I remember my first time swinging through New York City like it was yesterday – the feeling of effortless joy that can only come from being a web-slinging hero. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the single-player action-adventure title by Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Games just arrived to spark that joy again, but this time, exclusively on the PlayStation 5.

Some time has passed since the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man Miles Morales. Peter Parker and Miles Morales are still saving the world from various villains, street crimes, and general chaos, all while attempting to balance their personal lives with their significantly more public ones.

A quick recap of our protagonist’s antics gets us up to speed with what our Spidermen have been up to, which is where we pick up 10 months later. Peter Parker is facing uncertainty about his future and is at a loss in his career direction, and Miles Morales is working on his application for a degree in music composition, all while attending high school. Of course, for heroes, it’s not as simple. Something sinister is on the horizon, and it’s up to this dynamic duo to yet again be the saviours the city needs.

A flawless transition from the opening cinematic has our titular heroes swinging through the streets of NYC after the nemesis of Spider-Man and beach-haters, Sandman. The incredible spectacle of the chase before confronting a colossal sand-being as an incy-wincy Spidey was everything I could want in a reintroduction to this world and more. It was a super effective refresher course in how to move, fight, and just generally be Spider-Man. After a heavy dose of attacking various human-shaped piles of sand, I was ready to get out into the streets.

Marvel’s version of New York City has expanded, with the return of Manhattan and Hell’s Kitchen, and two new districts to explore – Brooklyn and Queens. It’s a veritable heaven for web-crawlers, with plenty of buildings to scale, swing, or glide from, and references to the Marvel universe throughout. The streets are full of bustling civilians and hustling criminals – plenty of thugs to thwart and plenty of people to save. Better yet, it’s ever-changing. The series of events that follow result in the city changing too, like the sandy aftermath of my first boss encounter of the game.

The sheer amount to explore in this cityscape makes it easy to get side-tracked in the greatest way possible. Flying through the streets and getting a notification about a crime-in-progress often resulted in me flinging Spidey into encounters, engaging in a little action, and then going about my day. This time, traversal is even easier. There’s the traditional web sling and unlockable fast travel, but we also see the introduction of web-wings – a glider to cover a lot of ground in very little time. This is especially useful if you happen to come across a well-placed slingshot. The freedom of movement is immensely satisfying, especially once I realised I could launch Spidey toward the Hudson River and surf over the water. There’s so much variety in gameplay, including a trip to carnival playground Coney Island, that keeps gameplay fresh and interesting throughout, even if it’s just cruising in the ‘Burg.

The balance is nicely struck between exploration, finding collectables, and completing side activities and story missions. Nothing feels like too much or too little. The city is abundant with new activities to boost experience, spec into skills, and collectables to gain resources to put toward upgrading gadgets and acquiring new Spidey suits from different Spider-Man comics and films.

While out exploring, Peter and Miles can be swapped between with ease, each with separate storylines and a role to play within the main mission. Not only can you switch out with them, but there were times I was happily fighting crime, only to find the other Spidey crashing the same criminal party, leading to some awesome dual finishing moves. Each hero has their own special abilities. Peter is more tech-based, with various gizmos including the Iron Spider Legs, and later, the ultimate standout, the venom suit, complete with Symbiote powers. Miles can turn invisible for a time and harness the power of lighting with bio-electric venom powers, effective in combat and also handy when the electricity is out.

Combat is freeflow but feels much more streamlined, the gadget wheel has been replaced with a simplified UI – a quick L1 or R1 and a corresponding button. The new parrying system adds an extra spark to the already great combo system, and successive hits can make quick work of a pack of crooks. The only downside I found for the swift movement was the camera tracking. Often Spidey would move so fast the camera couldn’t keep up, but it was a small price to pay for a much greater gain.

There are some amazing action sequences to behold, from epic chase scenes to tense stealth sections. During my duties, I encountered iconic returning Spider-Man villains including Lizard, Black Cat, and Vulture. The newest face on the block is Kraven the Hunter, fresh from the jungle on the move. There’s a great twist on the involvement of villains this time, though this is sometimes to the game’s detriment. Boss fights are less frequent than in previous titles, and the enemies you encounter often feel repetitive. When pivotal moments do happen though, they hit hard, whether a thrilling fight, fun jaunt, or heart-felt moment. Insomniac Games have used each thread of creativity: from excellent gameplay, phenomenal visuals and audio, and extraordinary storytelling to weave a wonderful web, an all-round intricately crafted experience.

As to be expected, the music is incredible, a swelling orchestral track plays while Peter swings around the city, whereas Miles’ music is much more street beats, like the hip kid on the block he is. Music aligns with each character’s comic and film counterparts, and the soundtrack throughout is referential to the Spider-Man score. Likewise, the soundtrack in pivotal moments and combat encounters keeps pace with the mood, delivering feels or intensity at the right time, every time.

The voice talent of the first game returns alongside newcomers. Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, and Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales, deliver yet another fantastic performance worthy of the Spider-Man mantle. To top it all off, one of the most impressive feats was how audio was incorporated into the DualSense controller. Tempest 3D AudioTech, 3D spatial audio, delivers immersive sound all around. This includes sound effects through the controller speakers, from moments such as riding a bicycle, Spidey’s communicator notifications, and interacting with objects, adding another layer to the audio experience.

Spider-Man 2 utilises the DualSense even further with haptic feedback, responsive vibrations from the controller during combat, and traversal that will make your spider senses tingle. The adaptive triggers deliver even more sensation, with more tactile functions right at your fingertips, simulating the feeling of activating a mechanism or interacting with objects with varying levels of pressure and motion controls, but it does tend to chew through the controller’s battery, so keep a charger cable handy.

Controls are similar to the first game, using standardised button prompts for interactions and combat. There’s plenty of control customisation, especially for visual and audio accessibility, including adjustable motion sensitivity, aides for the hearing or vision impaired, and gameplay assists like simplified puzzles, auto-dodge, and QTE autocomplete. The team at Insomniac Games have done a commendable job in allowing many more gamers to step into Spider-Man’s suit. The game can be challenging, I played on Amazing, which is Spider-man for Normal difficulty, and found it to be just difficult enough with a few tweaks to settings to suit my needs. For those after a more leisurely time, there’s the Friendly Neighbourhood story mode, and Friendly, also known as easy modes, all the way up to hard mode, dubbed Spectacular, so it all depends on your playstyle preference.

The true power of the PS5 is on full display as a technical showstopper. In performance mode with the variable refresh rate set to smoothed, I had no noticeable drops in performance and very little drop in texture details. In Fidelity mode, locked at 4k 30fps with ray tracing enabled, the textures, lighting, and shadows looked stunning and performance was mostly consistent. Loading is almost non-existent, flowing seamlessly from cutscene to gameplay. Spider-Man 2 utilises the full capabilities of the PlayStation 5, the only disappointing factor is that as a PS5 exclusive, many players won’t yet be able to experience it, but given the implementation of mechanics, justice for this game is best served on the PlayStation 5.

The main storyline takes 15-20 hours to complete and around 25-30 hours to reach 100% completion, so there was just the right amount of gameplay. The map and activities weren’t overwhelming, and quests didn’t overstay their welcome. For fans of Marvel and the previous games, and fans of a good adventure, this is a game for you. For newcomers, this is the best interactive way to get acquainted with the Spider-Verse.

Insomniac Games have done an incredible job of taking up the mantle of Marvel to continue the long-standing journey of Spider-Man. It’s a game full of action, fun, and heart-felt moments, and it’s a magnificent addition to the PlayStation Hall of Fame. Spider-Man 2 massively enhances features from the first game and brings in huge quality-of-life improvements. It’s a bigger story with even bigger consequences and pay-offs. Spider-Man 2 is the ultimate hero story.

Written by: Yasmin Noble