Marvel Spider-Man 2 -PS5- 8.5

December 12, 2024

I have reached the end credits of Marvel Spider-Man 2 for the PS5, on the default “Amazing” difficulty setting, and I got a 100% completion rate on my save file, meaning I even did every single one of the side objectives. The latest entry in the successful Insomniac series continues the story of Peter Parker and Miles Morales protecting New York as the two Spidermen. Kraven the Hunter and Venom are the primary antagonists this time around, but other villains emerge throughout the campaign.

The adventures of Spider-Man have been depicted many times through different mediums over the decades, but Insomniac has done a great job of putting a unique spin on the backgrounds and dynamics of each of these characters starting with the 2018 game, and Spider-Man 2 continues that trend. The writers take a lot of liberties with the canon of Spider-Man, and I think it’s for the better after how many movies, cartoon shows, and comic books have been made about this property before. These fresh takes kept Spider-Man 2’s narrative compelling, especially with regard to how the characters Venom and Harry Osborn are handled.

At first, I was a little indifferent to the story setup at the beginning of Spider-Man 2. Kraven is simply looking for a new challenge to satisfy his thrill of the hunt, so he targets New York City to kill the various foes from Spidey’s rogue gallery. However, half way through the campaign, the story takes a noticeable upswing when Peter receives the black suit. From there, the pacing really kicks into high gear, with many awesome action sequences, including an exhilarating chase with the Lizard. And the drama that unfolds between the lead characters gets quite emotional and pays off nicely. You also start to receive small clues as to Kraven’s motives and family background, fleshing out his character a bit more. These clues are easy to miss, but they are there as long as you pay close attention and complete all the Hunter Base missions. Spider-Man 2 actually had several series of sidemissions that added a lot to the overall narrative, the best one being “The Flame”, which had a dynamite ending that took me by surprise.

The graphics in Spider-Man 2 are state of the art, with incredible nuances in the characters’ facial expressions. The voice acting and motion capture performances are excellent, with the subtle gestures from the actors that make you feel their genuine emotion in every scene. New York itself is beautifully depicted with sharp detail in all the buildings and skyscrapers, making Spider-Man 2 a gorgeous game to look at.

The gameplay of Spider-Man 2 is largely the same as the previous two games in Insomniac’s series. The open world setting is finely tuned, constantly giving you quick and enjoyable tasks to accomplish in every district of the city. Zipping across The Big Apple and beating up the enemies is just as fun as it was before. Insomniac nailed the web slinging with this series, as well as the free flowing combat. The stealth is well done, when it is integrated into the missions. It felt like there was not as much stealth emphasis as the previous games at first, but more sneaking missions pop up as the campaign progresses, especially with certain sidequests.

Spider-Man 2 weaves a briskly paced, entertaining tale that balances the thrilling action with the darker dramatic moments very well. Despite seeing these characters in countless stories before, there are enough surprise twists and original plot threads here to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. At the heart of it all is the friendship between Peter, Harry, Mary Jane, and Miles, and Insomniac nailed that perfectly.  This is a really good cinematic open-world action title that will please longtime Spider-Man fans. I rate Spider-Man 2 an 8.5 out of ten.