Summary
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is a continued distillation of all the bells and whistles featured in the original.Miles Moraleshelped immeasurably to funnel those features further, trimming all the possible fat it could from theMarvel’s Spider-Manexperience, andMarvel’s Spider-Man 2managed to achieve a straightforward, elegant experience while still packing the stories and gameplay of two individual Spider-Men into it. In that effort, many open-world activities and interactions have been changed, though not all of those changes were necessarily improvements.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2strikes a fine balance between quests that Peter and Miles go on that are exclusive to one or the other and quests that either of them can go on. Likewise, random crimes are more engaging, especially knowing that the other Spider-Man may already be there fighting petty criminals, Kraven’s hunters,the Flame’s cultists, or rogue symbiotes. This level of interactivity made the city truly feel like it had two Spider-Men in it at all times, but it’s a shame that this NPC companion feature never extended toMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s kneecapped car chase crimes.
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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s NPCs Would’ve Made Car Chases More Engaging
Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Car Pursuits are Lackluster in the Sequel
Marvel’s Spider-Man’s car chaseswere simple in their design: players would pursue a hijacked vehicle, almost always fail to avoid taking gunfire damage before landing on the vehicle’s roof, and move around on top of the car to yank out individual gunmen until only the driver was left. Once they’re yanked out, players would begin a button-mashing mini-game in order to bring the empty car to a halt, and sometimes a second car would arrive full of enemies for players to defeat thereafter.
Now, inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, these car chases are virtually the same besides only having to press square once to have Spider-Man fill the car with webbing and then effortlessly halt it in the street, reducing its degree of interactivity almost entirely. This isn’t terribly egregious based on how repetitive and tedious these actions became in the previous games, but losing their interactivity also makes them seem far less interesting or appealing when the wholerandom crime activitytakes about five seconds to complete.
Peter/Miles, Yuri, and Harry Should’ve Helped in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Car Chases
That would be fine, however, if Spider-Man’s random NPC companions—Peter/Miles, Harry, orYuri—could also board the vehicle and help him take it down. It would’ve been exciting to see these crimes take a little longer at the expense of seeing a symbiote-laden Harry leap onto the car next to Peter as they both yank criminals out from within, for instance.
If it’s going to be less interactive, it would’ve been fantastic to at least see it be more cinematic with fun and dynamic animations between the player and NPC as a pair taking down a stolen car. That said, the way these pursuits now behave is unmemorable and frankly pointless as a random crime activity compared to much more interactive encounters players come across inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s open-world New York City.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Spider-Men Peter Parker and Miles Morales face the ultimate test of strength inside and outside the mask as they fight to save the city, each other and the ones they love, from the monstrous Venom and the dangerous new symbiote threat.Explore an expansive Marvel’s New York with faster web-swinging and the all-new Web Wings, quickly switching between Peter and Miles to experience different stories, epic new abilities and high-tech gear.Wield Peter’s symbiote abilities and Miles’ explosive bio-electric powers in battle against new and iconic Marvel Super Villains – including an original take on a symbiote-infused Venom, the ruthless Kraven the Hunter, the volatile Lizard, and more from the Marvel Rogues’ Gallery.
