There seems to be some contention in the Spider-Man fandom as to the direction pivoted by Insomniac in their interpretation. Some of it was comprised of fair shakes and constructive criticism, and others were just fraught with ignorance; I mean can some of y’all pick up a fucking comic book before you go on babbling? Whether it was as small as the white symbol and stripe patterns on the suit looking off, or the high tech angle the games have, or that whole puddle-gate nonsense, these games have been put through the wringer among the circles. I don’t think any of it was really fair.
Nothing is perfect to be sure, and just because Insomniac have a pretty good repertoire that doesn’t mean they’re exempt of careful consideration. Console war shit needs to go anyway. But while I had my misgivings toward the first game when I played it on launch week, it grew on me over time and I came to accept the vision. Now? I feel like these games are some of the best adaptations of the character we’ve gotten, with the best story-telling in any Spider-Man related media outside of comics. Spider-Man 2 was the answer to my prayers where the first game was concerned, in almost every way, almost.
Combat is tidied up, and in place of the overbearing weapon wheel where half the gadgets were useless and the other half cleaned house in seconds and trivialized combat encounters, now we have four gadgets assigned to the Shape buttons and four abilities to the D-pad, making the combat more intuitive and challenging at the same time. You can also switch them out on the fly, with Peter sporting symbiotic abilities and others corresponding to his iron spider claws.
The weak link to the encounter design is stealth. It was viable in the previous games, and while it still is here, it seems a bit stripped back. Trip and remote mines are absent, making stealth options more condensed, and while ceiling takedowns remain, and they added the double takedown, the encounter design itself seems like it doesn’t incentivize stealth nearly as much as it should. It just seems like they designed this game with combat in mind and left stealth at the door when it was more considered in the previous games.
Complementing the more economical design choices though, is the newfound variety in enemy types. With hunters, drones, attack dogs, and symbiotes in the late game, there’s a sleuth of attack patterns you need to take into account now, with the new parry mechanic, (which is admittedly kind of generous in its window below Superior difficulty), encouraging you to play aggressively, not scurrying away or abusing the dodge. It’s no longer just goons with guns with the rare brute, there’s more to it now.
Web swinging, the main attraction. Thanks to fan feedback, they listened and made changes accordingly. We now have swing steering assistance, which if you crank down all the way to zero, will absolutely pancake you if you if you don’t know what you’re doing. Fall damage! Yes, nice, thank you. Player accountability in one of the game’s main mechanics!
Summing up to the breadth of content the game leaves you with, which not gonna lie, fell kind of short for me, but not for the lack of trying. Some of the FNSM requests and activities have some unexpectedly poignant moments that compound the game’s themes, and not only that, but they do so with synchronicity in gameplay. In a game about characters who work to serve their communities, since y’now, it’s the friendly NEIGHBORHOOD Spider-Man after all, just like the last two games, doing menial tasks and low-key side activities to break up the pace of the main story is good enough for the game. They did however, still come down to three tier challenges and collectables strewn about the map, that while not insubstantial, made the game kind of monotonous. It didn’t detract from the fun of exploring, if anything the traversal system is so robust you just can’t help but go around finding everything, but some more evolution of their world design would’ve been welcome.
Covering the bases already, this leaves us with the story. Not that anyone would know since I don’t get any traction and just write reviews for fun, I hold the first game’s story in very high regard. For the qualms I may have had with the game’s systems and how they engage you, the story has always had its clutches in me. It’s the classic tale of facing hardship and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s an odyssey through the highs and lows, humdrum and amazing, of the lives of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. That duality is important in Spider-Man stories, and by dog did the guys over at the no sleep factory nail it. The story exudes so much heart and regard for its source material that I just can’t help but love it. Can it get pulpy and over-the-top? I mean, yeah but why wouldn’t it? Does it buckle under contrivance? A little, but a lot of stories do. But it’s an excellent story regardless of any of that.
Spider-Man 2 succeeds it, at least partly, which was a tall task for them to take on but they did it. Does it have scuffs and prods? Yes again. Much to my chagrin, they killed off half of the Sinister Six, off-screen no less. I get having to make Kraven imposing from the jump to make the stakes clear, but some extra screen-time with those guys would’ve payed dividends. It also takes a bit too much from the Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman run of Venom for me to bat an eye. Why weren’t they credited? Seems off. I’ve also seen people say the game’s third act feels rushed which… yeah. The same thing was said about God of War: Ragnarök’s third act, which just makes me think people wanted more than they could chew on regarding that game, but here it does ring true. As long as things are resolved, at least to me, it doesn’t really matter how brisk everything felt. But that stuff is valid, however you put it.
This game is more than worthy of the name “Spider-Man 2,” as heavy a legacy as it carries, and it’s a marvelous (heh, get it?) display of the talent over at the sleepless game studio. In a year already brimming with quality games, with a few more still to come before its end, Spider-Man 2 blew me away. Even if it didn’t quite surpass the first game, it further cements this take as my favorite incarnation of the character and the mythos surrounding him since The Spectacular Spider-Man. With all things in life, balance is a process, not a destination, as it goes with measured criticism!
Nothing is perfect to be sure, and just because Insomniac have a pretty good repertoire that doesn’t mean they’re exempt of careful consideration. Console war shit needs to go anyway. But while I had my misgivings toward the first game when I played it on launch week, it grew on me over time and I came to accept the vision. Now? I feel like these games are some of the best adaptations of the character we’ve gotten, with the best story-telling in any Spider-Man related media outside of comics. Spider-Man 2 was the answer to my prayers where the first game was concerned, in almost every way, almost.
Combat is tidied up, and in place of the overbearing weapon wheel where half the gadgets were useless and the other half cleaned house in seconds and trivialized combat encounters, now we have four gadgets assigned to the Shape buttons and four abilities to the D-pad, making the combat more intuitive and challenging at the same time. You can also switch them out on the fly, with Peter sporting symbiotic abilities and others corresponding to his iron spider claws.
The weak link to the encounter design is stealth. It was viable in the previous games, and while it still is here, it seems a bit stripped back. Trip and remote mines are absent, making stealth options more condensed, and while ceiling takedowns remain, and they added the double takedown, the encounter design itself seems like it doesn’t incentivize stealth nearly as much as it should. It just seems like they designed this game with combat in mind and left stealth at the door when it was more considered in the previous games.
Complementing the more economical design choices though, is the newfound variety in enemy types. With hunters, drones, attack dogs, and symbiotes in the late game, there’s a sleuth of attack patterns you need to take into account now, with the new parry mechanic, (which is admittedly kind of generous in its window below Superior difficulty), encouraging you to play aggressively, not scurrying away or abusing the dodge. It’s no longer just goons with guns with the rare brute, there’s more to it now.
Web swinging, the main attraction. Thanks to fan feedback, they listened and made changes accordingly. We now have swing steering assistance, which if you crank down all the way to zero, will absolutely pancake you if you if you don’t know what you’re doing. Fall damage! Yes, nice, thank you. Player accountability in one of the game’s main mechanics!
Summing up to the breadth of content the game leaves you with, which not gonna lie, fell kind of short for me, but not for the lack of trying. Some of the FNSM requests and activities have some unexpectedly poignant moments that compound the game’s themes, and not only that, but they do so with synchronicity in gameplay. In a game about characters who work to serve their communities, since y’now, it’s the friendly NEIGHBORHOOD Spider-Man after all, just like the last two games, doing menial tasks and low-key side activities to break up the pace of the main story is good enough for the game. They did however, still come down to three tier challenges and collectables strewn about the map, that while not insubstantial, made the game kind of monotonous. It didn’t detract from the fun of exploring, if anything the traversal system is so robust you just can’t help but go around finding everything, but some more evolution of their world design would’ve been welcome.
Covering the bases already, this leaves us with the story. Not that anyone would know since I don’t get any traction and just write reviews for fun, I hold the first game’s story in very high regard. For the qualms I may have had with the game’s systems and how they engage you, the story has always had its clutches in me. It’s the classic tale of facing hardship and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s an odyssey through the highs and lows, humdrum and amazing, of the lives of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. That duality is important in Spider-Man stories, and by dog did the guys over at the no sleep factory nail it. The story exudes so much heart and regard for its source material that I just can’t help but love it. Can it get pulpy and over-the-top? I mean, yeah but why wouldn’t it? Does it buckle under contrivance? A little, but a lot of stories do. But it’s an excellent story regardless of any of that.
Spider-Man 2 succeeds it, at least partly, which was a tall task for them to take on but they did it. Does it have scuffs and prods? Yes again. Much to my chagrin, they killed off half of the Sinister Six, off-screen no less. I get having to make Kraven imposing from the jump to make the stakes clear, but some extra screen-time with those guys would’ve payed dividends. It also takes a bit too much from the Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman run of Venom for me to bat an eye. Why weren’t they credited? Seems off. I’ve also seen people say the game’s third act feels rushed which… yeah. The same thing was said about God of War: Ragnarök’s third act, which just makes me think people wanted more than they could chew on regarding that game, but here it does ring true. As long as things are resolved, at least to me, it doesn’t really matter how brisk everything felt. But that stuff is valid, however you put it.
This game is more than worthy of the name “Spider-Man 2,” as heavy a legacy as it carries, and it’s a marvelous (heh, get it?) display of the talent over at the sleepless game studio. In a year already brimming with quality games, with a few more still to come before its end, Spider-Man 2 blew me away. Even if it didn’t quite surpass the first game, it further cements this take as my favorite incarnation of the character and the mythos surrounding him since The Spectacular Spider-Man. With all things in life, balance is a process, not a destination, as it goes with measured criticism!