Fans from all over the world, like myself, have been patiently waiting for the two sarcastic wall-crawlers to make their way back to the spotlight. Ever since the previous installment, “Spider-Man: Miles Morales,” fans have been nothing short of ecstatic to see where Insomniac Games would take these relatable goobers next.
Fortunately, the enthusiasts’ wait is over as Spider-Man 2 has been released on the 20th of October to an explosive reception from devotees and fans alike. But does it live up to the hype? That’s the question I want to answer today.
This is my review of Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2.
Main Story
This game’s story follows the web-slinging duo Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they struggle to properly maintain a good work/life balance. Miles is stressing about writing his essay for his college application, Peter is struggling to keep a job and pay the mortgages on Aunt May’s house, all the while their emotional baggage weighs over them both as they fight to defeat Kraven, Venom, Mister Negative, and Lizard, among many other villains.
Like always, Insomniac has delivered on making a Spider-Man story that feels familiar yet is just oozing with originality. The story beats are solid, the missions themselves are very action-packed, the voice acting is nothing short of incredible, and the villains are very intimidating. Overall, this game’s story is truly something to behold, and highly recommend to anyone remotely interested in these web-heads. 9/10
Traversal
This game’s traversal has left me nothing short of speechless. The web swinging feels fresh and gives a much better sense of speed and momentum, while the newest traversal addition, the Web Wings, truly reinvents what a Spider-Man game can be capable of. Not even including the new traversal abilities, such as the Slingshot Launch, and the brilliantly named “Loop de Loop” swing, allows you to build momentum of ludicrous proportions. The movement is on par with the game Just Cause 3 for me; it’s just that excellent. 9.5/10
Combat
The combat, for me, felt like a pretty decent step-up compared to the last, with a plethora of new abilities and powers at your disposal. Miles has his venom powers and invisibility and later acquires an “electric blue” move set, after accidentally fusing his power with Mister Negative. Peter has Doc-Ock style arms at his disposal, and just like in the movies, he later gains the power of Venom, which gives you a handful of some much more aggressive, brutal combat to play with. This isn’t even mentioning the separate gadgets’ abilities, which can really save you in a pinch.
The enemy types in this game are nothing to scoff at either. The amount of varying enemy types is unmatched by any other Spider-Man game. Kraven’s hunters, the fire-eccentric enemies from the ‘Cult of the Flame’, to even fighting Venom’s human-controlled, ravenous minions. All of them blend seamlessly together in fights as well, creating some nail-biter combat encounters.
In short, the combat is quite excellent in this iteration, despite the gadgets feeling more “Spray and Pray” than in previous games. While the balance between difficulty and fairness can be questionable at times, the overall combat experience hasn’t left me feeling bored once while playing. 8.5/10
Final Verdict
8.5/10: Highly Recommended
With everything considered, Spider-Man 2 has lived up to the hype and reached far beyond it. An amazing story, captivating traversal, and fluid combat, on top of a superb balance between graphical splendor and clear-cut game performance, I swear this game has it all.
