By this point, Marvel has become a household name, and that's also true for several of its superhero characters. It's therefore surprising that gamers haven't been given more open-world titles within the Marvel universe. Games such as Insomniac's Spider-Man have seen great success, essentially epitomizing what an open-world Marvel game should look like. There's no doubt that it will be exciting to see what they have planned for their upcoming Wolverine title.

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In the meantime, however, gamers can experience some open-world Marvel games that are already out, ranging from huge Lego games to older MMOs that have fallen into the shadows of the gaming world. Some may be better than others, but there's no doubt that any Marvel fan will appreciate each and every title.

9 Marvel Heroes (2013)

Metacritic Rating: 58

Marvel Heroes was an MMO featuring a huge cast of Marvel characters. This is a title that had so much potential but was belittled by constant issues and controversies. With the game being plagued with technical problems, and fans growing cold over the outrageous monetization introductions, Marvel Heroes never quite stood the test of time, and its servers were closed down in November 2017 - only 4 years after it launched.

It's a shame because the core gameplay was fun, and the open world was filled with activities, making it a very promising title. The characters and options were great, alongside the great customization and freedom that the game offered. Unfortunately, this open-world MMO title never quite landed a consistent development team, leading to its ultimate demise.

8 The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Metacritic Rating: 69

Serving as the first web-swinging title since the adaptations of the original film trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man brought players back to Peter Parker's spider-like antics in New York as a reboot. As far as movie tie-ins go, The Amazing Spider-Man isn't bad at all - it just doesn't really add anything special. The gameplay is similar to Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, and the setting and visuals don't exactly enhance anything. Nonetheless, the web-swinging gameplay, alongside the combat, is still super fun.

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Serving as an epilogue to the plot of the film, The Amazing Spider-Man's story was generally quite well received. Despite it seeming a little dated at launch, it was by no means bad and most players still had a fun time exploring the large open-world area. In a world before Insomniac's title was released, The Amazing Spider-Man cured the itch of players' web-swinging adventures.

7 Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (2017)

Metacritic Rating: 73

Serving as a direct sequel to the first Lego title, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 introduces a wide variety of Marvel characters to a huge open world and an exciting story featuring the villainous Kang the Conqueror (who fans might recognize from the MCU). This is a proper superhero title through and through, featuring great superpowers and abilities that vary greatly between each distinct character.

Couple this with its excellent open-world, and Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is a surprisingly great game. The only major issue here is that it adds nothing new at all to its predecessor, making for a somewhat let-down of a sequel. However, this is still a highly enjoyable title with great characters and an even better open world to explore.

6 Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013)

Metacritic Rating: 80

Featuring a large open-world New York City, Lego Marvel Super Heroes allows players to assume the role of iconic characters such as Hulk, Iron Man, and even Spider-Man. It all takes place in a large open-world setting that is fully explorable and highly destructible - the perfect formula for any super-hero related title!

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This title features some great humor, akin to some of the best Lego video games ever made. Taking clear inspiration from the MCU's Avengers, Lego Marvel Super Heroes places Loki as the main villain terrorizing the streets of New York. It features a great story, great combat, and engaging platforming gameplay, and perfectly blends Lego and Marvel into one highly successful open-world title.

5 Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Metacritic Rating: 84

Spider-Man 2 was a significant landmark title when it was released, as it's widely recognized as being the first superhero video game to incorporate a full open-world design. Even today, Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic title, and swinging through its fantastic representation of New York City never gets old. This entry built upon the mechanics of its predecessor and improved on them in every single way, delivering one of the greatest movie tie-in video games ever made.

The game takes an iconic roster of villains and goes beyond the plot of the film to deliver an exceptional narrative that truly thrusts the player into the world of Spider-Man. The gameplay mechanics are polished and still feel good today. This is a rare example of a game that has aged like fine wine and is easily on par if not better than its movie counterpart.

4 Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020)

Metacritic Rating: 85

Originally conceived as DLC for Marvel's Spider-Man, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales swiftly grew its own DNA and Insomniac decided to finish it as a standalone title. It's excellent in every way, and it's incredibly refreshing to play a Spider-Man title where players don't play as Peter Parker. Miles Morales is a fantastic character, and it's great to see a whole game dedicated to his story.

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Featuring an excellent soundtrack, polished combat, and some slightly different areas of New York City, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales hits the ground running and delivers on everything except one slight issue - it's far too similar to the first Marvel's Spider-Man. It's clear that Insomniac delivered on the age-old manifesto of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

3 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005)

Metacritic Rating: 84

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is pure chaos and destruction at its very best. Following in the footsteps of Spider-Man 2, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction creates a larger open world but with a fully destructible environment - leading to some extreme satisfaction and whole-hearted fun. This is what a superhero game should look like. It's not overly serious, and it provides a faithful adaptation of the characters. Not to mention, it actually makes the player feel powerful like the actual Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction perfectly captures the sheer destructive power of the Incredible Hulk, not to mention it actively encourages exploration with various unique abilities. This is genuinely one of the best superhero video games ever made, yet it frequently flies under the radar. Despite being released in 2005, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction still looks and feels great, and the destructive mechanics are still some of the best ever made.

2 Marvel's Spider-Man (2018)

Metacritic Rating: 87

There was a massive amount of hype when Marvel's Spider-Man was first announced, and even more so when the first gameplay trailer was dropped. It turns out that the hype was well worth it as this is an excellent title. Not only is it one of the best superhero games ever made, but it's also one of the best overall open-world games ever made. And that's no small claim.

Everything here is almost perfect, from the web-swinging to the visuals, the combat, the characters and the story. The voice acting of Spider-Man here is also particularly excellent. This is a genuine masterpiece of a video game and an absolute triumph in open-world superhero gaming. Insomniac knocked it out of the park with this title, delivering on its core promises and going above and beyond to create an exceptional title. Things only looked upward when the sequel was announced!

1 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023)

Metacritic Rating: 90

Creating a sequel to a masterpiece is no small task, and it's sad to say that so many sequels often fall short of their predecessors. In this instance, that's absolutely not the case as Marvel's Spider-Man 2 takes everything good from the first title, makes only a few small tweaks and changes, and delivers something even better - which is a task that no one thought possible!

Sure, the gameplay is extremely similar, but the addition of a few new abilities, a fantastic new story, a larger New York, and access to the PS5's SSD to make swinging and gliding faster, truly makes this an excellent sequel. Insomniac clearly took everything good about both the first title and Miles Morales and combined them into this masterful piece of work which is certainly the best open-world superhero video game ever made! It's not one to miss, and every gamer is already clamoring for a Spider-Man 3.

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