On December 7th 2023, The Game Awards took place and dubbed 2023’s Game of the Year. Many fellow gamers were split between who would win, Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, or Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Both games that many were anticipating for years. Alas, Larian Studios took home the win, leaving many fans of the Spider-Man sequel asking, ‘Why?’.
So why did Insomniac’s anticipated project not do as well as it’s predecessor?
Character Design
While many fans of Miles Morales loved his new mature look since his solo game, those who played the first Marvel’s Spider-Man were left confused when Peter’s face was completely different. Granted, this was a ‘correction’ back when Insomniac made Spider-Man’s debut. The model was corrected for digital copies of the first game, but those who picked up the physical copy were left confused when they were unable to recognize the charming Peter Parker. Even MJ resembled someone that aged about ten years, rather than just a couple years between this game and it’s predecessor. This left gamers who played Marvel’s Spider-Man upon its initial release to only recognize Miles.
The Plot
Usually in film or television there’s about two plots: the A plot that focuses on the main issue with a B plot playing off to the side. However, in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 there’s several plots. First, we follow Miles’s attending school while also attempting to balance the responsibility of being Spider-Man. Basically your average Peter Parker story.
We then have Peter, also struggling to balance his priorities with landing a permanent job and being Spider-Man. Of course, there is also the continued struggling relationship with Mary-Jane, and Peter still grieving over the death of his dear Aunt May. As usual, nothing is ever going smoothly for Peter. It’s fair to say, even with a partner, Peter still has his hands full.
Yet, we still have to follow a C plot, essentially discovering the origin of Harry’s absence, and a D plot, following Mary Jane’s growth of being a journalist. In other words, the game is jam packed with a lot of plot points to hit and following the story was not as smooth as it should have been. Having all these plots also left little to no room for nicely wrapped up conclusions for some of our villains, such as Kraven. There was no Spider-Man in sight to be included in his demise and this point was left feeling pretty unfulfilled.
There are even moments with other characters that could have had so much potential, but left audiences feeling let down. Such moments included the interaction between Miles’s Spider-Man and Felicia Hardy’s Black Cat. Not once do we see Peter interact with her in person, despite the DLCs of Marvel’s Spider-Man having her be an essential plot. Gamers were left expecting there to be more, especially with the ‘new and improved’ Peter walking around New York City. Alas, it seems writers scrapped the screen time and importance of Felicia, just putting a half-hearted bow on the end of her “story,” giving her a different love interest and moving on from Peter.
Gameplay
Thankfully, when it came to picking up the sequel, the controls were pretty straight forward and very similar to the first game. Out with the costume special abilities and in with…gliding.
It’s a thing in the Spider-Verse. It makes sense, but it is not user friendly. The gliding missions were timed and very difficult to navigate, leaving players missing the seamless web-swinging after failing these tedious missions after the second attempt. What is even more frustrating is the fact you can completely skip these missions, leaving us to wonder if even the creators disliked these missions as much as we do.
There is also no ignoring the fact that some of the main missions force us to play as different characters, such as Mary Jane and Miles’s girlfriend, Hailey. While Hailey’s mission was a great experience to make us understand how she experiences the world, it did not make as much sense to have this mission locked behind main missions. It would have been a great addition as side missions, similar to taking snapshots, but with a Delsin Rowe (Infamous Second Son) twist. Let us also not forget the continued Mary Jane missions, that were left unrealistic due to the capabilities this actress turned reporter had with just some “training.” All in all, playing as these characters for main missions made the game feel less Spider-Man and more “We’re the Flash.” (The Flash 2014-2023). The only exception to playing as these extra characters was playing as Harry, as it was such an adrenaline rush and nice change to the story pacing, even if the Kraven conclusion was unsatisfying.
For the most part, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was a fantastic game. The imagery was stunning, the mechanics were wonderful, and the partnership between the two Spider-Men was phenomenal. Yet with poor choices to character development, such as Peter taking a “break,” it is fair to say this game did not make Game of the Year. Surely Insomniac has more to come for this story, and we can only hope they hit it out of the park next time.