Despite Insomniac using all their technology to make Peter Parker’s face more punchable than ever, Spider-Man 2 still ranks alongside the movie Spider-Man 2 and its tie-in game Spider-Man 2 as one of the most enjoyable pieces of Spider-Man 2 media, improving on the already solid gameplay of its predecessor.
The web slinging is essentially that of the said 2004 tie-in game (if it ain’t broke…etc) but has never felt better on these buzzing haptic controllers - you can feel the weight of each swing. And as if that wasn’t good enough, the game introduces ‘web wings’ that add even more speed and satisfaction to soaring around the massive city. New York has never looked better: the streets and squares feel like they’re bustling with life, highlighted by some neat little photo missions - otherwise it’s easy to miss it all when you’re zooming over rooftops.
I enjoyed the collectibles and side-quests, and even just swinging about aimlessly, so much so that I put off main story missions until they were the last thing to do. In terms of the main campaign, I wasn’t completely averse to playing the novelty MJ or Hailey segments, but the more mundane walking/talking segments could be a bit of a slog, they seemed to exist simply to pace out the build-up to the next actual exciting thing. The boss battles generally had some great set-pieces - lots of trippy Spider-verse-jumping in and out of people’s minds and dimensions like Psychonauts or something - but repetitive in terms of the combat. Despite the variety in combat between the two web-slingers, the boss fights are usually dragged out with health bars replenishing for no reason beyond mere padding.
The story is good fun, has a couple of good dark twists and fun surprises, and while it’s Peter Parker focused, there’s some great moments for Miles too. Kraven is a terrific villain, although somewhat played down a bit for the (SPOILERS) doomy Venom stuff towards the end.
It’s pretty much the first game(s) but bigger, but, even with it’s flaws, Spider-Man 2 is not only the best Spider-Man for the console but probably an essential PS5 game to own, even if just to fall back on for some casual swinging between other, more demanding games.
The web slinging is essentially that of the said 2004 tie-in game (if it ain’t broke…etc) but has never felt better on these buzzing haptic controllers - you can feel the weight of each swing. And as if that wasn’t good enough, the game introduces ‘web wings’ that add even more speed and satisfaction to soaring around the massive city. New York has never looked better: the streets and squares feel like they’re bustling with life, highlighted by some neat little photo missions - otherwise it’s easy to miss it all when you’re zooming over rooftops.
I enjoyed the collectibles and side-quests, and even just swinging about aimlessly, so much so that I put off main story missions until they were the last thing to do. In terms of the main campaign, I wasn’t completely averse to playing the novelty MJ or Hailey segments, but the more mundane walking/talking segments could be a bit of a slog, they seemed to exist simply to pace out the build-up to the next actual exciting thing. The boss battles generally had some great set-pieces - lots of trippy Spider-verse-jumping in and out of people’s minds and dimensions like Psychonauts or something - but repetitive in terms of the combat. Despite the variety in combat between the two web-slingers, the boss fights are usually dragged out with health bars replenishing for no reason beyond mere padding.
The story is good fun, has a couple of good dark twists and fun surprises, and while it’s Peter Parker focused, there’s some great moments for Miles too. Kraven is a terrific villain, although somewhat played down a bit for the (SPOILERS) doomy Venom stuff towards the end.
It’s pretty much the first game(s) but bigger, but, even with it’s flaws, Spider-Man 2 is not only the best Spider-Man for the console but probably an essential PS5 game to own, even if just to fall back on for some casual swinging between other, more demanding games.