Spider-Man 2

Let me tell you a story.

A young teen - a boy who was always an outsider. He could never really fit in with the popular kids because his dyslexia put him in the special classes and the friends he met there, he could never turn his back on. This boy was drawn to the X-men, more specifically, James Howlett a.k.a., Wolverine. There was something about the tortured soul that drew me in and as any self-respecting long-haired teen, I begged my dad for Wolverine Comic books.

My father- while wishing his son would go out and play football, complied.

And so the Wolverine comic books came in all shapes and sizes. I saw Logan as a samurai in feudal Japan, and read stories of him as a member of the X-men, X-force, and solo - Yes my nerdy heart was fulfilled.

But one day my father did the unthinkable. He brought home a comic book that was not Wolverine. It was in fact, Spider-man and the Silver Surfer.

Oh father of mine - ignore the younger me, I appreciate it now!

I can talk for hours about how Ben Riley is clearly the best Spider-Man and how Miguel O’Hara changed comic books and Spider-Man comic books since it was released. I have played almost every single Spider-man game (I’ve never had the time/opportunity to play Fractured Time) and in January 2024, my partner not only gifted me with a Playstation 5, but also, Insomniac Spider-Man 2. I’ll be honest, I called in sick to play that game and I regret nothing.

I completed all the side missions, got all the collectibles, unlocked all the suits and variants, and loved almost every second of it.

Now that New Game Plus has been added (as well as a couple of new suits), now is a good time to replay the game and give my thoughts.

I’m going to start with the suits. And oh boy, the suits! In the first game, there were no suits that were hidden behind paywalls - this is not something I can say as there are two exclusive suits (one for Peter and one for Miles) that you can only get by paying extra money for them. Not only are they not included even if you buy the deluxe upgrade, but they both hit that 1990’s fashion that so many of us try to block out. Reading the description is screams ‘Sweet Baby Inc’ and in the fandom, this is a toxic touch. Others have gone into why far better than I can so I will stick to the game itself, but this does lead to something that is important.

In the first game, there were a number of suits that I adored for Peter, the Ben Riley suit, Spider-Man 2099 suits - there was a number that I loved. In the Miles Morales game that followed had maybe two that I liked. This game has no suit that I really love for Miles, and so, I tried to use Peter as much as possible. And Let me be clear here, Spider-Man powers plus electric powers is cool - but part of playing a superhero game is looking cool while you swing through the streets of New York.

The story arc for Miles is honestly a great story, it’s him taking the next step of his journey in life. Trying to live up to the memory of his father (a decorated and passionate police officer), trying to be the supportive son for a mother who loves him and worries about him knowing that he is taking on so much responsibility, trying to get his life sorted so that he can take the terrifying next step of applying for college and of course, saving New York City as Spider-Man. Almost all of the side missions showed a real passion and love for the culture that Miles comes from and honestly, I really loved it.

I wasn’t just getting a drum back, I was taking steps into the world of Afro-American Jazz and Blues in a way that felt genuine and was a great piece of storytelling. While there were parts that didn’t feel right and seemed to mess up the pacing - such as when you are playing as Miles’s friend or M.J., this really wasn’t one of them.

Having said this, at the end of the game, Miles makes a new suit that is more, ‘him’ and for the life of me, I can’t understand why. Let’s ignore that it’s one of the most awful suits in the game for Miles, it kind of undermines a storyline from his own solo game where he was discovering his own identity.

This is a long way of saying that it’s hard for me to like any of the suits for Miles and this could just be that Mile Morales Spider-Man is a variation of Spider-Man like with a shorter run and fewer artists have been involved- it’s a small thing, but it does put me off using Miles as much when there are a number of Peter Parker suits that I adore.

Mainly I want to talk about the story for Peter - Yes the gameplay is amazing but all they had to do was copy the gameplay they made before and it couldn’t fail, but Peter’s story was kind of heartbreaking.

There have been a lot of people condemning the ending of the game - Spoiler Warning! Peter retires, and while in actual gameplay it doesn’t make a difference as you can still switch between the two Spider-Men, the story ends with Peter stepping back.

But it makes a lot of sense. As I started new game plus, while I was still in awe of fighting the Sandman, there was something that I didn’t fully realize the first time I played the game. If not for Miles being there, Peter would have died in that battle.

Spider-Man is not Superman. Spider-Man is a phenomenal superhero, but he feels the hits and this is not a puppy Spider-Man. But I mean, during the first game, Peter was already established and it was not an origin story. He was a man who had been taking punishment for over a year at that point. Now we see a story where Peter has lost Aunt May, he’s lost multiple jobs and in the opening mission of Spider-Man 2, he loses his teaching job. Over the course of the game, he loses his best friend and it’s made clear that being Spider-Man makes being Peter Parker almost impossible.

He almost died twice just in this game alone (provided you ignore how bad I am at playing the game), the physical and emotional damage that Peter has taken over the years has taken its toll. Now this isn’t to say that we will never get the Peter Parker Spider-Man back, but it’s to show that for Peter’s story to progress he needs to spend more time being Peter Parker and less time being Spider-Man.

It’s a moving final tone of the story, it’s powerful and heartbreaking for all the best reasons and for the story that they chose to tell, there couldn’t be a more fitting ending for a game that really gives you the Superhero experience.

The slower-paced segments of the game are… difficult to push through if you are not in the mood for them. I would say that they don’t overstay their welcome, but they weren’t welcomed. Sure they were short, but I would have preferred them to be optional extras, I know that there was an intent to induce fear as the symbiote was taking over Peter, but no one picks up a Spider-Man game wanting to play as M.J.

When you play as Miles’s friend, the game developers had the decency to make that an option mission, and honestly, that stops me from complaining about that mission. I chose to play it, I was not forced to progress the story so I’m a little more lenient because of it.

I also have to say, I love this rendition of Kraven the Hunter. I honestly looked at this man as the threat that he may not have been best portrayed before. My heart quickened when he was on screen as I could tell from the start that he was a true threat. His movements and the voice acting combined made a true villain to fear- right up until Venom woke up!

I have been all over the place with this article and that’s kind of where I land with this game. I am playing my second play-through so I obviously enjoy this game. The gameplay, the combat, the traversal, the style, the larger world building is flawless. It’s something that as a Spider-Man fan I really love. The story pulls on my heartstrings and while I desperately want better for Peter, I was engrossed in his story and welcome the notion that maybe he will step back and open Parker Industries. There is perhaps a Web of emotions for this game, and yet, it is one that I am again going to play to completion because it is worth my time and I think it is worth your time as well. It truly is a wonderful game and now with the addition of New Game Plus, there has never been a better time to pick the game and save New York from Kraven the Hunter, and Venom.