The opening 30 minutes were enough to give this 5 stars.
The sequel takes everything the first game and the Miles Morales sub-sequel did and improves on it. As always, traversing the map as Spider-Man is one of the most fun things you can do in any game. The implementation of the web wings and the wind tunnels to help you pick up speed is very satisfying.
There are some pacing issues with the story which I won't go into too much for spoiler reasons, but I felt that I reached certain story beats quicker than I should have. Other than that, I had a great time with the story and it gave a refreshing take on some familiar, and dare I say 'overdone' characters.
Side quests! I'm a sucker for cleaning up icons on a map ala early Assassin's Creed. Gone are the somewhat tedious Doc Ock experiments from the first game. There are some scientific tasks to do (Peter's a big ol' nerd lest we forget) but they're simple to complete and there's so few of them you might even wish there were more. Each optional side quest makes you feel like you're doing something rather than just completing a to-do list to unlock skills or upgrade gadgets etc.
There are a couple of flaws here and there but this really is a top-tier game. Is it pushing the medium forward? No. Is it one of the most fun experiences you can have in a game? Absolutely.
The sequel takes everything the first game and the Miles Morales sub-sequel did and improves on it. As always, traversing the map as Spider-Man is one of the most fun things you can do in any game. The implementation of the web wings and the wind tunnels to help you pick up speed is very satisfying.
There are some pacing issues with the story which I won't go into too much for spoiler reasons, but I felt that I reached certain story beats quicker than I should have. Other than that, I had a great time with the story and it gave a refreshing take on some familiar, and dare I say 'overdone' characters.
Side quests! I'm a sucker for cleaning up icons on a map ala early Assassin's Creed. Gone are the somewhat tedious Doc Ock experiments from the first game. There are some scientific tasks to do (Peter's a big ol' nerd lest we forget) but they're simple to complete and there's so few of them you might even wish there were more. Each optional side quest makes you feel like you're doing something rather than just completing a to-do list to unlock skills or upgrade gadgets etc.
There are a couple of flaws here and there but this really is a top-tier game. Is it pushing the medium forward? No. Is it one of the most fun experiences you can have in a game? Absolutely.