Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 welcomes players back to the hustle and bustle of New York City and puts Miles Morales and Peter Parker into the shared spotlight. While the adventure to take down Kraven is mostly linear, offering players a straightforward narrative, there’s still a lot of side content to dive into, like combat challenges, collectibles, quests, and much more. For the first time in the series, you can now switch between both Spider-Men, using their individual skills to explore different parts of the story.

MJ, Harry, and Peter have a heated exchange as Peter fails to recollect the events of the previous evening, and Harry begins to spiral. Miles assists Rio in protecting the culture and musical legacy of the city by investigating and preventing a museum robbery. Peter and Harry return to EMF in an attempt to learn more about Harry’s newfound powers, and let him safely practice. Peter and Miles oversee a prisoner transfer at the R.A.F.T., but are rudely interrupted by Kraven and his forces as they seek to capture the villains for unknown purposes. Take on brutal world-famous explorer, Kraven the Hunter; vicious reptilian creature, Lizard; a symbiote-infused Venom unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, and many more to be discovered. Mask-up and swing into action against a true rogue’s gallery of the biggest Super Villains in Marvel’s bustling roster of bad guys.

There is also a variety of side characters that will pop up throughout the adventure. If you’re on the fence about picking up the game or starting the franchise in general, this list may be of help to you. I break down what I believe to be the game’s five biggest strengths and five biggest weaknesses. The book came out at the same time as the game did, in November 2020, and it depicts Miles’ struggles as he fights to figure out what type of Spider-Man he wants to become, all while battling his own personal problems. However, there’s now a third strand shared by both characters, which is something entirely new to the series. With it you can build on the combat and traversal skills that you would want in either Spider-Man, creating a more rounded – and appropriately – symbiotic duo.

Miles, for example, can attach a string of web between two specific points, letting him get above enemies and take them out quietly – even two at a time if they position themselves correctly. The PC version of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was released through Steam and Epic Games Store. There is no official info that the game will be verified for Steam Deck, however, the previous Spider-Man game was playable on the handheld, so it’s possible that the sequel will be as well.

Obviously, what you take away from the story and its diverse cast of characters will be unique to you. On the surface, it’s another thrilling superhero story packed full of surprises, cameos, and Easter eggs – but there are deeper meanings to be found here, too. Overall, there’s slightly less emphasis on stealth encounters this time than in either Spider-Man or Miles Morales. As someone who found the stealth action of the previous games a little simplistic and routine, this new, louder approach is welcome. Spider-Man 2 (PS5) brings back some of the old suits from the previous two games including news suits and outfits for this sequel from vintage suits to what-if scenario costumes.

Batman: Arkham City

Here’s what you need to do to play Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on AMD RX 580. In a word, yes, but the real hero of this video game is a story that’s nothing short of amazing. Miljan has been into gaming since the days of Sega Mega Drive and Amiga. During his gaming career, he has raided at a high level, coached other players, and written about games since 2016. Miles Morales has a lot going on, what with moving to a new neighborhood, dealing with the loss of his father, and the whole gaining super-powers thing. After a misunderstanding with the law, Miles questions what it means to be a hero when people are ready to believe the worst in you.

But you can play as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, switching between the heroic Spider-Men on your crime-fighting adventures to experience their individual gameplay abilities and story elements. Discussions regarding a proper sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man began during the game’s development, with open story threads for future titles being teased across both it and Miles Morales. Jim Pirri and Tony Todd join the cast as the voices of Kraven and Venom, respectively. The team has landed a trilogy of games that all stand strong on their own merits but unite into a sweeping saga made better by experiencing its entirety. While more Spider-Man games will inevitably expand this mythology in new directions, there’s no need to wait. With Spider- Man 2, the developer has found what makes superhero stories worth telling (and retelling) and given its likable heroes the journey they deserve.

More Digital Series

You can see a summary of the PC features for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in the trailer above and see a rundown of the system requirements in the table below, while the folks at PlayStation Blog have a more detailed breakdown of the nuts and bolts. Obviously, since the game hasn’t come out yet, we can’t give you a summary of Spider-Man 2 (we also wouldn’t want to spoil your next adventure). The mid-credits scene reveals that Harry is to be released from his stasis pod, even though his health is still unstable. Peter puts Miles to the test, going off to Symkaria for a couple of weeks to help MJ with her work as a reporter there and leaving Miles in charge of protecting the city, leaving him as the sole Spider-Man in NYC for the first time. Miles reveals to Peter in the credits’ scene that he has gained spider-like powers after he was bitten by a spider that escaped Osborn’s personal lab. Additionally, we’re shown a teaser for the Symbiote in Osborn’s lab, where he has also kept Harry in a tank until he finds a cure for his illness.

Venom isn’t around long enough either, especially for the impact they act like he had on the city, but it just about made all the waiting worth it. Especially with the added personal connection between Spider-Man and Venom, really highlighting Venom as the dark mirror of Peter. 777X were high when the teasers at the end of both Spider-Man and Miles Morales teased the arrival of Venom. And, thankfully, it’s the only part of the story they actually did well. Using it to tell a tragic tale of two friends, instead of the more standard Eddie Brock story.

Spider-Man is one of Sony’s preeminent exclusive titles, so it gets the extra special optimization treatment. The game has a graphics-oriented Fidelity mode and a 60 frames-per-second Performance mode. You get to fully experience how fast Peter and Miles whip through the New York City skyline. Phin attempts to go through with her plan but this fails as the overloaded reactor almost destroys all of Harlem, and Miles’s mother and his uncle work together to evacuate Harlem. Miles uses that as his chance to talk to Phin, and he convinces her not to go through with it. Ultimately, Phin sacrifices herself to help Miles save the city, by flying him high above the city, so he can release the energy where no one else will be harmed from the explosion besides herself.

Miles overcomes his anger towards Li and helps him escape, directing him to find Peter. Despite the disappointment, it’s unlikely that any DLC for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would’ve been very exciting. All of which brings us to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s PC system requirements, with Sony’s minimum specification targeting 720p at 30fps on Very Low settings. Those with considerably more powerful hardware (which is to say, an RTX 4090 and i K/Ryzen X3D) can aim for 60fps at 4K resolutions, using Very High Ray Tracing Ultimate settings.

It’s all part of delivering an epic Spider-Man adventure directly into your hands. Insomniac Games has crafted something to take advantage of the mighty capabilities of PS5. Lots of enhancements that make Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 feel and play differently are thanks to the system’s impressive tech. While there are moments where the narrative will require you to control either Miles or Peter during specific scenes, there are also times when you can switch between the two on a whim.

They’re exceptional, with the sequel polishing on an already absolute thrill of an experience. But the fact is, the sequel adds a ton more new features and makes quality-of-life changes that can’t be ignored. The PS5 makes it so your playthrough is as seamless and glitch-free as possible.