Antonio Jackson
Variety Editor
The highly anticipated sequel to “Spider-Man PS4”, “Spider-Man 2” was released on Oct. 20, exclusively on Playstation 5. With the previous game being considered one of the best Playstation exclusives ever released, Insomniac Games developers of the Spider-Man series had a tough challenge to pass the high bar that was set.
Not only did this installment surpass expectations, it has made it impossible to go back to the previous games.
“Spider-Man 2” follows the story of Peter Parker, the first and veteran Spider-Man of nine years, and Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man and prodigy of the previous one. Parker has recently been dealing with financial issues, being unable to keep a stable job due to him protecting the city of New York as Spider-Man.
Parker’s girlfriend, Mary-Jane Watson, offers to help pay, but he declines due to his obsession of always being the one that helps others, not the other way around.
In a twist of fate, Parker reunites with a long-time friend, Harry Osborn. After being “treated” of a genetic sickness and secretly working behind the scenes, Osborn offers Peter a job as co-founder of the Emily-May Foundation, a company dedicated to helping the world become a more eco-friendly home for humans. Parker accepts with no hesitation.
Before reuniting with Parker, Osborn went under treatment for an incurable disease passed down from his mother. Norman Osborn, Harry’s father, through desperation of not losing another loved one, uses an alien creature discovered many years ago to cure his son.
Later on in the story, in an attempt to save Parker’s life from a fatal injury, Osborn passes on the creature, leaving him vulnerable to his illness once again. Though it did save Parker’s life, being one with the creature will alter Parker’s mind, making him more angry, uncensored, and will even push Parker to kill, something he vowed that he would never do as Spider-Man.
Something that can be appreciated by the story is its switch to a more dark and mature tone rather than the typical upbeat and lighter tone in previous games. You can feel the tension between the characters and Parker and how they react to his personality shift. It’s definitely a well needed change of pace for the character.
A definite high point of “Spider-Man 2” was the vast amount of improvements to the gameplay compared to the previous game. They’ve slowed down the combat, but in return, Insomniac gave the fights a lot more impact and power with every fight.
They’ve replaced the gadget wheel, and in its stead you are given an easily accessible gadget selection that can be used mid-combat. This was a much-needed change due to the gadget wheel being filled with tools you would never use and somewhat of a bother whenever it interrupted combat when scrolling through it.
Another aspect about the gameplay they improved upon was the web swing. A key factor to Spider-Man’s character is his ability to swing through the city of New York, so it’s important that this aspect of the game is well designed and polished.
Fortunately, Insomniac does exactly that and more. One of the things that fans appreciated about the previous games was that the web swinging was not overly complicated and easy to master unlike previous Spider-Man games throughout the years. With “Spider-Man 2”, Insomniac was able to find the perfect balance of expanding on the web swinging in order to keep things fresh while also keeping it simple and easy to use.
A personal highlight that can be appreciated about “Spider-Man 2” was its expansion on combat. With this game, they’ve added new moves to your arsenal like the web slam and a brand new aspect to combat known as Combat Abilities.
With Combat Abilities, Parker and Miles are able to unleash powerful attacks that can turn the tide in your favor if used correctly. These new additions really give you the sense of strength and power over your enemies and adds another layer of depth to the combat.
One low point of the game was Miles’s involvement in the story. It almost seemed as if Miles was often forgotten about when writing the story, so he was left with last minute, throw-away missions that had little to no importance to the overall story.
Overall, “Spider-Man 2” is a phenomenal masterpiece that was able to far exceed expectations with its impressive gameplay and unforgettable story.
