Spider-Man 2. How on earth can it follow-up on the previous games in the series?!
We love Spider-Man here at ninjarefinery.com. From being you teenagers and diving into the world of comics, Peter Parker et al have always been a favourite. A sentiment echoed across the globe, for sure.
Then, Insomniac Games came along and reminded us exactly what we love about Spider-Man. With the incredible Spider-Man in 2018. A game we’ve finished multiple times and even reviewed twice (thanks to the remaster coming to PC!). Then, they released Miles Morales, and we’ve played through that a few times, too.
So you can imagine the excitement surrounding Spider-Man 2 here at ninjarefinery.com HQ.
Well, we’re quite far behind the rest of the world, but we’ve finally finished it!
Here’s our Spider-Man 2 review.
Big scope
Two protagonists, 2 main villains, with a smattering of others thrown-in. Story threads spinning, intertwining and then splitting-off again. There’s been a lot going on in Spider-Man 2 and you’d forgive any studio for perhaps dropping the ball a bit.
With the big bad initially looking to be Kraven, Peter Parker and Miles Morales seek to get him shut down. Dealing with the escape of Mr Negative and the moral dilemmas for Miles about how to handle him.
With some serious game time committed to fleshing-out Kraven, his crew, his motives and his hunt. You’d be forgive for thinking this is where the game would end. In fact, you would be fine with it. The story was solid, well-paced and had plenty going for it.
But, all along, the story of the symbiote was weaving in and out. Harry being a part-time support hero was wicked. Then of course, Peter Parker was a stronger, more desirable host…..
The power of the symbiote, of Venom, goes on full display. Warping the minds of Peter, MJ, Harry and anyone else that gets tested.
Kraven was the antagonist, but he was ultimately just a step towards the ultimate big-bad.
This was a massive story, everyone got their fair share of screen-time. Each protagonist got plenty of exposition and character development. It’s been incredible to take it all in, and whilst the pace was hampered by excessive amounts of multi-stage boss fights. It stayed the course regardless.
Excellent.
Performance
We played Spider-Man 2 on a digital PS5 and it was exceptional.
Never seeing any framerate stutters or slowdowns when things got busy. Traversal across the city was fluid and easy.
The SSD in the PS5 was clearly doing it’s job with that read-write speed blazing without issue.
The visual elements of Spider-Man 2 are like something I’ve never seen before. Holy cow. With the sun shining, ray-traced light reflecting off city buildings and glass. The amount of times my jaw was dropped from just swinging around at sunset or just in the middle of the day……countless.
Having a game perform as well as it does, but look this good at the same time, is a real testament to where the technology is, and where other developers could be.
Insomniac know how to make a game, and stretch the resource they have available to them.
In terms of performance and visual fidelity. Spider-Man 2 is a recent pinnacle of the industry. Whilst it looks like some other first-party titles might be doing the same/better, now. Spider-Man 2 is incredible.
Combat and Traversal
If you give me a 3rd person game with vertical freedom, and then give me a wing suit. Oh boy does that scratch an itch.
Spider-Man 2 gets you going with web-wings on your suits, really quickly. And such a simple addition takes the city traversal to the next level. With added wind tunnels which naturally fit with the nature of a city with streets, you’re basically flying.
Added sling-shot points on building rooftops are a great addition, too.
Tie it all in with the exceptional swinging and physics of the series, and Peter/Miles are roaming with ease. It’s an absolute joy. The traversal alone, is a reason that we go back to play from time to time, even after completion. As a game, it has fundamentals that are fun and satisfying, no matter what you’re doing.
That leads into the combat, too. Clean, quick, fun. Now armed with a whole suite of new abilities, and eventual new abilities borne out of the symbiote and then anti-venom. You’re always armed with more options than you need.
If you enjoyed the combat in the first 2 games, you know what you’re getting here. Gadgets, finishing moves, special attacks and dodges. All brought together with massive skill-trees to unlock enhancements for both individual spiders and one for them both, focusing on traversal and movement.
It’s deep, it’s rich, it’s quick and clean. Spider-Man 2 takes all of what you love and takes it up by another 200%
If you’re not here for the story and want more of that good stuff. You’re not going to be disappointed.
The drawbacks
Spider-Man 2 is so close to being a perfect game. It does so much right, but there were a couple of niggles that just held it back.
Whilst we love the combat, the narrative being told through a combination of cutscenes and different gameplay scenarios is great. However…..it does really put you into a lot of boss fights, that are multi-stage and it can be a real slog just to advance the story.
Towards the back end of the game, I think you spend more time in boss fights than anything else, and heaven forbid you fail and have to start again. The repeated lines of dialogue, the repeated mobs of enemies added that get in the way.
It works, sure, but there are times where a quick-time event would have been more interesting and kept the pace up a little. I’m sure people complained about too many QTE’s in previous installments. But there’s a balance and I think Insomniac kind of missed it a little here.
When you want to push on with the story and witness some of the spectacle, it’s no fun having to button mash and essentially listen to the same barks over and over until you get through it.
Achieving the impossible
Spider-Man 2 is a stunning achievement and a showcase for the power of the PlayStation 5. It takes everything that made the original great and amplifies it.
The action is more spectacular, the city is more expansive, and the story is packed with more heart and emotional conflict than ever before.
It’s a tale of brotherhood, sacrifice, and the darkness that can lurk within even the greatest heroes.
Insomniac Games has crafted the definitive Spider-Man experience, a wholehearted fantasy that is, without a doubt, the best superhero game ever made. And just one of the best games there is in modern day gaming.
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