Board 8 > Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Review Zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.metacritic.com/game/marvels-spider-man-2/
https://opencritic.com/game/15052/marvels-spider-man-2

GET ME REVIEWS OF SPIDER-MAN!

Hey I finally got around to finishing Miles Morales just 2 weeks ago so I'm ready to play this game! The first game was a little too bloated in optional content, but he main campaign was great. That averaged an 87. Miles Morales the campaign was too short, but had the right amount of optional content. That averaged an 85. Is Spider-Man 2 the perfect fusion of both? Well it's averaging a 91 through 84 reviews that's a pretty large sample!

Playstation Universe - 10/10
Full of emotional highs that will make you get out of your chair and cheer at the screen in a way that few games have managed to achieve in recent memory, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 represents Insomniac Games operating at the apex of its considerable powers. Spectacular and amazing, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a superior, spectacle stuffed action adventure that provides players with the ultimate superhero fantasy. Full of surprising heart and delicate moments that balance beautifully with the sort of blockbuster superhero bombast that its developer has refined to a fine art, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a toweringly polished, unparalleled masterwork that redefines the superhero video game genre at large and is better than the previous two games in every way imaginable. This is exactly what you've been waiting for.

VGC - 10/10
Spider-Man is an incredibly confident sequel and one of 2023's best. Incredibly fun to play, fast-paced and full of heart, it takes the best of the Spider-Man lore, and the best of Insomniac's penchant for excellent gameplay sequences, and combines them for arguably the best Marvel game ever.

VG247 - 10/10
Spider-Man 2 is exceptional. In your hands, its the best a superhero game has ever felt. On your eyes, its a pure tour de force of what the PlayStation 5 can do. On your heart, its heavy, enticing, exciting. The open world is a tonic, the characters are a riot, the villains are unbelievable in the best way. Suspend your disbelief in a neat little web above your head, dive in with your mask pulled tight over your face, and prepare yourself for the daftest, most earnest action game of 2023. Its a 20-or-so hour hoot youre not going to be able to put down until the post-credits scene has rolled.

Game Informer - 9.5/10
Insomniac has nailed that rarest of video game development feats. The team has landed a trilogy of games that all stand strong on their own merits but unite into a sweeping saga made better by experiencing its entirety. While more Spider-Man games will inevitably expand this mythology in new directions, theres no need to wait. With Spider- Man 2, the developer has found what makes superhero stories worth telling (and retelling) and given its likable heroes the journey they deserve.

Easy Allies - 9/10
Spider-Man 2 is an excellent sequel that smartly builds on the solid foundation set in the previous installments. The web wings are a fun addition to traversal, while combat and stealth have been improved and refined with easier access to gadgets and the new web lines. Swapping between Peter and Miles is not only fun for gameplay variety, but creates a convincing sense of individuality as they go off and do their own things. After a three year wait, Insomniac has delivered a definitive Spider-Man, yet again.

Gamespot - 8/10
All in all, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 may largely give us more of what we've played in Insomniac's previous Spider-Man games, but that winning formula is still so damn fun that it really doesn't matter. The story's exploration of loneliness is fantastic, creating gripping new narratives for the two heroes, Peter and Miles, as well as the two main villains, Kraven and Venom. Spider-Man 2 unites all four characters in a riveting narrative throughline you'll want to see all the way through and has the gameplay hooks to keep you engaged the whole ride.

IGN - 8/10
As a sequel in a spectacular series, Marvels Spider-Man 2 is both blessed and cursed. Its story of two Spider-Men is a great time and a Spidey fans dream to play through as comic book pages are brought to life, elegantly walking the tightrope between light humour and heavier themes. Meanwhile, Insomniac refines a successful formula of combat and web-swinging without revolutionising either in major ways, making them comfy and familiar with just enough new tweaks and abilities to elevate them to fun new heights. The part that feels like it actually needed a radical rethinking is the open world of New York City, which has been made bigger but not better, with an exhausting checklist of mostly repetitious side activities. But its safe to call this another thrilling Spider-Man adventure that delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, it's a reliably fun superhero power trip. And, you know what? Screw it. It really did make me feel like Spider-Man, too.

ya go my Spider-Man 2

I'm sure I'll play you in 2024 sometime

I am extremely torn.

It sounds like this game is amazing....but seeing the sentiment everywhere that it very much is doing that exact predictable Spiderman story that anyone who reads Spiderman stories is already 200% familiar with, and that's exactly the thing that was making me not want to get this game.

Give me more Venom stories, I need an infinite amount to get the bad taste of Spider-Man 3 out of my mouth.

Best Spider-Man rival

Wow did not expect that even though the previous two were well received. Looks like Ill be getting this this year after all.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I am extremely torn.

It sounds like this game is amazing....but seeing the sentiment everywhere that it very much is doing that exact predictable Spiderman story that anyone who reads Spiderman stories is already 200% familiar with, and that's exactly the thing that was making me not want to get this game.

To be fair this is also the case for the first two so if you liked them youre probably good.

Extremely excited for this one

Yeah, this is the only current source of good Spider-Man stories, so I'll take it even if it's just a nostalgic retread.

Digital Foundry Tech Review

https://youtu.be/P8JnbYKrYpA?si=anbJAjRYlTFLhN6K

Leonhart4 posted...

Yeah, this is the only current source of good Spider-Man stories, so I'll take it even if it's just a nostalgic retread.

Are you not excited for multiple upcoming new Dan Slott books apeing off nostalgia for old stories?? /s

It's amazing how the whole line is a failure.

But hey, they're making Hickman relaunch Ultimate Spiderman, even if the idea of relaunching that in the first place is hilarious. I have no faith they'll let him STAY on USM, but at least we can have that for a bit.

LET'S GO! (caps)

Im not a Spider-Manologist, but isnt everything but the comics doing pretty well at the moment? Games great, animated movies great, live-action movies great, new animated series on the way, comics uh-oh.

Yeah it's doing solid to great everywhere else (outside of the Spiderverse production controversies), but boy does it hurt in the comics lol.

Yeah, that was mostly a shot at the comics. Everything else Spider-Man always does great because they actually understand why people love him because they love him.

Spider-Man 1 was pretty light for an open-world game. I don't mind a bit of excess here.

Even the side activities for Miles were too much for me. But the campaigns are awesome and worth it.

Starting now.

God dammit I forgot they fucking Tom Holland baby faced Peter in that Ultimate Edition and they've carried it forward here. It's so contradictory to the narrative of the games. He straight up looks younger than Miles now. It's so bad.

I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate when they MCU actor this non-MCU stuff!

What? The new version looks exactly like Andrew Garfield.

He looks a little younger than Andrew Garfield still, kind of a combination of the two of them.

Which is still COMPLETELY off brand for what's supposed to be an experienced, adult Peter who's been doing this for long enough that some of his villains have retired??

You know, like how he looked when the game first came out.

Yeeeeah took the day off today to play this, this continuing my Arkham/Spidey tradition of leaving a full day for these games. Picking it up here soon.

Unfortunately getting some bad glitches. Prompts that won't pop up, pictures I can't take. Already have the day 1 patch, hopefully there's a day 2.

At least the one blocking progression I was able to reload the save for, this photo of the 2 fursuit dudes just isn't happening. Even looked up a guide to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.

I just had the most bizarre GameStop trip ever.

I went there to pick up my fully paid for game, he asks if I want to renew my membership because I have gamer points or whatever and I say sure, okay. I can do that. And then somehow I have a case of Red Bull and $7 and change he's handing me as a bonus for the renewal and the left over points.

I think I understand why GameStop is having financial issues.

About eleven hours in. It's good! Definitely a step up from the first game and they're going in some interesting directions with a few characters. Got the black suit a few hours ago, reckon I'm maybe half way through the main story, but I really haven't been doing side stuff unless it's on the way to the main missions.

Having a great time so far, even though I'm still hitting some glitches.

I have noooooo idea why they put the bike minigame (the optional one, not the story one) in here though. Absolutely terrible.

I'm glad the gadget wheel is gone. That was my foremost issue with the first game.

from borderlands, to spider-man 2: video games love Cage the Elephant !

The Shins were an interesting choice too i wonder if Peter is a big Garden State fan

oh, and one beef with the game: what happened to the cool menu that let you see descriptions of all the characters?

I need my lore!

Minor spoilers.

Man, is this kind of thing really not happening to anyone else?

https://youtu.be/f4novd7kJj0?si=kW3Qd81TGtkAGgwn

The scripting in this game is all over the place for me.

Also from the beginning of the game, harmless but funny.

https://youtu.be/wjNJ_c4XzaY?si=Xnj3WMwcYwTjUt2b

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I have noooooo idea why they put the bike minigame (the optional one, not the story one) in here though. Absolutely terrible.

I beat this on the first try no problem. Lol

I'm loving it so far. I personally loved the gadget wheel and I'm very disappointed it's been reduced, but it feels like the combat is pretty different this time to justify it. Trying to get that web gadget though.

I have run into only two glitches or bugs so far. The first one was that there was no voice acting for one scene. Not sure why. But luckily it wasn't important and was just a transition scene. I also had the game crash after a major scene for some reason. Aside from that, I haven't really run into issues.

A couple plot things bugged me a bit, but I'm enjoying everything overall. Harry is a delight and he and Peter really come across as very close friends. I really just enjoy this little universe a lot.

I disliked the gadget wheel so much in the first game I just did not use gadgets at all in my entire playthrough.

I haven't had any plot issues thus far, but a lot of the, like....the major dialogue is fine, I think the dialogue in a lot of these sidequests is....embarrasing? Like the way characters would talk in an after school special before some creep tried to sell them drugs. Absolutely zero chemistry across the board.

I just finished all the optional Coney Island things and I think I hate all these characters now lol. The way the characters at Miles' school talked in all those sidequests made me want to uninstall.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I disliked the gadget wheel so much in the first game I just did not use gadgets at all in my entire playthrough.

I haven't had any plot issues thus far, but a lot of the, like....the major dialogue is fine, I think the dialogue in a lot of these sidequests is....embarrasing? Like the way characters would talk in an after school special before some creep tried to sell them drugs. Absolutely zero chemistry across the board.

I just finished all the optional Coney Island things and I think I hate all these characters now lol. The way the characters at Miles' school talked in all those sidequests made me want to uninstall.

Yeah, the Brooklyn Visions sidequests all kind of sucked. A couple lines got a chuckle out of me. I just powered through all of them as quick as I could. I do appreciate Spider-Man doing casual helping random folks stuff, but these scenarios didn't really do it for me.

I don't know how the Coney Island stuff made you hate everyone though. I thought that part of the game was awesome. Really helped flesh out the relationships there.

....OK, I'm gonna put this game on hold for now, give this devs what's hopefully just a couple more days to cook.

https://youtu.be/cNCliiWkLls?si=QJgK47aKH9Iu_WCF

Like the 6th time I've had to reload a checkpoint because of stuff like this.

Yeah man, I dunno. It may be an issue with your save. That's really weird. I've only encountered barely any issues.

And done. Fun game with some really cool set pieces. I think the finale of the first hit harder, but the final boss fight was way better. Think it did a good job of balancing the two Spider-Men's stories and didn't make Miles feel like an add-on considering how much of the main plot centered around Peter. Next game set-ups were: predictable, but cool; fine, I guess, and interesting choice that I imagine will annoy some people, in that order.

As for bugs, I had: two crashes; a car drive up a wall and the enemies that got out were all at an angle for the whole fight; got stuck in some geometry, and one scene had the subtitles fall out of sync with what was being said briefly then caught up again. Buggy though, but not janky, game played like a dream otherwise.

Now to go polish off all those side activities.

Oh, also, they improved the rat quality, 10/10 game.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/7/8/AAEwvCAAE9c2.jpg https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/7/9/AAEwvCAAE9c3.jpg

Sorry but after Sodagate this game can be nothing but a 1/10.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/8/6/AAeolZAAE9c-.jpg

Put every Insomniac employee in jail.

Im like 30% done (half of the main story). Ive had one hard crash so far, and one incident where the last enemy in an encounter just wasnt damagable for some reason and I had to restart

plus a couple incidents of getting stuck in an animation. Like I tried to walk up to a carnival game, but Pete kept walking in a little circle

but mostly it works really well and is super impressive and good

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Sorry but after Sodagate this game can be nothing but a 1/10.

I take back every positive thing I've said.

It's been pretty glitchy, yeah. Needing to restart checkpoints to make objectives interactable, the recurring problem with photo targets, popup info sticking on the screen, and one hard crash.

Played about 4 or 5 hours. Had only one serious problem which was during Kraven's attack on the raft, I beat all the enemies but the next section didn't load. No other glitches beyond that

Just finished the main story with 100% map completion. Had a few crashes and bugs, but nothing game breaking.

Had an enemy in a random crime spawn indoors so I had no choice but to abandon it, but the only glitch I found funny enough to share is this

https://youtu.be/JKIe_wYbP9g?si=dJQU3L4-w9V_U2xn

(No story spoilers, just a random crime and a different suit for Miles)

ok, I understand that Spider-Man doesnt kill as a rule, but I feel like theres a strong case to make an exception when the guy youre fighting literally wants to be killed in battle. I feel like its worse to lock him up and make him slowly die of cancer.

finished the game. a few more side bits to finish up, but mostly done.

some feelings:

miles new costume is very dumb. dont show off your hair when youre tying to protect your identity, dummy
with all the resources Norman has, he should be able to figure Miles identity out no problem even without Ottos help

speaking of Otto, him being like good, you needed to experience loss to norman regarding Harry was kind of goofy since Normans wife is very dead too. Hes already been there, dude. But ok, he hates Norman. I get it.

im looking forward to goblin finally coming into play, and I think this depiction of Norman has been really good. But also Ive realized its kind of a bummer that they waited this long to introduce GG, since it means we probably never get any off-shoot villains like Hobgoblin

insomniac is kind of running out of villains at this point, since they killed off four of them from the last game, and seemingly reformed Negative, Sandman, Mysterio, and Tombstone. And Kravens dead.

also venom is gone? That seems crazy, but it sure looked like the symbiotic was destroyed. Theyve gotta contrive some way to bring him back, right?

and as for the post-credits scene they set up such an obvious Chekovs boyfriend early on, so I knew that door opening would be a reveal, but I was expectjng something more like the classic Doc Ock/Aunt May villain date scenario
maybe an older version of Eddie Brock?

But instead the reveal was the guys daughter, who is definitely someone. I havent kept up with comics in at least a decade, so I only know really basic details of Cindy cant say Im too excited about her just because Im not sure the series needed another new protagonist. I wonder how shell tie into the story withojt feeling like a total third wheel.

they did manage to balance Pete and Miles roles pretty well in this game though, so Ill give them the benefit of the doubt that they know what theyre doing with the new girl too

oh, also it was fucked up of them to introduce a side quest line involving bees and then not have it lead to a boss fight with Swarm, the man made of bees. Or any reference to Swarm at all. Give me my bee man.

less seriously, it was kind of disappointing that the stolen instrument missions villain was just some rich asshole instead of The Hypno Hustler. is it so much to ask that you give me one goofy villain, Insomniac?

I only had one crash right after getting the last photo op. And one glitch where I had an enemy out of bounds during a setpiece. But all fixed when restarting from checkpoint.

I've experienced multiple glitches that have forced me to restart from last checkpoint and those are mostly location point being untargetable and it wont let you just crawl through the hole in the wall, you need to point jump through it.

I had one battle glitch where an enemy was in a wall and he was the last guy and I was super pissed but I did a spidey ability right next to the wall and managed to kill him.

I only had to restart from checkpoint once when Miles got a new ability and I had to use it because tutorial but the input wasn't doing anything

But the real question is Big Wheel in the game?

TheRock1525 posted...

But the real question is Big Wheel in the game?

Yes.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/6/7/AATFBfAAE-CL.jpg

both my characters are cubes now

my personal footage of this is heavy on late-game spoilers, so here is someone elses clip:

https://twitter.com/g27status/status/1716337800482635812?s=46&t=eadwHKE22SYsw5v5V_16FA

At some point after it happened I had a hard crashed and havent booted the game back up yet. I dunno if Im cubes forever or not.

Done. Bugs never stopped but it was never too horrible. Worst one by far is that whenever I exited a cutscene in to the city in midair, my web swing didn't work for a good 5-10 seconds every time.

It was...fine. Other than combat I think I liked everything less than the first game or Miles Morales. Fixing gadgets really went a long way. Still a good game, but from the jump a lot of what this game wanted to do wasn't jiving for me. I didn't like any of the side content.

The suit I wanted the most, from the best Spiderman story written in the last decade, was the only suit in the game you came get until after you've already beaten it. That's definitely a shame.

People have been shit talking Miles last suit in the story and uh....they...were right! This is absolutely horrendous. Can't think of a worse Spidey suit that is supposed to be "mainline".

I think I may be finally getting serious fatigue in regards to the "Prestige Sony Game". I was feeling it big time with Ragnarok, which I was super over with outside of wanting to finish the story a good while before it ended, to the point where I skipped that entire huge optimal area at the end and also turned the difficulty down to baby mode just to get it done. This game is a lot more streamlined than that so didn't go that far, did all the content, though about 2/3 through I turned all the QTEs off because I couldn't be bothered.

I think RE4 Remake really opened my eyes to how low my tolerance is for this type of game anymore, because this game isn't even kissing that one's boots. Nothing beats a fully structured linear experience.

This is a lot of shit taking for what's ending up like a 7.5 or an 8, but the parts of the game that are good are pretty self evident because they were good the first time, too.

Obviously they're making SP3 but I'd rather they make a new Ratchet.

Also, way too many hooks for what I assume is DLC. I didn't play the DLC the first time because basically everyone said it all sucked, and I have no plans to do it this time either.

And seriously, until the last chunk of the game Miles goes to such waste here, ugh. Everything in the first half of the game with him is bad.