Surely, with thorough research, I could find out how many games have been made about the friendly and well-loved Spider-Man since video games have been around for half a century? The wall climber has been a part of superhero fans’ lives since the ’60s, we first met him in the fifteenth episode of Amazing Fantasy in 1962. He is one of Marvel’s most famous and popular heroes, who has received countless comic book series over the decades: Amazing, Spectacular, Sensational, Ultimate, Web of Spider-Man and more. There were also a good number of cartoons and live-action adaptations, although the fact is that the latter are really only from the 21st century. exploded in the 20th century, now in the form of two complete and one truncated trilogy. We loved Tobey Maguire, we could love Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland fit perfectly into the MCU. And when we saw these three in a movie on the cinema screen, our faces melted with admiration. But let’s go back to the world of video games, because there were one or two very successful games here as well.
One of my personal favorites was 2005’s Ultimate Spider-Man, which luckily didn’t try to adapt the first cinematic trilogy that was running at the time (each film got its own game adaptation), but it did include Venom. 2010’s Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was particularly inventive, but its 2011 quasi-sequel, Edge of Time, was less successful. Here we can now jump a long way in time (if we are already at Edge of Time…), and this is how we get to Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man, released in 2018. I remember when the very first trailer was shown in 2016, and everything in it was like watching a movie, I still had a lot of doubts that it couldn’t be done like that. Let’s add that at that time, Ubisoft still loved to go into poetic exaggeration with each trailer…
However, when I was finally able to actually sit down in front of the game in 2018, I simply couldn’t find the words. Everything shown in the trailer two years earlier was real. From then on, I knew I was dealing with an epoch-making game. I loved every moment of it, including the later DLCs. Then came Miles Morales in 2020, who recently became a very popular guy, thanks to this game, and of course the two new SpiderVerse animated movies (by the way, there is an easter egg for this game in the second part, right!). The stand-alone add-on was already ready for PlayStation 5, and with ray tracing and instant loading, it raised the standard of the game even higher.
Peter Parker and Miles Morales are also controllable characters. Falling from such a height on your face is nice – one might think. However, Insomniac Games announced in 2021 that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is in the works, which established with its very first trailer that there can be no talk of falling on your face here. It’s one thing that Peter Parker and Miles Morales will be controllable characters in the game, but the fact that the whole video is narrated by Venom, who even grins at the screen for a moment at the end, that specifically gave me chills. It’s also been two years, and now I’m sitting here in front of the computer trying to collect my thoughts.
I spent the last few days in the company of Peter Parker, Miles Morales, MJ and Ganke. And I’ve had adventures full of unexpected twists and turns that I could write a thesis about the game, but I still wouldn’t be able to tell you about every detail in sufficient detail. For this very reason, forgive me if the rest of my writing is less detailed. One of the reasons for this is that there really is so much content and experience packed into this game that it’s something amazing. The other reason is that these experiences cannot really be reproduced in textual form. It’s like trying to describe the flavor of a Michelin-starred restaurant’s main course. I’ll do what I can, but right now I’m telling everyone who has the opportunity that if they plan to buy only one game this year, it should be Spider-Man 2!
The story takes place roughly nine months after the events of Miles Morales. The creators also thought of those who might not have played the previous two parts for some reason, or who just want to relive their events a little. Thus, right at the beginning of the story, we get a few-minute summary of the story of the first game and the add-on, with whom, why, and how. This is how we get to the point where Peter Parker takes a substitute teaching job at Miles Morales’ school, and in the very first class of his very first day at work… the crash hits. While he is trying to tell the nebulos about the wonderful world of physics, concealing his considerable confusion, a gigantic sandstorm erupts right in the middle of Manhattan. Of course, it soon turns out that this is no accident, so first Miles and then Peter are forced to leave the physics class early, so that minutes later, the two Spider-Men are competing in web swings across half the city. Flint Marko, alias Sandman (or Sandman in our case) has just grown to the size of a skyscraper and is smashing half the city center, which means a great warm-up fight for us in the shoes of the two spiders. Here, you can try the net swinging, the skill QTE parts are coming, and you can also taste the battles.
All game elements are immediately familiar, control is immediately at hand. All game elements are immediately familiar, control is immediately at hand. The movements are familiar, we immediately know how to kick the enemy into the air, to make them see better with two or three more slaps, then with a quick net throw we can snap the neck of the next target and so on. In every sequel game, I tend to wonder why the equipment, abilities, etc. acquired in the previous part disappear for the sequel, so that I have to get them again. This is still the case a little, but it is not disturbing at all. We will have so much to do in the city, so much to collect, so many side quests and activities to earn XP, parts and more, that the system is maximally motivating. You can only spend hours in the game by collecting such things. Again, we can take photos around the whole city, but this time not ordinary landmarks, as they were already there back then. Now, at the request of Robbie Robertson, the editor-in-chief of Hírharsona, we have to capture the feeling of life in New York in the form of a typical situation. But randomly appearing actions, car chases, ongoing robberies, which we can immediately react to for some XP, will return.
Gliding appears as a new game element thanks to the tiny wings under Spider-Man’s arms. With these it is as if we could literally fly, but of course this is not true, as it is really just gliding. At the same time, if we start from a high enough height and maneuver skillfully enough, we can cover insanely long distances this way. In addition, wind tunnels are common on the long, straight streets of the city, and these can turn into impromptu skill courses, and the feeling of speed is amazing. I would like to note here that this flying is often necessary, because it is often much faster to travel this way than with the hammock swing, which is still brilliantly adorable.
And here I would also like to note that our playground is now roughly double the size of the previous one, since Brooklyn and Queens were included in addition to Manhattan. So we can finally float over the East River and discover brand new locations. Needless to say, this alone can inhale you for hours. It’s amazing how Insomniac Games has built a living and breathing city for us. Of course, if we start looking very closely at the details, we would find errors and inaccuracies aplenty. But this is a game where we won’t have the time or inclination to care about that, because everything else will distract us. However, I would like to mention a small, funny little tank. Already in the first game you could peek through the windows of skyscrapers, and this is still the case now. Inside, we see beautifully designed rooms, but it is not uncommon for them to be out of sync with each other. In neighboring rooms, for example, the doors are often in different places compared to each other. But that doesn’t spoil the experience one iota, in fact, it’s rather funny.
Spider-Man 2 also throws a number of opponents at us. But let’s get down to the more serious stuff! Spider-Man 2 also throws a number of opponents at us. Here, I would only cover those who were already revealed in the previews. Of course, the henchman on duty is Kraven, the hunter (or not…?!), who comes to New York precisely to hunt. Even for the city’s supervillains, which is not a very good sign. Among them, I already mentioned Sandman, but Lizard will play an important role, and maybe Venom too. Apart from them, we can count on many more familiar faces, but we will be surprised by them sometimes, but that’s all here. As you know, the symbiote plays a central role in the story. We already learned from the previous games that the Insomniac Games narrative designer team is not satisfied with reworking stories that have been told a hundred times. Instead, they prefer to put already well-known characters in new or slightly different roles. This will also be the case with Venom, whose origin was already hinted at at the very end of the first game, and this is now explained in detail in the sequel.
But what is it like to control the symbiote-enhanced Spider-Man? Well, it’s basically just like smooth, which could be a disappointment, but it’s not. Because it really is exponentially stronger. This is not only manifested in his special attacks, but also in general. The “plain” Spider-Man takes down the same member with, say, five hits, while the “black” takes a maximum of three. But the really cool ones are the symbiote’s unique attacks. Plus those battlefield combos when the two Spider-Men work together look really cool! In general, all animations, sequences of movements, everything is endlessly dynamic and fast-paced.
The whole game is an endless adrenaline rush. The whole game is an endless adrenaline rush. Even the missions when we are not controlling Spider-Man, but MJ, for example, because they also return. Here, it was a little strange that MJ and I also easily beat up the bad guys that we are used to with Spider-Man, although according to the story, the young lady was trained a little by Silver Sable herself. By the way! One of the most adorable parts of the game is related to MJ: when he has to speak Symkarian or Symkarian in one of his missions. I’m talking about it out loud here, but seriously. I don’t want to kill the joke, veterans with a bit of Marvel knowledge can guess what it’s about anyway. If you don’t, do a little research on the internet for Symkaria, you will understand.
I’ve been gushing about Spider-Man 2 here for a long time, but it also has its faults. The previously mentioned bug with the window is just a small thing, and I have to say that I haven’t come across a much bigger bug. However, from such small things, it feels significantly more than in the first two games. Of course, it could easily be that the experience was so overwhelming at the time that I simply skipped over them, but because of them, my expectations for Spider-Man 2 have become much higher today, which is why they stand out more. But there are tiny little graphic inaccuracies, sometimes knocked out opponents accidentally sticking to objects, or a finger hanging over the paper when holding a letter. But I didn’t find a bigger graphic error.
And here we have to mention the optimization of the game, which is also impressive. There are different running modes, but for example, ray tracing is a default setting in all of them, so we don’t have to give it up. But even in Quality mode, the game is so stable that even a battle with a larger number of people or a race through the streets cannot shake it. The biggest mistake I ran into several times was when during a fight I simply couldn’t find the last enemy anywhere, because for some reason it didn’t spawn for seconds, and then it suddenly appeared right in front of my nose out of nowhere.
Missing out on this experience is really a sin. It’s time for me to close my lines, even though, as I wrote at the beginning, there is much more that could be written about the game. But I’ll leave the discovery of the many other small delicacies to you. Enjoy the excellently written story, get excited about the teeth-grindingly tight situations, and soak up the unique sight of bustling Manhattan. Spider-Man 2 is typically the game that deserves every penny it’s asked for. Anyone who owns a PlayStation 5 simply cannot miss out on perhaps the best game in the history of the console. And if you don’t have one yet, there is no better reason to buy one. Especially since there will be a bundle with the game. But this is not the place for advertising, just an advice. Because missing out on this experience is really a sin.
The test copy was provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment.