A wonderful game that improves on nearly every aspect from the first game. Combat is expanded with additional abilities, traversal is further improved with even faster swinging and the addition of the incredibly fun web wings, and the side content feels much more varied and better integrated into the story. This game also really shows off the power of the PS5 in some really spectacular ways - I never experienced sudden loading while swinging around the city, the fast travel system needs to be seen to be believed, and various story moments make good use of this quick loading tech for some really stunning set pieces.

This is not to say that everything is perfect. I actually felt that the story was a bit of a downgrade this time. There are some really amazing moments, but it felt like the next big thing was always happening right after the last one finished. Crucial story beats didn't get as much time to settle in as I think they should have. I also experienced a surprising amount of glitches; nothing game-breaking but several instances of dialogue suddenly being muted, mission objectives not appearing, and clipping through buildings. These were quickly resolved by just returning to the main menu and loading my game again, but I definitely experienced more issues with this game than I have with most modern game releases.

Insomniac's Spider-Man games have been a fresh, new take on a long running series and are an absolute blast to play. All fans of the first two games owe it to themselves to experience this one too. Even if a lot of it feels familiar, it's bigger, better, and some of the best Spider-Man content out there.