4/5 ★ – Lukie's review of Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

Spiderman 2 "Why Don’t You Pop Some Pills and Tell Us How You Really Feel?" Day of Review and Rating: 11/5/2023 Started: 10/20/2023 Finished: 10/27/2023 Time ~ 32 Hours Completion: Main Game Trophy Completion: Platinum (100%) Played On: PS5 !!! WARNING: SPOILERS !!! Wow. 0 swing assist allowed me to dive off buildings listening to What’s Up Danger and FEEEEEEELLLL like Spiderman. Seriously though, the combat and traversal and every mechanic in this game is an improvement from the last one. Webwings allowed to garner up speed while the swinging had loops and quick turns around the corner. They allowed you to be more flexible and creative with your web swinging. The move sets and skill trees are also more interesting. I was constantly thinking about booting up the PS5 again just to get back to playing some more Spiderman. It is the most addicted I have been to a game for a while now. Anyway, those boss fights showcased the development of combat. The parry system was crucial in these, and in my opinion, was a good addition to the series. I had fun having to time things and fight back against these monsters. Lizard, Kraven, and Venom were all cool bosses that were less techy and more “natural”. I also think some of the fights had an emotional impact like Miles vs Peter. I liked that fight especially since now you were the one ringing the bell to fight back instead of stopping it. The final fight also had emotion to it. One thing they all had was better cinematic quality, especially the first boss fight. I mean, the intro is a masterpiece. It is so fucking good it is probably the best intro to any game I have played. The scale and cinematic aspect of it are jaw-dropping. The diversity of the boss fight is also cool. It inspired me to possibly create the best intro levels or prologues list. I am seriously considering it now. After finishing the mission, having to help solve activities in the city also felt immersive and fun. Speaking of activities, the side missions in this game had tons of diversity. They had you solving some puzzles, fighting baddies at their bases, chasing drones, and crying. Yep, crying. The grandpa and Howard's side missions were super sad, and I heavily related to that grandpa one. I wish we got more of those, but they were still gems. Even the bases themselves had differing aspects. I liked the Symbiote Nests the most because having to bounce from one thing to protect to another kept me on my toes. The Marko’s Missions also allowed for us to peer further into Marko and his motives, which was neat. Mysteriums were also cool additions that provided challenges that were hard to overcome. I loved trying to perfect different ways to play while going through them. Oh, and I can’t forget the side mission with Peter getting his first shot for the Daily Bugle. That was cool and makes me want an origin story Spider-Man game honestly. I want to put some side character stuff in this section. It will cover characters like MJ, Rio, Hailey, and others that I haven’t covered. MJ fits well into the story. She had her own thing going on with Peter and I somewhat enjoyed it. Her sections weren’t that bad honestly. The only section where I was left skeptical was the one with her fighting the Symbiotes. It kinda contained some writing issues I had. Like why couldn't she make another device and give it to both Peter and Miles if they killed symbiotes that easily? Rio also had some good moments with Miles. I wish there was still a bit more, though. Uncle Aaron even showed up with his Prowler mission. I like how he is now going to be living upstairs and super close to Miles. I feel like they’ll be cooking with Miles next game and his story with his family. Hailey and Ganke were right in this game, I just feel like they were never the strongest of characters, especially Hailey. She doesn’t have much personality. Now to the story of the game, which flowed nicely despite its weird pacing at times. Moments like Venom killing Kraven, the greenhouse part with Peter’s death, and Miles vs Mr.Negative were some of my favorites. Kraven’s story with cancer and having his last hunt was EPIC. The actors delivered along with the writers to make him a strong villain. He honestly was better than Venom for me. It was cool to see him get destroyed by Venom. Miles had a cool arc with rehabilitation Mr. Negative. I think they didn’t portray Miles in a revenge-hungry manner. Sure, at moments he was aggressive and tried capturing him, but I feel like they didn’t make up blind to it, which is what I would have preferred anyway. Miles also had a weird role in the game when it comes to how powerful he is. I feel like not enough time has passed where Peter can be referring to Miles as "coach". I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense, but I just feel like he was a little too overpowered in this game. The scene where Peter acts like Miles is some god is also annoying. The beginning of the game also helped build up the relationships well. Harry and Peter messing around and coming up with ideas for the Emily May Foundation was fun. I knew it wasn’t going to work out, but I wish it did. I also liked how Harry’s powers were eventually revealed and how he ended up working with Peter. The mission with Harry and Peter rescuing Tombstone was really cool. I liked watching them team up together and fight crime. The interactions with different characters like Harry (when he had the symbiote) and Wraith while doing crimes were cool. Even the other Spiderman would jump in, or you could see them doing the crime already. All of this teaming up embodied the Greater Together theme of the story. However, the story also left a lot to be desired in that specific department. Miles and Peter felt separated for the majority of the story. It sucked because that glimpse of teamwork at the beginning of the game was brilliant. However, none of that carried through in the game until the very end. Seeing them on top of Venom striking him was cool as fuck. It would have been even more impactful if they teamed up more throughout the game though. However, maybe the separate stories allowed it to be a culminating event that held the satisfaction to the end. I do think that Miles barely had his story feel important, though. I also think that the concept of separate stories would have been better for the third game because this was about being greater together and working together. So, I feel like the catchphrase of the game was misleading. It also might have been better because Peter would now be less focused on being Spiderman. So not only would it have made more sense to leave that for the third game, but now we might not even get a lot of team-up scenes between them :/ I will say, though, that no matter if they worked together throughout the game or not, the final battle was a little disappointing. Miles and Peter should have been fighting Venom together. Having the final boss fight contain both SpiderMen together would have been so RAW. Sadly, they really, and I mean really, missed out on that opportunity. I feel like adding 5 more hours to this game would have been perfect and fixed so many issues. It could have given us more moments for Miles and his relationships while also leaving room for the game to settle down a bit near the middle. An issue I have been seeing is that the game is woke. I get some of the criticisms, but I think it is more just bad writing. Having characters like Black Cat be lesbian or the homecoming kids be gay should not be considered WOKE. If she only said "boyfriend" and the homecoming couple was heterosexual, the entire woke thing would not be talked about. So, if they have issues with that, then when is it not woke to include a gay character? Never? Only one gay character per media? It's a stupid argument. Overall though, this game goes hard. Some parts of the story left a little to be desired, but most of the game was amazing content that never left me bored. I am excited to see Doc Oc and Green Goblin come in for the next game. I am a little worried about a potential 3rd Spider-Man, Or women I guess. Pros: + Graphics are phenomenal and include many fine details with particles + Side Missions in general were engaging 1. Mysteriums were challenging and rewarding 2. Emotional side missions like the grandpa and Howard one + Set Pieces and Environments 1. The first mission was incredible and the scale was huge. The sand left over from it that flooded the city added an interesting environment. 2. The mission with the boat was crazy 3. The entire finale of the game with the city being overrun by symbiotes that were rampaging. These came along with the nests and they even integrated themselves into the ongoing crimes. When the city became deserted it was even cooler. + Traversal and combat improved from the last game 1. No swing assist allowed for more rewarding swinging 2. Fall damage caused funny moments where I even looped to death 3. Symbiote powers and skill trees were fun; cool combos I crafted + Good villains 1. Kraven was an awesome terrifying villain who killed many past villains. His story was cool, wish we got to see a bit more of him. 2. Venom was cool. Playing as him fighting Kraven was awesome and allowed Kraven to end his hunt. His reveal was out of nowhere, though. + Good story moments 1. I liked the segments with Harry and Peter at the beginning. They allowed for more downtime between the characters 2. Miles and his arc with Mr. Negative + Photo mode + I liked the suits and some end-game ones were either cool or bad + Looking back on it, the music in some parts of the game was well done. The Venom and Kraven-related music was tense. Also, the Greater Together theme is wonderful. Cons: - Had lots of bugs and some crashes - Weird Writing choices 1. Kraven was pummeled by Harry but closer fight against Peter 2. Miles not escaping with Lee 3. Miles felt disconnected from the main story and quickly overpowers Peter and takes over the lead 4. MJ got a bit too op, especially at the end of the game - Lack of togetherness and teamwork between Miles and Peter - The game length was way too short; if elongated, it could have fixed some issues I had with the game. It also could’ve given the relationships more meaning. - Some sequences had you mindlessly dodging and were too easy Wants: * More cinematic boss fights and set pieces like the Sand Man intro * More teamwork between the Spider-Men * Since the map is likely to not expand much, allow us to enter more buildings and roam as Miles and Peter At Time of Review: High 8/10 Mechanics: 9/10 Story and Characters: 7/10 Presentation: 9/10 Enjoyability: 8/10 Edit (6/1/2024): Changed Enjoyability from a 9/10 to 8/10 to demonstrate better why I have it at a High 8 and not Low 9