September 15, 2023
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: hands-on report – gameplay details on symbiote powers, combat, PS5 features and more
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This past week has been a good one for Spidey fans. With just over a month until Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 swings onto the PS5 console, we’re getting a clearer idea of what we can expect come October 20. Insomniac Games has given us a closer look at the Super Hero and Super Villains cast with new character posters. Little under 24 hours ago we enjoyed a tour of the expanded Marvel’s New York (and a look at new suits) at State of Play. And today, you can get a deeper dive into the game’s combat, activities, story and more thanks to an extensive hands-on we had with a preview build of the game, bolstered by further insight from key staff who worked on the project – Senior Creative Director Bryan Intihar, Senior Game Director Ryan Smith, and Senior Narrative Director Jon Paquette.
This extended slice of gameplay took place some way through the story, a tense cutscene face-off between Kraven and a symbiote-encased Spider-Man serving as opener and concluding where the gameplay reveal earlier this year began. Between volatile science experiments and community exhibition break-ins requiring Super Heroic fists and smarts to solve, new activities to test Web Wings with, crimes to halt, tough boss fights to tackle, laughs to be had, and great character work to enjoy.
In the days prior to the event, I fired up the previous games to retrain my muscle memory and more accurately compare against what was to come. By the time I had to reluctantly set down my DualSense controller, initial impressions were overwhelmingly positive: Insomniac Games is firing on all cylinders with a Super Heroic sequel that’s richer, denser. One that packs in a ton of heart. Here’s why.
A tale of two Spiders: After being the focus of a game apiece, Peter Parker and Miles Morales have equal billing in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Outside main story beats that guide you to play one or the other, you’re mostly free to quickly swap between them (the PS5 console’s SSD zipping you nearly instantly to either Spidey at a button press, with the studio promising some fun character moments as perspectives shift). They share a chunk of side activities, Spider gadgets, and base upgrade paths but also have unique storylines, missions, and skills to unlock. Button layouts are identical (suit gadgets mapped to R1, unique skills to L1, four of either active at one time and activated in conjunction with a face button), and similar abilities means you’re never stuck relearning moves come a character switch.
Evolved move-sets with backstory: The game’s reveal trailer had Peter utilizing his four mechanized Spider-Arms to defeat foes. What was just one of many customizable suit powers in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man is now – until the symbiote comes into play – his default loadout, for reasons that Insomniac are tight-lipped about but say will be explained in the game. The same is true of Miles’s two distinct colorings for his bio-electrical Venom powers, also shown in the trailer and evident in my playthrough. Intihar hints that this evolving powerset plays into Miles’s story arc. Both mechanical and electrical powers have their own skill tree, XP gradually unlocks AOE attacks, multi-foe launchers, and more. An early favorite is Spider Shock, Pete’s mechanical Spider-Arms stabbing directly forward with the speed and grace of the arachnid they’re based on – and firing off an electrical cascade that fries anyone caught in its web. I’m delighted when I activate Wall Smash, reliving a moment from the gameplay reveal sequence firsthand as Peter balances on one hand and rapidly kicks a thug against a nearby wall with both feet. There’s a multitude of additional options to standard combat options as well.
The studio continues to incorporate learnings from its previous PS5 games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, with the DualSense controller communicating a wealth of situationally-accurate feedback in its haptics, hinting at what it could feel like to wear and wield the Black Suit.
Crowd-controlling Spider Gadgets: The iconic web-shooters are still tactically sound to web up a single enemy with a rapid tap of R1. Their capacity is doubled to twelve slots, and recharge quickly. I had two gadgets at my disposal in the demo. One – Upshot – deploys a drone that peppers web shots at nearby enemies, knocking them into the air. Web Grabber was the firm favorite, though, firing out webbing from all sides, then yanking anything attached back in rapidly, primed for an AOE strike takedown. And I mean anything: triggering the gadget during a back-alley scrap with robbers pulled not only criminals but a nearby sewer drain cover which launched into the group with the power and accuracy of a missile. Unexpected and hilarious.
The savage symbiote: It’s been a headline addition since announcement, and the hands-on did not shy away from letting me get to grips with the awesome power of the Black Suit. Pete’s already wearing it at the demo’s beginning, and like his mechanical arms, it has its own skill tree, with a foursome of attacks already mapped and primed come my first scrap with a pack of Kraven’s Hunters. As seen in the gameplay reveal, you can toss out tendrils that’ll auto-grab and lift enemies in the vicinity, before powerfully slamming them back into the earth. Symbiote Strike has the suit envelope Peter into a writhing mass that shoots forward, momentum and additional extruding spikes catapulting an enemy backwards, whereas Symbiote Punch is an all-powerful launcher leaving enemies stunned and airborne, ready for follow-up combos. The word that kept coming to mind during Peter’s fights was “brutal”, with punchy audio, visual spectacle, and controller feedback working together to convey a powered-up Peter leaning into his symbiote-assisted strengths. This suit’s L3 + R3 special Symbiote Surge is a savage, whirling, fast-paced grab-and-slam attack that lets you manually target and permanently ground enemies. Its debut comes at the climax of an escalating lab fight that closes out the demo’s first story mission and leaves me open-mouthed.
The demo offered a sample selection of side activities and incidental opportunities. Aside from still being able to interact with civilians or snap photo ops, you can pick up Spider Bots (each’s paint job cutely emulating a specific Spider-Man suit from across the years), deploy Web Wings and chase Talon Drones, using their own slipstream to catch up, or discover reappropriated Underground armory crates. A quick tap of the analog stick will activate your visor to visually highlight nearby activities.
Hunter’s Bell: While I fully expect Insomniac to find new approaches and bring us unexpected surprises when it comes to the Black Suit, they’re retaining a key element of its mythos: it’s hypersensitive to sound. A tense church-set cutscene that opens the demo not only spectacularly reveals (and sells) the former imperfection – and communicates the unpleasantness far too well through DualSense controller’s feedback – but also, in a single encounter, cements Kraven as an intriguing, self-assured presence (Intihar calls him “unpredictable”) as he comes face to face with his adversary. Insomniac reminds me he’s a relative anomaly in the Spider-Man food chain: he’s not driven by revenge, nor has any entwined personal histories with the core Spider cast. Paquette pegs a key part of his personality is the need to find someone “bigger, better and stronger” than him. He’s an intriguing addition.
Monsters and transformations: It also speaks to a thematic shift in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The majority of villains in the first two games, as well as Marvel’s Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps narrative, were tech-based. Insomniac have purposely leaned away from that for this sequel, looking to villains – to monsters – that can offer something different both narratively and gameplay-wise. Lizard and Venom are monstrosities that also tap into the theme of transformation: even Mister Negative, one villain making a return, embodies that not only in his own changes, but how he transformed Miles’ life with the death of Miles’ father, Jefferson Davis. And who better to tackle monsters than a hunter like Kraven?
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 First Impressions: Insomniac’s Ambitious Sequel Game Swings to New Heights
If the full game lives up to the preview, “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” is sure to be a serious contender for game of the year.
variety.com
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: hands-on report – gameplay details on symbiote powers, combat, PS5 features and more
Plus additional insight from Insomniac Games on the game’s missions and story.
blog.playstation.com
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