Highlights
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 promises the biggest and best Spider-Man experience, with improved traversal, expanded map, and intense swinging, making it a potential standard for superhero games.
- The addition of "Web Wings" allows players to glide through the city, reminiscent of Batman's gliding in the Arkham trilogy, with increased speed and different cosmetic appearances for each suit.
- The game features randomized co-op segments, where Miles or Peter can encounter each other during combat, adding an immersive and pivotal dynamic to the superhero world. Combat improvements include a new parry mechanic and abilities for both characters.
Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) provided fans with a unique web-swinging experience like none other, leading to its high praise and comparisons to the Batman Arkham trilogy by Rocksteady. Ever since the announcement of its sequel at PlayStation's Showcase in 2021, fans have been eager for any updates and reveals on the matter, and with Insomniac's recent previews, the anticipation has grown rapidly.
From combat improvements, traversal changes, more regions to visit, and much more, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 promises to provide not only the biggest and best Spider-Man experience but also one of, if not the best, superhero gaming experience ever, and it appears to be heading in that direction.
5 Web Wings
In the aspect of traversal improvements and changes, Insomniac developers have taken Marvel's Spider-Man 2's web-swinging to another level with the addition of "Web Wings" that players can deploy with either Miles or Peter, allowing them to glide through the city.
Taking the aforementioned Batman Arkham trilogy into consideration, this is very reminiscent of players' being able to glide through Gotham as Batman, but developers for Spider-Man 2 have ramped this up entirely, with an increased level of speed to accompany it. Given the large variety of suits that will be available for players to use throughout the experience, the cosmetic appearance of this newly added feature appears to change alongside each suit, set to stand as another factor in replayability.
4 Expanded Map
For players who were fixated on just how much more of New York they would be able to explore in the upcoming sequel, Insomniac showcased both Queens and Brooklyn, almost doubling the size from 2018's entry. Given the expanded space and regions to explore, this coincides with the aforementioned Web Wings, creating a greater incentive for traversal even with the new and impressive seamless fast travel feature.
With the never-ending crime activities present in both Spider-Man (2018) and the standalone Spider-Man Miles Morales titles, the expanded map along with the potential great quantity of villains and their factions will be hugely beneficial to the overall scope of the game. From its reveals, Insomniac appears to be pushing to make the city feel far more alive and active compared to what fans are accustomed to.
3 Faster & More Intense Swinging
While the swinging in both previous entries in Insomniac's Spider-Man series has stood as some of the best levels of traversal in any game of its genre, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 looks to be doubling down on this. Aside from the added mechanic of gliding, the web swinging itself appears to have an increased level of speed, intensity, and power, and this is depicted through the visual effects on screen.
With the screen shake, Miles Morales blowing through trees to see leaves fall off, and the added weight to a web deployment leading to the release of each swing, Insomniac developers appear to have struck gold with Marvel's Spider-Man 2, with the potential of becoming the standard for any similar games.
2 Randomized Co-Op Segments
In conjunction with the new feature of character switching as showcased during its first gameplay reveal, either Miles or Peter can encounter the other during a combat segment with either of the two making a surprise appearance. This is a feature that stands as one of the most impressive additions from Insomniac in the eyes of fans, reminding many of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 and the three playable characters potentially running into one another while in free roam.
Within the aspect of immersion, especially within a superhero world, this feature will be incredibly pivotal as it would most certainly make sense for the two active Spider-Men operating within the same city, to run into each other while fighting crime. With Marvel's Wolverine next in line for Insomniac in the aftermath of Spider-Man 2, fans will be wondering whether this feature could include a third character, none other than Logan if the two games are set to be connected.
1 Combat Changes/Parrying
Above all, fans have been anticipating how much more has been added and adjusted in combat for both characters and based on all revealed, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 contains a massive improvement in this department. From new punching and kicking animations to new abilities for both Peter in his symbiote suit and Miles, it seems to be a huge step up from previous experiences.
The presence of the new parry mechanic will most certainly elevate each combat encounter, allowing for a back-and-forth between both Spider-Men and their foes. Again taking the Batman Arkham trilogy into account, this feels very similar to the counter system which allows players to quickly stop enemies in their tracks from attacking, and counter viciously. With the symbiote suit and Miles' Venom Power, not to be confused with the villain Venom, Insomniac is setting up a combat system that will very likely excel and stand above anything fans may have been accustomed to. With Venom set to play a major role in this title along with Peter's symbiote suit, fans should expect to see combat that calls back to the popular Web of Shadows title.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is set to release on October 20, 2023 exclusively on PS5.