Leaderboard

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 I already thought the first game was the best Spider-Man game ever made, but somehow they managed to make it even better. I expected just a small update with better graphics and story, but the combat and traversal has been fine-tuned so much that it almost feels like a whole new game. The biggest improvement for traversal is easily the web wings that allow you to mix gliding in with your swinging. It doesn't sound like it would change that much on paper but it really does. There are also a few new swing abilities in there as well which are all pretty useful. The best combat change is, ironically, removing the gadget wheel and instead putting them on the face buttons, usable by holding down R1 while pushing one of the buttons. While this does mean you have fewer gadgets to use, the four gadgets you do get are all useful and you don't have to pause the fight to switch between them. You also get four spider abilities assigned to L1 plus a face button, so all-in-all you have eight abilities you can use with both Peter and Miles and you never have to break up the flow of the fight to use them. It works really well. The story might be somewhat predictable, but it's delivered well and it still had a few surprising twists and cameos. I got invested enough to binge the whole campaign in a little under three days. Miles and Peter both have their own arcs and their narratives weave together quite nicely. Switching between them is nice and seamless and can be done automatically if you're approaching a mission exclusive to one character. One touch I especially liked is that sometimes when doing a side activity you'll run into the other Spider-Man who is already doing it and then the two of you can work together to finish it, complete with banter and team attacks against enemies. Even if it's a gimmick, it's a nice way to make it feel like they both have their own lives and aren't just sitting around waiting for you to switch back to them. This game is also a lot harder than the first one. They do have a super easy game journalist difficulty where you can't die if you're a wimp, but if you play on Amazing or higher you can expect to get your ass kicked a good bit even if you mastered the first game. They've introduced a new parry mechanic and some enemies have attacks that cannot be dodged and can only be parried, which means you've got one more thing to keep up with. Some enemies also have attacks that cannot be parried and can only be dodged. Chances are you're gonna screw up many times in the heat of battle while you're getting the hang of it, but once you do it feels better than any Arkham game I've played, and that's saying something. Honestly, if you own a PS5 then why haven't you already bought this game? The console is starved for exclusives. Go get it.