Does whatever TWO Spider-Men can.
It is beyond wild to me that Spider-Man is now the biggest game franchise on PlayStation. The quality of the titles coming out of Insomniac is absolutely ridiculous, but at the same time how a superhero game can be so good is sometimes worth taking a step back to marvel (heh) at. With Spider-Man 2 the team has opted to go full current gen. The title is only available on Sony’s new console, which leads the way for a host of optimizations and expansive technical power that have created a world unlike any other. This sequel truly takes everything that made the original great and amps it up to eleven. This is by far their best effort to date and quite possibly in the running for the best PS5 exclusive game released thus far.
So what makes this entry so special? The story. I won’t be going into any details in this review, but I went in expecting another good narrative featuring plenty of villains. What I got was a truly compelling story that ties in so many familiar characters and goes places I was not expecting. With this being current gen only, the character faces look fantastic and the motion capture is outstanding. I could see every single emotion in the characters. I could see Peter’s concern and Miles’ determination. There are so many moments in this game that flesh out each character and solidify my investment in their story.
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: PS5
Price I’d Pay: $69.99
The side missions are also packed with even more fantastic moments. There is one side mission that I stumbled across on my way to the final mission that broke my heart. I knew it was coming, I was prepared for the outcome, and yet I still felt so sad when it happened. It was only a small, missable five minute moment, but it was impactful. Spider-Man 2 is packed with these. There are multiple side missions that end up in interesting boss fights that some players may never see as they are not a part of the critical path, but I cannot stress enough, take your time, play these out, they are very worth your while.
The core game follows the same structure as previous games. New York is a massive open area that you can swing around in. It has been expanded with two new areas making it even bigger than the previous games. Brooklyn and Queens are now explorable and Coney Island is even here with the ability to play a host of mini-games. It is little touches like this that make the world feel alive. I was constantly stopping to check out the details in every area and it was never disappointing. This open world continues to be one of the most interesting out there.
Moving around the city continues to feel fantastic. In addition to the normal swinging and trick system there are now web wings. These let Miles and Peter glide across the city. There are even wind tunnels scattered about that can keep you gliding faster and farther. It didn’t take long before I was zooming around the world with ease. It just feels so good and remains one of the few open world games where I never use the fast travel. No matter how far I need to go, I always swing my way there. It is just too much fun. Insomniac has absolutely perfected this mechanic.
Speaking of fast travel, the new district system is interesting. Each area has a set of side missions and activities that once completed will unlock parts to build gadgets and suits as well as fast travel to that area once all of these are completed. This is not rewarding as I never used it. Instead I skipped a lot of the side missions on my way to complete the story. Once done though I was able to free roam around the city and clean up any missing missions and activities and you can bet I was in there immediately. This game continues to reward players with lots to see and do.
There are a couple of activities that are not so interesting. The photo opportunities continue to feel like busy work and the plant mixing mini-game is just not that fun. I wish there was an option to auto solve it much like the previous games. The actual story side missions though are fantastic. Each Spider-Man has several to complete and every one is worth doing.
Yes this game features both Spider-Man and players can swap between them any time outside of certain story missions. I found the phone app menu a little clunky to use with the touch pad, but selecting missions is a breeze once you get it open. One thing that drives me bonkers in these games is having to wait before moving onto another story mission. It feels like it is just a timer as Spider-Man will say something like “I should see who needs help” and then proceeds to have the mission trigger before I even get to the side mission. What is the purpose then? Just let the next mission trigger after completing the one before it.
Combat feels similar to previous games with the same combo and counter system. Mixing this with the powers between the two characters and it is a lot of fun. There are some mobs later in the game though that simply become too much to manage with this system. Even when I have the timing of counters it becomes a frustrating stun lock animation and losing my character. It is a pain during these moments and on harder difficulties I could see myself throwing a controller because it feels cheap at times.
The boss fights are mostly excellent outside of a few. There are some encounters that go on far too long. Sometimes they go two cycles longer than they should have and the patterns do not change. This causes them to feel extremely tedious and padded out. I had a couple fights towards the end that went on and on and on until I was begging it to just be over. There is enough to keep things interesting so they didn’t need to tune these encounters this way.
Controls are spot on for the most part outside of the touch screen stuff. It still feels finicky and unresponsive at times. The haptics and force feedback feel great. Swinging has just a minor rumble that really enhances the feel. Combos are fun, swinging is fun, the game just feels incredible to play. I had a blast no matter what I was doing, unless it was those stupid plant missions.
Visually the game is jaw dropping. As per usual there are three modes including a 60fps mode, one with ray tracing, and of course the high resolution mode. I recommend performance either way as the combat and mechanics just feel so much better. The city looks outstanding and as I mentioned earlier the new tech really showcases the character models. I ran into a couple glitches and funky animations, but it was less than one percent of my play time. This game is polished and looks outstanding. Insomniac continues to be the true wizards of the PlayStation. That might be the best purchase in gaming history.
Spider-Man 2 is easily the best PlayStation first party game this year. I went from thinking it wouldn’t make my game of the year (to be fair it has been a stellar year) to definitely being on my list. Insomniac has truly evolved this series into the best franchise currently on the PlayStation platform. This entry is no different and it combines the best of both of the previous games and takes it to the next level. The main story is simply outstanding and one of the best superhero narratives I have ever played. The visuals are stunning and it is immensely fun to play. I cannot recommend this enough and I expect it to be at the top of a lot of best of lists come the end of the year.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
