Discussing the greatest superheroes of all time might be a difficult conversation to have, but one consensus nominee should be Spider-Man. What started as a singular boy who gained his superpowers from a radioactive spider has evolved into a complex multiversal existence with countless versions of the titular hero. Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 continues the story of their version of Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they encounter new enemies defending New York City. While Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 brilliantly crafts a compelling story, there are a few questionable decisions that make little sense in the grand scheme of things, but the game ultimately sticks the landing as a worthwhile sequel.
Hunting Big Game
Like the previous entries, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 opens up with a boss fight that also acts as a tutorial. Flint Marko, aka Sandman, is terrorizing the city, and it’s up to the two Spider-Men to take him down. Peter and Miles try to talk Marko down, but the enormous villain is hellbent on tearing apart the city. After utilizing Miles’s electricity and Peter’s quick thinking to bust local water pipes, the pair defeat Sandman. While Sandman is being taken away to the Raft, he informs the two Spider-Men that a greater evil will soon terrorize the city.
Enter Kraven the Hunter. The ferocious predator from Russia has made a name for himself, seeking out only the strongest prey to affirm himself as king of the food chain. After seeing the formidable opponents in New York, Kraven and his army of hunters storm the city. Spider-Man 2 is a loose adaptation of Kraven’s Last Hunt, which saw the hunter finally get the better of the web crawler by shooting and burying him alive. In the comics, Kraven dons Spider-Man’s costume and takes his place, brutally taking down his rogue gallery of villains. Peter manages to dig himself out of the hole with the help of the Venom symbiote and nearly kills Kraven in retaliation.
There are several differences between the comic story and Insomniac’s take, the biggest being Kraven hunting Peter’s assortment of villains first. It’s a head-scratching decision, to say the least, because why wouldn’t Kraven simply go after the person who defeated them in the first place? If Kraven’s main goal is to fight the strongest prey in the hopes that he will meet his end in battle, then it’s a waste of time targeting villains that Spider-Man has already imprisoned. Regardless, Kraven’s presence is daunting, to say the least, as he kills it (literally) every time he shows up. Insomanic emphasizes the brutality and ruthlessness of Kraven, something we hardly saw in the previous game, and it’s only amplified once Venom appears.
The Venom symbiote appears in Spider-Man 2 and is the main adversary in the second half of the game. However, the alien symbiote is used as an experimental treatment for Harry Osborn. Peter’s best friend inherited Oshtoran’s Syndrome from his mother, a rare neurological disorder that affects various organ systems. His father, Norman Osborn, uses the symbiote as a way to cure his son, but there are obvious complications that surface. The Venom symbiote plays a significant role in Spider-Man’s story, so it was only a matter of time before it appeared in Insomniac’s universe. Unlike other symbiote appearances, Insomniac amplified the threat of Venom to the extreme, setting up a dynamic conclusion to the game. The stakes in Spider-Man 2 are surprisingly much higher in the back half compared to the Devil’s Breath virus but lacked a wide variety of villains compared to the first game.
Peter and Miles In Action
While Insomniac’s first game focused primarily on Peter and the standalone Miles Morales focused on, well, Miles, Spider-Man 2 more or less features the pair equally. Both participate in main missions throughout the game (though Peter has a few more important ones than Miles) and have their side quests to complete throughout the city. But ultimately, Spider-Man 2 feels like a Peter Parker-centric story, and it’s a massive disservice to Miles.
Even when you disregard the imbalance of main missions between the two spiders, the side quests specifically for Miles aren’t the same quality as Peter’s. While Miles is helping his classmates at the Brooklyn Visions Academy complete science projects and ask their partners to homecoming, Peter is protecting the city from another potential catastrophe by fighting the Flame and his cultists. Miles and Peter also have specific sidequests that involve recovering old tech from Prowler hideouts and experimenting with bee drones. Both of them share other sidequests, but they’re mundane tasks for the sole purpose of earning Tech Parts and Hero and City Tokens to upgrade gear and suits.
The multitude of suit selections was one of the major bright spots of the first game, and the same is true in Spider-Man 2. There are plenty of options for Peter and Miles for you to use, with Peter gaining different abilities with the symbiote suit. Miles has no suits that grant him special powers, but he naturally develops stronger abilities throughout the game that you can upgrade via skill trees. Peter and Miles have their separate skill trees and then one that impacts both.
Protecting New York
Although the map of Spider-Man 2 is still that of New York, it is larger and more livelier than the first game. There are times when you’re fighting criminals when the other Spider-Man that you’re not controlling will swing in to help with a combo, and that’s a great touch by the developers. Some of the sidequests do offer some character development for Peter and Miles, like finding a lost grandpa and recovering stolen music equipment, but in most cases, it’s busy work for Spider-Man.
The running joke in Insomniac’s universe is scaling Avengers Tower but never actually encountering any of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. There are a few Easter Eggs that possibly point at potential DLC or maybe storylines for Spider-Man 3. Gamers found Matthew Murdock’s office and a secret room that could open the door for Daredevil and the Hand. There’s a main mission in the game as well that confirms the existence of another Avenger, so we can hope they will surface down the road. Insomniac also confirmed that their upcoming Wolverine title is set in the same universe as Spider-Man, so there’s a chance for a hero ensemble in the future.
Verdict
All in all, Spider-Man 2 is a worthy sequel to both of Insomniac’s previous entries and delivers a complex story that will please all fans of the webhead. Several interesting abilities for both Peter and Miles differentiate their combat styles, so you’ll need to deploy different strategies with each hero. Sidequests are a bit uneven between Peter and Miles, with the former confronting more serious criminals like the Flame. While Spider-Man 2 was marketed as a Peter Parker and Miles Morales duo adventure, the main story of the game feels more Peter-centric and falls short of truly embracing Miles as a second main character. Whether we like it or not, Spider-Man 2 is a Peter Parker story with Miles operating as a glorified secondary character. The Mary Jane Watson stealth missions make a return, though MJ is a much more formidable fighter in the sequel than before. Insomniac’s sequel introduces a few new villains, but the developer’s decision regarding previous villains is questionable, to say the least. Ultimately, Spider-Man 2 checks off the major boxes as an exciting sequel with a compelling story that will hook you in from the get-go. Go get’em, tigers.
