage you to play in the Fidelity mode, where the frame rate is not sacrificed for fidelity. I did notice some dips in heavy combat encounters, especially boss battles, but it wasn't enough to break immersion. 

If you don't care about playing at native 4K, there is the Performance mode that targets up to 120 FPS. The game still looks pretty, and you will get a much more smoother gameplay experience.