It is surprising how sixty years after Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man, the story of the young man who was bitten by a radioactive spider – or genetically modified, as you prefer – continues to connect with audiences today. Surely, the secret of this superhero’s success has to do with the ease with which the reader can identify with the character, a teenager who, from night to day, has great power and great responsibility fall on his shoulders, but who at the end of the day is still an ordinary guy from New York.
Since then, all the authors who have written their adventures – with special memory of the great John Romita, who died this summer – have managed to maintain interest in Marvel’s most beloved hero, something they have also done, with greater or lesser fortune. its successful film adaptations and, of course, its video games. And there have been interactive adaptations of this character since the birth of this medium, but none of them reached the levels of quality that Insomiac Games achieved with Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020 ).
The Californian studio – one of Sony’s most productive studios – returns to the fray this Friday with a third installment that, although continuous, recovers and raises to new heights the spectacular nature of its action game proposal. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 takes up the events of the second game to present an adventure that this time stands out for allowing the player to alternate between Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
The duality between the two personalities, which the player can alternate in a similar way to what was done in the popular Grand Theft Auto V, is the main novelty of this third iteration. The constant change between one and one is interesting since it directly affects the development of the story, which this time adapts its rhythms to the particularity of having two characters and their super-heroic alter egos. In fact, it is notable how the game strives both for the player to experience the intensity of the action scenes and the slower pace of those fragments in which Peter and Miles have to deal with their worldly problems.
We said right at the beginning that, perhaps, the great secret of this story is the ability to make readers feel identified with the character, and this is something that the game directed by Bryan Intihar and Ryan Smith puts special effort into. It’s not all about combat and pirouettes between skyscrapers, since Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 puts a lot of emphasis on explaining the daily problems of Peter and Miles and does so with the same attention as to the action scenes. In fact, some of the game’s most notable moments take place in these most intimate scenes, where the visual resources and the cinematic and effective narrative deployed by Insomniac Games stand out.
But let no one be fooled, since this is a superhero game and this, of course, also involves the supervillains. In this installment there are plenty to bore, but among all of them, such iconic enemies from the comic stand out as the hunter Kraven, the wild Lizard or, above all, Venom, who could be considered the third main protagonist of the game.
The appearance of these – and many other – characters rescued from the comic panels energizes a story that in its moments of greatest intensity displays on the screen some of the most lavish action scenes that one has seen in a video game. They already were in the previous installments, but here their spectacularity is enhanced thanks to choreographies and a design of action sequences that would make any of the latest film adaptations of The House of Ideas pale into disrepair.
The visual jump between the PS4 titles and this new PS5 exclusive is not overwhelming, but it is noticeable in the details of the entire set. The lighting, the tremendous texture work on the heroes’ and villains’ clothing, the animations – from another galaxy – that Peter and Miles show off in combat… Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is eye-catching and, without representing a tremendous technological leap, , does boast one of the most compelling visual sections ever seen in a video game, even more so when for this installment the game’s mapping has doubled its length.
Another of the great novelties of this new adventure is the expansion of the game’s mapping, which in addition to allowing us to visit a fantastic recreation of Manhattan, this time adds two huge areas set in its neighbors Queens and Brooklyn. The explorable area is expanded and also the movements of both characters when moving between skyscrapers, bridges and much more residential areas. Precisely, mobility through its open world was one of the most praised features of the previous installments, and here it finds its final form with an unprecedented set of navigation skills.
Obviously, the new abilities of both characters are also focused on action and combat. Both Peter and Miles have their respective skill trees, although they also have a series of shared powers. Precisely, some of the most memorable moments in the game occur when both characters fight together, moments that Insomniac reserves to show absolutely sensational duo animations. During these first few days we have noticed a few bugs, for example, characters in strange locations, but we have not experienced any more errors beyond this. Those responsible for it have already announced that during the next few days they will publish an update.
With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Sony once again trusts in the arachnid superhero to save the Christmas season with a game that aims to reach all audiences and be the equivalent of big movie premieres. Special mention should be made of the numerous accessibility options with which the game hits stores and that, without a doubt, will help more people enjoy this adventure.