‘Spider-Man 2’ is My Game of the Year

 SPOILERS AHEAD

As someone with limited “free time,” I’m not ashamed to admit that I completed Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man 2 twice since its Oct. 20 release. Yes, I’m aware that was only two weeks ago as of this writing, and yes, I’m aware that there are other games out there worthy of my time, including Baldur’s Gate 3 and the spectacular-by-all-accounts Super Mario Bros. Wonder on Nintendo Switch. I’ll get to those, surely, but after an initial jaunt through Insomniac’s lovingly crafted Marvel epic, I needed to swing through it again. But I had a legitimate reason to run it back … honest.

Last week, after spending just a few hours with the game, I vowed to take my time with it. But, of course, certain story and gameplay elements – nearly all of which involved some ridiculously fun, slimy, Symbiote powers – compelled me onward. I ignored prompts to explore optional side stories as I launched myself toward an inevitable and emotional confrontation with Venom/Harry Osborn. Ignoring chances to gain and upgrade abilities for both Peter Parker and Miles Morales (including those tied to health, enemy damage and all-important Focus meters), I haphazardly turned a relatively straightforward action-adventure game into a white-knuckle Dark Souls-like experience. I made it through the story on the default Amazing difficulty, but with no shortage of expletives or urges to hurl my controller across the room. The thrill of completion (which happened 3 a.m. last Wednesday, by the way), quickly turned to regret, as my desire to complete the game before it got spoiled for me on social media robbed me of the fun I could have had with it. Congratulations, Past James, you played yourself.

So, the next night, I started a new game determined to explore as much of the optional content as I could and to level up both Spider-Men accordingly. I was introduced to a pre-Symbiote Cletus Kasady. I helped a woman find and reconnect with her grandfather. I experienced the world as Miles’ Deaf love interest Hailey, in one of the coolest and most thoughtful side missions I’ve ever played. Oh, and I also saved New York City and the world from alien slime monsters. All in a work for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man(s).

I’m certain we’ll get more content via DLC, as was the case with 2018’s Spider-Man, and perhaps we’ll even get a shorter follow-up like Insomniac’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which brought the franchise to the PS5 for the first time. But even as it stands, Spider-Man 2 is my favorite game in this series and, for me, is the best game of 2023. From the intricate story to the satisfying traversal to the ways in which the combat gets increasingly fun the more you play, I have not had more fun with any other game this year. And I might even play through it again before the New Year. 

 Granted, I’m wearing Spider-Man socks and staring at a shelf of Spider-Man action figures as I type this, so take all of this with a massive grain of Spider-Salt before you come at me on X (formerly Twitter). Thwip, thwip.  

Sticking Power: ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’ First Impressions

 

There are only a few games in the past five years or so that have completely captured my imagination and my free time – I’m sure plenty of folks riding out the final days of their 30s can relate. But of that handful of titles, three stand out above all others: Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Miles Morales and, most recently, Spider-Man 2 on PlayStation 5 (officially named  Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but I think you’ll know what game I’m talking about even if I skip that formality moving forward).

Developer Insomniac Games has cracked the code as far as what makes Spider-Man compelling not only as a fictional character – that efficacy has been proven across just about every medium known to man except maybe Broadway – but as a playable character in a video game. Never before has it been so fun to aimlessly explore a virtual environment as it has been with these three games. And Spider-Man 2 is easily the best one yet.

The game looks beautiful, and whether I’m swinging between buildings as Peter Parker or Miles Morales or soaring above them with the use of the game’s brand-new Web Wings mechanics, I’m in love with the exploration, and many of my waking hours not spent playing the game have involved thinking about it … and that’s just the traversal!

Without getting into spoiler territory (you’ll get their soon enough if you scroll your TikTok FYP long enough), Spider-Man 2 weaves together the various threads from the original game, its DLC and Miles’ spectacular spinoff title to craft a massive narrative that pulls from a half-decade of Spidey lore to create something fresh. If you think you know Venom’s story already, you don’t. And because we’ve all gotten so comfortable with a Spider-Man multiverse many times over in recent years, it’s not at all jarring when Insomniac decides to make a massive departure from the source material. It’s refreshing! New is good! Stop complaining! 

Equally refreshing is the combat, which retains the frenetic, controlled chaos of previous entries while giving both Miles and Peter new, distinct abilities. Miles gets a strange upgrade to his Venom Blast abilities, while Peter … well, let’s just say his movements get more fluid this time around.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about Spider-Man 2 is how excited I am to TAKE. IT. SLOW. With many recent games that I actually quite enjoyed – including Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, God of War: Ragnarok, and Final Fantasy XVI – I’ve been compelled to move through the main story as fast as possible to absorb it and move on because of that “adulting” (ugh) thing I alluded to earlier. But I’m enjoying just being in Spider-Man 2’s world that I’m in no rush to get to the ending. Much like the titular Wall-Crawlers, I think I’ll stick around in Spider-Man 2 for a while.