In less than a month, Spider-Man fans will be able to webswing their way into one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year, “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2”. This Playstation Five exclusive follows Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they take on dangerous new foes such as the Lizard, Kraven the Hunter and Venom. Fans of Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man franchise are dying to get their hands on this game, and soon enough, it’ll be here before we know it, so let’s talk about what there is to expect in “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.”
“Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” expands upon its predecessor by increasing the size of the map, allowing players to play as not one, but two Spider-Men and updating the way the Spider-Men maneuver around the city of New York by adding the new web wings. Also, the black, gooey viscid that is the symbiote arrives in this sequel to aid Peter Parker in this new adventure.
In “Marvel’s Spider-Man,” which was launched on the Playstation Four and then later remastered on the PlayStation 5, Spider-Man is allowed to only swing his way around Manhattan. Now, in “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” both Spider-Men, Peter Parker and Miles Morales, are able to travel around Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The two Spider-Men will also be able to swing into Coney Island and more side locations in New York.
In the first game, Peter Parker was the only playable Spider-Man. Then, during the holidays of 2020, “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” was released. This sequel follows Miles Morales while he is left with the duty to protect New York since Peter Parker leaves with Mary Jane to travel to Symkaria and assist her with her reporting. “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” presents to players new combat mechanics only applicable to Morales which is the venom power. Venom power is an ability that allows Morales to absorb electrical energy and use it to punish the enemies around him.
Now, in “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” Miles Morales is available alongside Peter Parker as another playable Spider-Man. This gives you the opportunity to switch to either Spider-Men in an instant. And maybe while you are swinging around New York, you might just bump into Peter or Miles depending on who you are playing as and help them defeat the criminals of the city that never sleeps.
The associate animation director at Insomniac Games James Ham confirms in an interview with Gamertag Radio, “There are times where you can be swinging throughout the city, and you can see the other Spider-Man sometimes actively doing something or stopping a crime. And sometimes you can hop in and then they’ll join you. It’s a cool experience to be able to play with both Peter and Miles in this way.” This creates endless possibilities for the two Spider-Men to involuntarily meet up and stop crimes together.
In a trailer for “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” titled “Expanded Marvel’s New York,” Bryan Intihar, the senior creative director at Insomniac Games, gives a brief overview of what to expect from the web wings. Intihar describes the web wings as, “…an entirely new mechanic that, when combined with web swinging, allows you to traverse the city in a whole new way and at faster speeds than ever before.” In the same trailer, Miles and Peter are seen using the web wings to fly around New York before using the momentum to return to their web swinging. This new mechanic is intriguing Spider-Man fans as we have seen the web wings all over Spider-Man media-most recently in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man franchise. We will just have to wait and see how useful the web wings will be when the game drops on Oct. 20.
Lastly, the symbiote finally arrives. Fans have been waiting a long time for the symbiote to appear in Insomniac’s Spider-Man franchise. In the gameplay reveal trailer, we see Peter Parker donning the new symbiote suit as he pounces out of a basement bunker. Parker begins to unleash all the powers of the symbiote as he takes out several of Kraven the Hunter’s goons that were outside of the bunker. Parker delivers a variety of devastating moves with the symbiote including one where he uses the symbiote to create four tendrils and reach for four of Kraven’s goons, unfortunately bringing them up into the air and slamming them into the ground. Noticeably, Parker’s voice has also changed into a gritty, dark tone. The reason for this is that the symbiote has not only taken over control of Parker’s Spider-Man suit, but it has also taken over Parker himself. As we impatiently wait to see how Parker actually gets the symbiote suit, we can indulge in the gameplay trailers and story trailers that Insomniac has posted that show Parker using the symbiote suit with no mercy.
There is no doubt that “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” will be one of the best video games of this year; some fans even believe that the sequel could be a nominee for Game of the Year. Thankfully, the game has just gone gold which means it is officially ready to be released on Oct. 20. To stay informed about all things “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2”, follow @insomniacgames on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
