Decided to get this one out of the way in advance of Spider-Man 2 later this week. Not too much to say about it, honestly. This is, gameplay-wise, pretty much a minor improvement on the original in every way, but falls a little shorter on the story front.
Swinging as Miles is just as good as the original, and the snowy Manhattan backdrop fits very well. Exploration is always going to be fun in the Insomniac Spider games, so no complaints there. The side quests are pretty solid, but since this is a half-sequel / big DLC / spinoff with a length of only like 10 hours or so, they kind of have to be since the main story is quite abridged. If they were more checklist-y (like the other activities) the game would feel far more empty.
Combat-wise I do prefer Miles to Peter - the venom punch is satisfying and his moves look great. Stealth is greatly improved with his cloaking ability and actually felt far more convincing than any of the stealth sections in the first game. The skill tree is pretty small but there are a couple good additions. I wasn’t fond of the “anti-venom-powers-energy” that Roxxon goons have since it largely felt unfun to have your abilities taken away and it never felt earned on the part of the villain to adapt to Miles’ powers.
Overall, the story lands the largely unsurprising but effective beats outside of the villain. The Tinkerer is largely forgettable in terms of design and threat level, but mostly suffers most in the writing. More than a couple ??? moments to be had here for sure. This isn’t super surprising since the first game used a number of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery and the ones that went unused were certainly already planned for the sequel in development. Ganke is a nice highlight, he’s played well and never feels forced - I look forward to seeing him more in 2. Prowler is neither here nor there. He’s competent in the “Miles’s backstory and family problems” vein, but doesn’t really make too much of an impact. While it is largely rote, I would be lying if I said the ending didn’t elicit an emotion from me. A broken and battered Spider-Man fighting to save his neighborhood will always land well.
Good stuff overall, if still playing it relatively safe after the first game. Looking forward to Spider-Man 2 in 36 hours.
Swinging as Miles is just as good as the original, and the snowy Manhattan backdrop fits very well. Exploration is always going to be fun in the Insomniac Spider games, so no complaints there. The side quests are pretty solid, but since this is a half-sequel / big DLC / spinoff with a length of only like 10 hours or so, they kind of have to be since the main story is quite abridged. If they were more checklist-y (like the other activities) the game would feel far more empty.
Combat-wise I do prefer Miles to Peter - the venom punch is satisfying and his moves look great. Stealth is greatly improved with his cloaking ability and actually felt far more convincing than any of the stealth sections in the first game. The skill tree is pretty small but there are a couple good additions. I wasn’t fond of the “anti-venom-powers-energy” that Roxxon goons have since it largely felt unfun to have your abilities taken away and it never felt earned on the part of the villain to adapt to Miles’ powers.
Overall, the story lands the largely unsurprising but effective beats outside of the villain. The Tinkerer is largely forgettable in terms of design and threat level, but mostly suffers most in the writing. More than a couple ??? moments to be had here for sure. This isn’t super surprising since the first game used a number of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery and the ones that went unused were certainly already planned for the sequel in development. Ganke is a nice highlight, he’s played well and never feels forced - I look forward to seeing him more in 2. Prowler is neither here nor there. He’s competent in the “Miles’s backstory and family problems” vein, but doesn’t really make too much of an impact. While it is largely rote, I would be lying if I said the ending didn’t elicit an emotion from me. A broken and battered Spider-Man fighting to save his neighborhood will always land well.
Good stuff overall, if still playing it relatively safe after the first game. Looking forward to Spider-Man 2 in 36 hours.