Spider-Man 2 redefines what it means to be a superhero game. Calling it just a game really does it a disservice. This is one of the greatest Spider-man stories ever told-across film, television, and video games. Both Pete and Miles shine throughout the entire duration of the game.
The emotional moments are as impactful as ever and really go a long in fleshing out this amazing story. The new additions to the roster are all so good and greatly explored. Kraven is such an imposing villain who has plenty of moments to prove his might. His motives are interesting and smartly crafted. His boss fights are some of the best of the entire series. Kraven's story is just so perfectly executed and suffers no flaws. He remains off-screen for the perfect amount of time to build up his character.
Unlike the previous games, the hideouts (hunter blinds in this one) are actually fun to clear out. That's all thanks to the many great new gameplay additions. The webline offers a fun new way of taking on stealth challenges. But, that being said, who in their right mind wants to do stealth missions with all the absolutely amazing new combat additions?! Each new power given to Miles and Pete are just so fun to execute and mix and match with one another.
Even the gadgets in this game are incredibly powerful and just fun to spam and clear out large herds of enemies. Miles' new venom abilities are flashy and fun! Petes new metal arm abilities are flashy and fun! But! Perhaps the most flashy and fun new ability is the symbiote powers. Wow! Just wow! There wasn't a single time throughout my 4 days of gameplay that I got bored of the combat. The moveset was constantly evolving, adding new powers, dealing more damage, and just becoming more fun by the mission.
Oh, and speaking of missions, this game by far had the most fun and engaging ones. Some of the greatest boss fights ever were in this game. The Sandman fight was awesome, the Lizard fight was awesome, the Spider-Men fight was awesome, the Mysterio boss fight was awesome, the Kraven boss fights were awesome, the Scream boss fight was awesome, the Venom boss fight was AWESOME! You get my point, every single mission in this game was better than the last. We thought the first two games revolutionized boss fights? Well, this game isn't even in the same league. It's not even in the same sport.
Never once throughout the countless hours of gameplay did I find myself bored. I was constantly getting my mind blown, constantly feeling my jaw hit the floor, constantly just having an absolutely amazing time with the game in front of me. I was a little hesitant at first when I saw the webwings, as I thought they'd make traversal less fun. Boy do I have to eat my words. The traversal system has been perfected. The webwings are so fun to play around with. All the new tricks you can do while swinging make the game so much more diverse.
It's seriously true when I say that every single aspect of the previous games has been improved upon. Hell, even the MJ missions were fun! Perhaps the most controversial part of the first game became one of the many fun parts of this game. It is so rare nowadays to find a game as perfect as this one. To find a game made by a team of developers that respect the source material as much as this one.
I find myself more excited for the sequel of this game than any other upcoming movie. My only fear is that it may be too difficult to match the greatness of this one. If any other developer can do it, it's Insomniac. Not only is this arguably the greatest superhero game of all time, this is also one of the best video games ever made. This is absolutely deserving of a 10/10 score!
