Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a game that truly surprised me with its storyline. I honestly didn’t expect to be so impressed by what I witnessed. But before diving into the story, I’d like to briefly comment on the general aspects of the game.
Gameplay
I felt a significant refinement from the first game to the second. The movement is even more fluid now, and I really appreciated the sense of progressing certain abilities while respecting what had already been introduced in the first game (for example, if I remember correctly, when you used an item before, it wouldn’t knock down other enemies — here that’s standard, as well as the air tricks while web-swinging. But maybe I’m misremembering. If I’m not, then this was a great progression). I must say I liked the combat, but I found it a bit confusing having to use a button for dodging or parrying — often the Spider-Sense signaled a dodge, so when it switched to a parry warning, it was tough. I was already used to dodging, and once the movement was done, it was really hard to press the other button in time for the character to respond and avoid a hit (which dealt massive damage). The fights are very frantic, which is enjoyable on one hand, but also overwhelming when trying to think — though that could be because I’ve been playing several classic retro games and then jumped into a much more intense and vibrant action game. I loved seeing mechanics that take advantage of the refined PS5 controls — even though I don’t have the controller, I could tell it was designed for those who do, and it must’ve been an amazing experience for them.
Sound
I really liked the music, with some tracks returning from the first game, maintaining a sober tone that aligns with other modern Spider-Man media. The voice acting was excellent. I didn’t listen in my native language (Brazilian Portuguese), which is famously high-quality in terms of dubbing, because the game was set to English — I was too lazy to change it, so I just left it.
Graphics
The city looks beautiful, dense, full of people — the realism is wonderful, a massive leap from the previous game. However, the PC version is disastrous. I really loved the game, but if I had to grade it technically, it would be catastrophic. I have an RTX 3060, which is significantly more powerful than a standard PS5, but it struggled to run the game. I was able to run it at 2K resolution, with settings on high, some shadows on medium or high, and textures also on high. I activated Ray Tracing up to “very high,” and it looked gorgeous. But the game is so poorly optimized that it’s impossible to enjoy it without constant crashes. It was unplayable until I reverted the driver to a version from 2024. Even then, I had to disable DLSS and try other upscalers. In general, XeSS or IGTI worked better. Of the two, XeSS had less flickering.
It’s absurd that a card like this has to struggle and rely on upscaling to run this game. It was obvious that the card could easily handle 2K on high settings, but due to so many glitches and optimization issues, upscaling was necessary to reduce problems.
Another awful thing was how everything stuttered, and textures took forever to load. Maybe it was because I’m using an HDD (seriously, do games now require SSDs by default?). I’m a pretty simple gamer — I lock at 30fps and underclock my GPU, I don’t have a crazy need for 60 or 120 fps — and still, performance was chaotic, even with the GPU barely at half usage when RT was off.
In short, this was the worst part of the experience — very frustrating. I hope the developers fix it over time, because it tarnishes such a great game. I hope the console version doesn’t suffer from this.
Storyline
Here’s where the game truly shines! I’m a fan of the character, so this isn’t a totally neutral emotional analysis — but I saw some amazing things in this story. I was especially pleased with how the writers managed to incorporate so many characters and give them meaningful roles. I wasn’t a big fan of the MJ missions in the first game — more stealth-oriented — but they were much more bearable here, thanks in part to some upgrades she received. Still, I think they could’ve been less frequent. That said, there was a good balance of roles, with no character feeling left out or out of sync with the story’s progression. That helped the emotional arc from the first game continue smoothly.
Another cool thing is how the game starts with a triumphant and chaotic, epic entrance, then briefly slows down and gradually builds up to a new climax at the end. This structure worked really well in both games.
What I liked the most, especially as a Reformed Christian, was the idea of Venom and his symbiosis, something I had never fully realized before. Every retelling of Venom’s origin — whether in the 2007 movie or the 1990s animated series — generally includes a church, a bell, Peter’s redemption, and then Brock’s corruption.
In this game, too, there’s the church, Venom, and the hunter. That’s when I saw how Venom symbolizes sin itself. He takes over people and brings out their worst side, their darkest version. And redemption happens through the ringing of a church bell — it’s a theatrical retelling of the fall and redemption of humanity through Christ, symbolized by the power of the church, analogous to the liberating chime that expels the invader from the host.
I’ll stop here, since this doesn’t spoil the game. As I said, every retelling features the symbiote, the church, the bell, and Peter’s redemption — though it often ends with someone else getting infected, usually Eddie Brock.
Conclusion
I can honestly say it had been a long time since I played a game whose story gripped me so strongly. I loved the main plot and really appreciated the overall narrative structure. I sincerely hope that, if they make a third game, they continue in the strong direction they’ve taken so far — because we’re starved for good stories across all platforms, not just in games but in series, books, and films. A simple, well-told story always stands out in a sea of mediocrity.
