Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review. The best superhero game in years

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 begins with a short summary that will give players who haven’t played Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales an insight into the events of the previous installments. Of course, the game is a continuation of the above-mentioned parts and knowledge of them (especially the first part of the series), although not required, allows for a much greater understanding of the plot and various references.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review. Superheroes also have their dilemmas

The plot of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 presents us with a continuation of the story of the two Spider-Mans we met in the previous installments of the series: Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Importantly, both heroes face their individual problems. Their stories often intertwine, but in fact, each one is told separately and allows us to outline the character of each of them.

The transitions between the characters themselves are carried out in a very cinematic, smooth way, which we could experience earlier in another exclusive game for Sony consoles, namely God of War. For example, in one of the scenes we come to a meeting as Miles Morales, talk for a moment with Pater Parker and after a while we continue the adventure as the latter.

The game also includes flashbacks mirroring contemporary events, controlling characters other than Peter and Miles, and using environmental elements to narrate: reading notes, commenting on the characters’ places, etc. (clear inspiration from the Uncharted and The Last series is visible here). of Us). There was also Spider-Man’s characteristic sense of humor.

The game juggles conventions very well, for example when we visit an amusement park or when at one point it draws heavily on the horror genre. Additionally, it is full of perfectly executed, dynamic action scenes that would not be neglected by the biggest Hollywood productions, in which we take part using QTE sequences.

The atmosphere is complemented by very well composed music. All this makes the story much better presented than in the previous parts and makes the player much more absorbed.

The story is full of unexpected twists. The characters face difficult decisions and morally ambiguous situations. The plot also brilliantly shows the unnatural changes in the character of our heroes, which clearly result from the events presented. Additionally, secondary and even tertiary characters have been reliably described, with clearly defined character and justified motivation for their actions. And Venom, who appears in the second half of the game, is undoubtedly the best written and presented supervillain in gaming since Joker from the Arkham Batman series.

Ultimately, the plot told in the main plot is not a trivial superhero story that only serves to drive the action. It is rather an attempt to present the issues of responsibility for one’s actions, appreciating others and recognizing their point of view, reconciling the life of a superhero with obligations towards loved ones, finding oneself and what is most important in life, and finally a story about redemption, although not necessarily about forgiveness.

In addition to the main plot, the game has several interesting side plots intended for specific heroes and several individual missions that may surprise you with their originality and the issues they raise, including: old age, or life with disabilities, and which we go through with any Spider.

There are also many activities waiting for us in New York, which is undoubtedly one of the heroes of the game. In addition to side missions, we again infiltrate and destroy positions, bases and nests of various enemies, look for Sandman’s memories, complete Mysterio’s challenges, photograph events related to city life, perform scientific experiments, or look for Spider-bots scattered around the game world that are not marked on the map. . Fortunately, even though we are again struggling with crimes in individual districts and receiving rewards for fighting them, this time we do not have the tedious counter that caused us to count crimes in the previous parts mainly to have 5/5 marked on the map.

The role of New York

As I mentioned above, New York can also be called the hero of the game. In the second part of Spider-Man, we visit a total of 14 districts, a few more than in the previous installments, because in addition to the districts located on Manhattan Island, we also visit those located on Long Island, including parts of Queens and Brooklyn. We reveal individual activities on the map by appearing in specific areas, thus removing the “fog” that previously covered it from the map.

The districts known from the previous part have not changed significantly, but the quality of the graphics makes them look much more detailed. Moreover, just like in the previous part, New York will change its appearance along with the story events.