Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Playstation 5)

The story picks up nine months after the events of the last game, and finds our two protagonists struggling to get on with their lives, even as they battle a motley assortment of villains (more about whom see below). Each character is individually playable (eventually) and you can roam widely around New York, exploring, earning new skills, and collecting a range of Spidey suits, each of which, as always, comes with unique look.

While you can switch freely between the two characters as you roam around New York in the open world areas, each Spidey has their own unique missions which will advance the story arc of the game. Peter Parker has an additional feature – he is playable when he is bonded to Venom, the black tendrilled symbiote. Venom gives Peter Parker extra powers in combat, but also interferes with his personal life, causing disruptions and problems for Peter!

Within the game, you can now freely swing through Queens and Brooklyn as well as Manhattan – and these new parts of New York are even more beautifully detailed than before! The main protagonist of the game is Kraven, the Hunter, who plans to create a ‘fun’ game for himself by unleashing a series of supervillains and then hunting them down again, uncaring of the citizenry of the city.

Gameplay is quite familiar: increasingly difficult fights against villains, with both Spideys using webs, gadgets and cunning to win: you can sweep enemies off their feet into the air, swing kick them into next week and even fire lightning at them and you can use combo moves to double up these offensive tactics. (The sheer number of button combos can be overwhelming – take a few moments to learn some of the more basic layouts!

As you play, you earn XP and tokens that you can swap for upgrades to your suits and work your way up skill trees to give you much-needed advantages over your foes. There are plenty of small sub-quests that pop up as you explore. These will help you to earn XP and tokens so do as many as you like: completionists will do them all, while others will just do those that appeal, or those that will offer an XP boost to buy the next upgrade!

Brooklyn and Queens are beautiful, with waterside factories and warehouses, leafy residential neighbourhoods with gorgeous brownstone houses and welcoming suburbs – and Spider-Man (both of them) has a wingsuit so he can glide for ages, admiring the view, as well as web slinging and swinging his way around. In total, there are fourteen unique districts for you to work your way through. Fast travel exists but doing it the Spidey way is often so much better.

Gliding is a great way to travel as the city’s layout has created a series of wind tunnels that Spider-Man can exploit and enjoy as he admires the city’s skyscrapers and art deco architecture from above.

The Nitty Gritty

The big USP (unique selling point) of this game is the ability to change between Peter Parker and Miles Morales – both have unique skills and styles, and this is clearly shown in gameplay. With two main playing characters plus the switch-up added by the symbiote coming into the mix, you have three distinct ways to play.

There are plenty of side quests and mini missions to complete, as well as two main storylines (one for each Spider-Man) to run through. Web shooting has been upgraded too, aiding with things like stealth movement and double take-downs for when two enemies must be tackled simultaneously.

Each Spider-Man has their own skill tree to work their way along, plus there is a shared one for them both to add to as they learn new things. Keep an eye out for the all new rage meter for when your righteous wrath needs to be unloaded on a villain.

Characters to Look Out For

There are a host of villains in this game, thanks to the ‘big bad’ Kraven, the Hunter. Let’s take a look at who’s who.

Venom: An alien symbiote who sometimes helps Peter Parker when bonded with him, but more often disrupts his life and makes more problems for the hapless Spider-Man than it ever solves!

Kraven the Hunter: a big game hunter whose life mission is to best Spider-Man. His favourite sport is hunting people

Sandman: a lowly burglar who through an accident, gained the ability to turn himself into molecules of sand and manipulate them at will. He is a tragic figure, but not to be underestimated for all that

Lizard: a former Oscorp scientist who accidentally turned himself into a giant reptilian creature – and kind of liked it

Grizzly: a former wrestler and long-time enemy of Spider-Man, he was ‘collected’ by Kraven into a battalion of animal-themed superhumans. Grizzly wears a grizzle bear costume and harness that enhances his already formidable strength

Mysterio: a visual effects artist who uses virtual reality to create deadly illusions

Wraith: Yuri Watanabe a disgraced former police captain and ally of Peter Parker under a vigilante identity