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dkirschner's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
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[February 14, 2025 10:30:14 AM]
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Spider-Man 2 was great, astounding. This was my first AAA game on the PS5. The audio, the graphics, the animations, all made me feel as if I was in an action movie. It weaves in and out of cut scenes and playable parts, especially during the impressive action sequences and boss battles. I would stop sometimes and just admire what I was seeing. At the same time as I can’t really say anything negative about it, aside from some minor complaints, I can’t really add more positive things either. It was simply stunning to play. Like, everything about it. It’s very similar to the first game, which I said the same things about. But, since I want to write something, here are some slightly more specific thoughts:
• Thank you for including fast travel and making it quickly and easily available. Web-swinging through New York City is fun, but getting to objectives quickly is more fun.
• Combat is ridiculously tight. There is good enemy variety, it’s challenging, and the Spider-Men’s move sets are fun. My one combat gripe is that enemies got spongy at the end when you’re fighting all the symbiotes. It made those optional nest missions especially annoying, and those are the only ones I didn’t happily complete. One other combat comment—not a gripe—is that the variety gadgets and special moves that the Spider-Men have are all useful, but for me they were functionally equivalent. You will end up with four equipped special moves and four equipped gadgets. I used whichever one was available on cooldown. It didn’t matter what it was because they all serve one function: temporarily immobilize enemies (well, two for the special moves I guess because those do deal damage!). So like, two gadgets and two special moves are available. Which do you choose?! Doesn’t matter. They all temporarily immobilize some enemies, letting you get some free punches and kicks in.
• One major improvement that Spider-Man 2 has over the first one is that stealth is better integrated. In the first game, I disliked MJ’s and Miles’s stealth sequences. But, MJ’s are really fun in this game. She gets a gun, which is part of it, but somehow they were just better sequences, more engaging. Maybe they were shorter than the first game’s too? Maybe it was the switching back and forth between three playable protagonists, who were often collaborating on a mission, that made her parts more exciting? The first game would switch to MJ, and I’d lean back in my seat: “Sigh.” This game would switch to MJ, and I’d lean forward: “Time to taze some fools!”
• I completed all the side missions early (except for the nests, which unlock later and I ignored). It was funny when Pete and Miles would say, “let’s see what needs doing around the city first,” in between main missions to encourage exploration and side missions, and there was nothing to do because I did all the side missions already. So I’d go pet my cats for five minutes and come back to a new main mission. As with the first game, side missions are so well woven into the gameplay, narrative, and exploration, that you don’t even notice you’re “just” doing optional open world content.
• Speaking of side content, there are a bunch of suits to unlock. Many of the suits have three styles, so there are literally probably a couple hundred. There are also a ton of upgrades to gadgets, health, and so on. You’ll get many of these just as a matter of course. They generally didn’t feel that important, but I am sure they served me well.
• The overarching and interweaving stories are really strong again. I remember being impressed with this in the first game, too. It’s cool that here all the villains from the first game are rehabilitated (or rehabilitating). You think that the main bad guy is Kraven and his hunters, but it turns out that’s just a set-up for the main antagonist in the game’s latter third. I suppose you could see it coming, maybe clearer if you are a big Spider-Man fan. I didn’t see it coming, but looking back, it’s awesome how those parallel storylines built up and then intersected. The only story gripe I have is that, man, these young adults are melodramatic. They are in their feelings so hard. It was a little exhausting.
• On the other hand, the representation in this game is great. If you want to see diversity in video games, Spider-Man 2 is a shining example. There is a deaf character who signs, and Miles and some others speak with her in sign language. The game references African American history in terms of museum exhibits about jazz music, it talks about BIPOC artists, your playable characters are a White man, a White woman, and a biracial Black and Hispanic man, who speaks Spanish sometimes with his mother (and signs with his friend). The New York City in the game feels culturally rich and like a celebration of the real New York City, its people, and its culture.
• One final note is that I recall thinking that the first game felt a bit bloated with all the side missions and the forced-feeling stealth sequences and the constant twists and turns of the story that kept it going and going. I did not feel that at all in this one, except perhaps with the health sponge enemies at the end, but that’s so minor taking the whole package together.
Wonder when the third one is coming out!
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dkirschner's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Friday 24 January, 2025
GameLog closed on: Monday 10 February, 2025 |
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