Recently I shared my top five Spider-Man retro video games with you guys and I mentioned how excited I was for Spider-Man 2. Well a couple of weeks later, many, many hours spent saving New York and a new Platinum trophy for my collection and I feel comfortable sharing my thoughts on the game.
To start with, I knew I was going to like this! I loved Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales and played through them both multiple times. Spider-Man 2 though is truly the next level and one of the best games I have ever played. I am a huge Spidey fan so I am always going to be biased, but this is legit one of the best pieces of Spider-Man media I have ever experienced. I am a bit OCD when things change and I was worried about there being a new take on Venom here, but nope, no worry needed to say that they nailed it is the understatement of the year.
I will say that Insomniac has not reinvented the wheel here, they have just taken what made the first two games so much fun and expanded upon it. Peter and Miles feel different to play as thanks to their unique abilities and combat is once again satisfying and a lot of fun. Like in the first Spider-Man, we once again play as Mary Jane Watson. However, her sections are fantastic, so much better than they were in the last game, we all know that MJ is a bit of a badass, but this time we get to play her as one. You also get to play as someone else and the fact that I never got this spoiled for me made it even more awesome as I was not expecting it!
As much as I like the gameplay of Spider-Man 2 it is the story that won me over. There is just so much to talk about I do not think I can do it justice. Peter being a mentor for Miles, trying to be the best Spider-Man and also be there for MJ while holding down a job and keeping his house showcases just how hard it is for him to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Miles on the other hand is trying to find his place in the world, he has college essays to write, and friends to hang out with and he is still full of anger and sadness for what happened to his father.
The crazy thing is, Spider-Man 2’s story has more going on than just Peter and Miles. The stuff with Kraven the Hunter is great, but it is Harry Osborne who I think steals the show here. The stuff with him (no spoilers) is just so well done and then we have Peter getting the black suit and turning into a jerk. The voice acting in this game is phenomenal, I was already a big fan of Yuri Lowenthal, but this is something else. Much like Kevin Conroy is my favorite Batman due to his incredible voice work (cheap plug, check out my ranking of the Arkham Games) Yuri Lowenthal after this may be my favorite Spider-Man. The emotion, the quips, the laughter, the sadness, it is all here.
Spider-Man 2 is one of those games that just got better and better as I played it. I know that some people have had a few glitches here and there, thankfully, Miles getting stuck in a wall once was the only one I had. However, for me, this game is a masterpiece, so much so that when I finally got that last trophy I was legit bummed out as it will probably be a few years until we see the next Spider-Man game. Hopefully, Insomniac’s Wolverine game will be just as good! If you have a PlayStation 5, Spider-Man 2 is a must buy!