The idea of constantly repairing and improving your car while driving through dangerous territory is awesome, and this game executes it well. Everything is so tactile and requires you to manually move pieces throughout the world using your tools. (I actually think this game would be incredibly cool in VR for that reason.)

Unfortunately, the mechanics of maintaining your car are not enough for this game to stand on. The gameplay loop is interesting at first, as you collect the many different resources the game requires to craft different parts, but by a certain point you realize that the entire game requires you to drive somewhere, loot, repeat. The atmospheric horror starts out strong, but the lack of any real threat makes it forgettable by the end of the first act. Most of the anomalies are lacking in flair, like electric clouds or buzzsaw in the ground, and all of them are extremely easy to avoid once you understand how they work.

This game is missing something key, whether it be a tangible threat or another system stacked on top to make the car system work that much better. This system would work well if incorporated into an FPS or survival horror game with an actual monster chasing you. Imagine how much more terrifying a chase would be if your car suddenly decided to conk out, and you had less than a minute to fix it. I wanted to love this game but its just missing something key that's holding me back from diving into it.

I am conflicted on this one.

Insomniac continues to impress on the gameplay side. Traversal, combat, and stealth all have welcome additions. Web wings are incredibly fun and intuitive to use, and the PS5's improved loading times let you move through New York faster than ever before. The super slingshot move and Hunter Drone missions stand out in particular for how fun they are to use and play.

Combat has more options and a more streamlined approach to gadgets and abilities. The gadget wheel is gone, thank god, and the gadgets have been changed to be more focused on giving you advantages in combat that change how you play rather than just being a "defeat the enemy in front of you" button. The parry is also a nice addition, giving you more advantages but being harder to time. I felt myself using the parry more when I was higher in health and could afford to miss the timing and the dodge when I was hurting and needed to be more evasive, which felt appropriate. Some of the cues can be hard to see sometimes, especially when the enemy attacking you isn't on screen and you have to rely solely on the audio cue. The only egregious example was a fight with a character who used a lot of blue particle effects mixed with a blue indicator that an attack was unparryable, creating a frustrating combination. The particular focus on air combat is exciting, as air combat is really what differentiates Spider-Man from other games using the same type of combat system. You have more tools and more ways to stay in the air, and enemies have more ways to counter you while in the air, keeping things fresh. Combat felt best in rooms with tall ceilings where I could stay in the air for 70-80 hit combos without ever touching the ground. The abilities are also a nice touch, although I will say that Miles' abilities feel noticeably better than Peter's, but not to an extent where I felt especially weak fighting as Peter.

Unfortunately, the story feels somewhat weak. The spectacle is definitely there in spades, but the smaller character moments don't hit nearly as hard as the ones in Spider-Man PS4. I attribute this to somewhat poor pacing, this game's story feels very rushed, especially when compared to the first. I still thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I was expecting more time with some of the characters. I feels like even 20% more time would have been enough. I also feel like Miles got a little shafted, as this is way more Peter's story than his. At many points during the story, it feels like he has little to do relating to the main plot, and we're thrown into his shoes for about 30 minutes while the writers promise they haven't forgotten about him and then we're thrown back into Peter's side of the story. He definitely plays an important role, but he feels less like a 2nd main character and more like a supporting role.

I still highly recommend Spider-Man 2, especially for the new gameplay changes, but the story left me wanting a little more.

It adds so much more of what makes this franchise work. The build variety and depth have been increased tenfold from the first game while still making the game clearer and easier to read using the token system. Choices feel much more impactful, and each run's shorter form factor makes each decision feel meaningful compared to the numerous meaningless dungeon runs that were necessary in DD1. The story has been thoroughly fleshed out and made a more engaging part of the story with the shrines of reflection. Love this game right now and am excited to see how Red Hook makes it better in the future, as they always do