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

The first game was about as perfect a Spider-man experience as I could have imagined so the fact that this improves on that SO MUCH is nothing short of a miracle. The new game mechanics are all great. Web wings are a godsend and completely reinvent how the game feels, switching between spider men is great, the speed of everything is incredible, but my favorite new mechanic is web lines. It’s a simple new feature that lets you create your own paths above the enemy for stealth, and I had so much fun with it that I accidentally created an enormous spiderweb that filled an entire building. The story I feel is better paced and directed, and would keep me invested even without the gameplay. I know some people disagree with certain story decisions, but I enjoy how much this universe feels like it’s own thing and isn’t beholden to comics canon if it doesn’t serve the story they’re trying to tell. It creates interesting and fun surprises. Even the problems I had with the first one, minor as they were, are mostly gone. The techy villains take a backseat to 90’s extreme villains, which I personally love because that’s MY era of Spider-Man. The Mary Jane missions are suddenly super fun and no longer the chore they used to be, and even the henchmen feel a bit less anonymous in they way that they are connected iconic villains. If I were to lob any gripe against this game, and it is an extremely weak gripe, it is that Miles no longer feels AS unique as he did in his own game. One of the fun surprises of that game was that playing as Miles felt nothing like playing as Peter. I had to change up my fighting style to adapt to the new rhythm. While he still has his own host of exclusive moves in this game, his general fighting style feels basically indistinguishable from Peter. I know that’s to make the game smoother, but I kind of miss how unique the play-styles were. (Also, minor spoilers, but there’s a third playable character for one mission who is not as fun as I had hoped and I really hope they improve on it for their inevitable spin-off). I have literally no other complaints. I think this game is about as close to perfect as I can imagine and I am foaming at the mouth for more.