“This game makes you really feel like Spider-Man’’ – IGN
Spider-Man 2 is an action-adventure superhero game developed by Insomniac Games and was officially released on Oct. 26, 2023, for exclusively the Playstation 5. The game is based on everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. It is the third mainline entry in the Insomniac Spider-Man universe and is the sequel to the previous entry, Spider-Man: Miles Morales which was released on Nov. 12, 2020.
Storyline:
The game centers around Peter Parker recently getting fired from his job as a teaching assistant due to Sandman attacking the city. Pete also has become a mentor for Miles Morales, who was also bitten by a radioactive spider that gave him Pete’s powers, and his very own. Peter is struggling to find a job that will support him financially and allow him to continue to be Spider-Man at the same time.
Peter reunites with his childhood best friend, Harry Osborn who was away after receiving treatment for a sickness that he inherited after his mother passed. But a new deadly foe comes to New York called Kraven The Hunter, who is infamous for being able to slay powerful animals and beasts. After feeling unaccomplished, Kraven moves on to hunting people in hopes of dying honorably in combat. Spider-Man discovers that Kraven is killing most of his villains like Scorpion, Rhino, and Vulture.
Making matters worse, Peter is severely injured while fighting Kraven and almost dies from his injuries. Harry seeing Spider-Man weakened gives away his symbiote powers which is what has been keeping Harry alive from his disease to save Spider-Man. This works and saves Pete’s life but he gains new powers that make him an even stronger Spider-Man than Miles. Pete finds out these powers are the result of a symbiote which was an alien organism that landed outside the city years ago. The symbiote bonds with its hosts in order to survive while giving them the power of healing and strength.
As Peter keeps putting on the suit, he gets more brutal and scarier as Spider-Man. Miles must now try to save Peter from succumbing to the suit before he becomes the evil Venom while trying to put away Kraven The Hunter for good.
The story is very engaging and has many twists and turns down the adventure. It also tells a compelling story using themes of forgiveness, addiction, and obsession. But it also explores what makes Spider-Man so tragic, and that is he can save everyone except the people he loves the most. One of the best parts of the story is Peter’s relationship with the symbiote.
When he gains the suit after almost getting killed by Kraven, he is saved but his personality gets different as the game moves forward. He becomes more powerful but more arrogant. His arrogance leads him on a path thinking that he is a better Spider-Man with the suit so he can save more people from the pain of suffering and loss that Peter has endured his whole life. The suit takes advantage of his thoughts, forcing him to think that he needs to be more brutal, and unforgiving, and to kill. Near the end of the story, he realizes how much damage the suit is causing to his life and the people who care most about him. He then takes the suit off and we know now that our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has finally returned back to us.
‘’Spider-Man 2 offers significantly more in the way of enemy variety’’
One thing that Spider-Man 2 utilizes the most is the use of enemy types or factions that you will face throughout the game’s story. At the beginning of the game, you will start by fighting small-time criminals that are easy to fight. Towards the 2nd half of the game, you will be fighting Kraven’s hunters who have access to more weapons and skills that can fool the player unless you are quick enough to dodge or parry.
Gameplay:
Spider-Man 2 has one of the greatest ways of getting around the city of New York whether you are using the game’s excellent web-swinging mechanics which are fast, smooth, and lots of fun to use. This traversal system has been around since the creation of the original Spider-Man 2(2004). This was when Spider-Man’s webs didn’t simply shoot from the sky, but actually connected to buildings. It was a legendary innovation that made the gameplay more enjoyable. Another addition to getting around the city is the game’s web wings, which allow you to fly through the city using wind tunnels that allow you to go faster.
It takes lessons from past superhero games that utilize traversal like Superman or the Batman Arkham games. The combat system is also very fun, engaging, intense, and super satisfying. The game utilizes a dodge mechanic in which Spidey’s spider-sense will go off giving the player a chance to dodge or parry an enemy’s attacks. Some attacks can only be parried or after parrying an enemy’s attack, this gives the player a time window to throw punches or kicks at the enemy.
