Two Webs Are Better Than One

Insomniac's Spider-Man swings back into action

When Insomniac released Spider-Man in 2018, they already had plans for a sequel. As they were working on the story, the writers realized that in order to do justice to Spider-Man, certain elements would need more time to be expanded upon. One game wouldn’t be enough. Two years later, Spider-Man: Miles Morales was a critical and commercial success as well. And yet, gamers knew something more was coming. In 2021, the reveal trailer for Spider-Man 2 made waves on social media and the game officially released as a PS5 exclusive in October 2023.

Set almost a year after the events of Miles Morales, Peter and Miles have taken up a dual role as the arachnid avengers of New York. Peter’s best friend Harry Osborne has returned to the city and offered Peter his dream job and he’s back with his old flame MJ. Life couldn’t be better.... until a super hunter named Kraven shows up. Through a strange series of events, Peter comes into contact with an alien symbiote. While it makes him stronger and more effective against his foes, it also alters his personality and preys upon his darker side. With the change becoming more dangerous and Kraven seeing Spider-Man as the perfect target, Miles and MJ must do everything in their power to save the city and Peter before both are lost forever.

Fans had been waiting for the black suit for ages and it did not disappoint.

I absolutely loved the first game. It turned me into a Spider-Man fan, and I was looking forward to the sequel for many years. But as my anticipation grew, so did my doubts. Insomniac had knocked it out of the park before, but could they do it again? What if this title somehow tarnished what had come before? Once I started playing, I immediately chastised myself for being so foolish. This game took what came before and built upon it, acknowledging what worked and correcting what didn't.

As far as story goes, the main storyline focuses on themes of friendship, power, and vengeance. I was definitely glued to my seat. I will admit that I didn't find it quite as powerful as the very first game. That's not to say that it's bad, the first just did a better balancing act between emotional moments and action sequences. However, this game pulls off a different double act between Peter and Miles. Part of the gameplay involves switching between the two Spider- Men and it certainly adds variety. Miles is a different character from Peter and handles conflicts in a different way.

Speaking of gameplay, I was pleasantly surprised at the changes that were made. I had played the original so many times that I expected swinging through New York to feel like coming home and I was partially right. The swinging still feels fantastic and fluid but now the game has added a gliding mechanic known as web wings. This allows the player to use wind tunnels to glide over the city and are sometimes necessary for certain side missions. It certainly is a fresh new take on moving throughout New York City, especially since the game map has doubled in size. But I have to admit, although the web wings did grow on me after a while, nothing beats the feeling of swinging on webs. That classic Spider-Man movement is something that simply can't be topped.

When it comes to combat, Insomniac kept what was necessary while also adding a few new features. There are three separate skill trees in the game: one for Peter, one for Miles, and one consisting of abilities shared by both superheroes. This allowed the player to prioritize if they tend to play with one character more than the other or decide to take a balanced approach. Peter has mechanical spider arms and symbiote powers, while Miles has electrical attacks. And the aerial acrobatics are back in full force. Instead of simple punching and dodging, these characters make every fight a performance and it's so entertaining to watch.

Miles powers up for a massive attack.

I have to mention one particular gameplay moment that really stood out in my playthrough. One of the new additions to combat is the introduction of the web line, an ability that allows Spider-Man to shoot a piece of webbing to an opposing wall thereby creating a sticky tightrope for him to walk on to take out enemies from above. I've never been great at stealth, but I decided to try and challenge myself and see if I could take out an entire base of enemies without being seen. Using the web line, I managed to stay up high and slowly pick them off. I watched my enemies’ movements and created new pathways when necessary. Eventually, I managed to pull it off and felt quite proud of myself. But the moment that made it even more satisfying was realizing that by using the web line, I had essentially spun a web over my opponents and had them hanging like flies by the end of it. Stealth is not usually Spider -Man's style, and I was always more than happy to jump into an aerial fist fight. But that particular moment felt rewarding, like some strange inside joke.

It might seem simple, but it was so satisfying. To be fair, it's in his theme song.

The side missions are the biggest change from the original to the sequel. In my review of the first game, I mentioned that after a while the side missions had become repetitive and weren't nearly as fun by the end of the game. That seemed to be a common complaint and Insomniac took that to heart. There are several side missions, but they all come in such a large variety that they don't feel as repetitive. Being able to switch between the two Spider- Men also allows for different types of side missions to be completed.

Just like the previous games, different designs of the Spider-Man suit can be unlocked and equipped. Some can be purchased using in game tokens and others are unlocked by progressing through the story. Peter and Miles each have their own set of suits. These come from comic books, movies, and the previous games. In total, there are 78 suits between the two heroes and some of them have different styles that can also be unlocked. It might seem like a simple mechanic, but I really love that Insomniac knew that being able to choose which suit to use at a given time would help the player feel more like they were Spider-Man.

These suits come from the Spider-Verse film series.

Unfortunately, I did run into some glitches during my playthrough. The game crashed on me a couple of times while I was traversing through the city. Thankfully, I never lost any significant progress but it's still frustrating. There is one glitch that I have to address that came during a main mission in the story. I was given a combo button prompt to press so that I could progress within the mission. I pressed the buttons... and nothing happened. I made sure that I was pressing the correct buttons... still nothing. I restarted from my previous checkpoint and ran into the same problem. I used a different controller (in case I had somehow broken mine) and the issue persisted. Eventually I was able to find a work around using the game’s accessibility features and I haven't had a problem with that particular button combo outside of that mission, but it was strange and might be a bug that developers need to address.

One of the first things I looked at before starting the game, was the accessibility features available. I am very proud and thrilled to report that they were extensive. There were certain presets for particular disabilities and the list seemed to go on and on. Shortly before the game was released Insomniac revealed on social media that additional accessibility features were coming in a future update but that they wouldn't be ready on launch day. Considering what is available, I am extremely impressed. It truly does seem that the developers wanted this game to be enjoyed by everyone regardless of physical ability. I truly hope that game studios will eventually make this the standard instead of a surprising exception.

I absolutely loved this game and feel that it was worth the five year wait for a full sequel. There are still some story beats unresolved so it's extremely possible that another game will be on its way. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying this title for the years to come. I still can't seem to shake my arachnophobia though. I just never know which spiders have a little Venom in them.

This post was written by Vanessa Hart, creator of Deep Dive Gaming.