Spider-Man 2 Review — A Spectacular Sequel?

Much Like Sam Raimi’s 2004 big-screen sequel, Spider-Man 2, the follow-up to Marvel and Insomniac’s brilliant 2018 Spider-Man game feels like a second chapter and continuation of what made the first game great, without taking too many drastic risks that could hurt an already excellent formula. It focuses heavily on progressing the story of this shaken-up Spider-Man lore rather than overhauling the gameplay. With that said, there have been some slight refinements to how you traverse around the city and can tinker with combat that will throw some curveballs to fans of the first game.

Of course, the biggest addition to the sequel is right on the box: the addition of a second Spider-Man, Miles Morales. After his standalone expansion/spin-off in 2020, which pivoted off of the original game, Miles Morales is now a full fixture in the sequel, and plays a crucial role, as you not only interact with him as Peter Parker, but you also can switch between the two on-the-fly, as well as team-up for combat sequences when you’re playing as either.

You essentially have two protagonists in Spider-Man 2, which is what makes the gameplay pretty dynamic, as each Spider-Man has their own abilities (Miles with his electric attacks and Peter with his robotic spider arms), but most importantly, it contributes heavily to the story. Switching back and forth between the two highlights the different journeys both characters are on, but the crossroads and overlap they both share as being superheroes. It’s great to see Peter and Miles finally having someone else who shares their joys, responsibilities, and frustrations at being Spider-Man, and how they’re both helping each other through it. If you love the classic dichotomy of Peter Parker dealing with his alter-ego, you’ll appreciate a lot of the dialogue and story beats between Miles and Peter.

Of course, there’s another element to the whole two-character balance in the form of a symbiote suit. Without getting into the plot details of how it all comes about, you’re also forced to embrace the symbiote Spider-Man suit, which has a host of more powerful, brawler-type attacks using the symbiote tendrils. It makes you, as the player, feel a little drunk with power, which is exactly the point given what the symbiote does to the mental state of the host.

For anyone who’s ever followed the Spider-Man movies, comics, or TV shows, you’ll know that the presence of the symbiote always causes some tension between the characters; and for Miles and Peter, it’s a core part of the story and a heart-wrenching arc (in the most brilliant of ways) that gamers get to enjoy in a new way.

In this regard, Insomniac has done a stellar job at delivering those trademark Spider-Man story beats where personal relationships are at loggerheads, resulting in some really amazing narrative moments. The voice-acting and motion capture to bring these cut-scenes to life are done flawlessly and credit must go to the actors and animators involved. Even in gameplay, the voice-over work from the respective actors as they taunt or plead with one another heightens the action to a new level.

And the moment-to-moment gameplay — swinging, fighting, and solving small puzzles — might feel very familiar, but all the visual flair including close-ups, slow-motion, and super slick animations have been polished and refined, making it feel new. While there is a lot of beating up bad guys in the city streets, a lot of the action is orientated around big set-pieces, as you’ll go from infiltrating a secret base or fighting on an out-of-control warship, it’s clear that Insomniac wanted you to gawk at where and how you’re fighting, rather than weighing down the visual splendour with too many new combat mechanics.

Outside the main missions, there are of course a ton of other things to do, such as finding hidden Prowler hideouts, random crimes around the city, and some fun little innocuous-looking side-quests such as one where you’ll start out trying to stop some out-of-control fireworks, that ends up setting you off on a whole new corruption-busting story-segment of its own. These polarising moments, where you’ll go from fighting a supervillain through a skyscraper to busting some low-level crooks selling counterfeit goods really capture the spirit of Spider-Man.

And that essentially encapsulates what makes Spider-Man 2 so great. It’s not a massive revolution of the series or adds anything too unexpected. Like our comparison with Sam Raimi’s movie sequel from 2004, it just makes everything better, ups the stakes, and tackles some pivotal Spider-Man story beats, delivering the blockbuster follow-up you’ve been hoping for.

Spider-Man 2 is available on PS5.