(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Note: The clips that are all shown are from Doug's Twitch streams of himself playing the game)
Doug (vo): It's Spider-Man 2, the one without (as J. Jonah Jameson) "My son, the astronaut". Though honestly, this game manages to sneak in so much so cleverly, I wouldn't be shocked if somewhere in there, they did sneak that character in. If you saw my review of the first game, you probably know I liked it just as much as everyone else did. I thought it was great, very well done, great gameplay, good story, absolutely loved it. But the first game was great, this one is spectacular. You could have literally called it The Spectacular Spider-Man and I would be like, "Yeah, that's a perfect title." This game takes just about everything that the last one did and improves it, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in big ways. I feel like every single time I picked up the controller, I would see something within that gameplay that would blow me away.
Story and review[]
Doug (vo): The story picks up pretty much where Miles Morales left off. Yeah, if you didn't play that game, it is good to play it, but I guess not a necessity. That's also a good time, so I don't know, I'd still say check it out. But Peter and Miles are finally teamed up, and as you'd imagine, you can play as both characters in this one. Even though I did think maybe you'd be able to switch back and forth in between the gameplay, I was a little disappointed you couldn't do that. But then again, I'm not a game developer, I don't know how complicated that would be. But they do a good job both in story and gameplay of balancing it out in terms of how much you play as one character or the other. Like, when you got to swing through the city and go to the next mission, you can just maybe become the other character and be like, "I want to solve some crimes here," or do some other stuff or go on some side missions. What isn't working out well is that Harry has this mysterious symbiote that seems to be attached to him, but also seems to be keeping him alive for the moment. That doesn't seem to be a big issue and he and Peter are starting to regrow their friendship, but that all changes when Kraven enters the picture. Kraven is looking for the ultimate hunt, the ultimate prey, the ultimate opponent, and, of course, has a lot of goons and henchmen to find him and help him out on this journey that's supposed to test only his strength. Yeah, it's a game, I know you need people to hit, but you could give these to another villain. That seems a little out of character. Anyway, through a series of crazy events, the symbiote attaches itself to Peter and, if you're like me, you're thinking, "Oh great, another opportunity for the black suit saga to be done wrong." Yeah, with the exception of Spectacular Spider-Man, I've never seen this story done right outside of the comics, and I'm kind of sick of it. I've kind of just grown accustomed to we're never going to get that psychological, dark, harsh-as-hell story that the comics brought us, let alone add more to or improve upon.
(Footage focusing on the characters is shown, along with footage from The Spectacular Spider-Man. At one point, a caption briefly appears saying, "RIP Tony Todd")
Doug (vo): Even Spectacular Spider-Man, while great, is still held back by the fact that it's a kid's show, there's just some things you can't quite get away with. This version not only does it right, but it practically becomes a horror game half the time. They make this thing scary, seeing what it does to Peter, seeing what it does to the people around him, the way the suit starts to look like Venom, even before the character exists, the way the performance changes, the way the voice changes. Man, they got the guy who did the Candyman to voice Venom in this, that is crazy. And the ingenious addition that you're watching half of this through other people's eyes. Yeah, when you can play as two Spider-Men or even as other characters seeing this happen to Peter, it instantly becomes more suspenseful because you're the character that's trying to survive, you're running away from Peter and your life is literally on the line when you're playing as this character. That's something only a game can do, and it really heightens the suspense and tension.
(Footage focusing on Harry, Peter and Venom is shown along with footage from Spider-Man 3)
Doug (vo): I don't think I'm giving anything away—it's in all the advertisements and even hinted in the last game—that Harry is going to become Venom. And I will give a heads-up, if you're a Spider-Man purist, you're one of those people that says, "Hey, this can't work unless this person's alter ego is connected to another super character," you're not going to like this story. I feel like most people are okay with it. We've seen Marvel movies where they change a lot and we've been alright. But if you just want it like how it was in the comics, you might be a little let down. With that said, I think Harry becoming Venom is one of the most inspired choices. In fact, I'm now wondering why they didn't do this in Spider-Man 3. I remember saying it would have made sense if they made "My son, the astronaut" Venom in the next one because he was supposed to marry Mary Jane, and I don't know, just give him some purpose to be there. But my God, it was right there the whole time! Just make Harry Venom. Get rid of Eddie Brock, he was a pointless character, anyway. This made sense. And what's also so great about it is that you're spending so much time with Harry and Peter and kind of figuring out the good stuff that they want to do and are hoping to accomplish that when the symbiote takes over and reveals his evil plan, I was kind of thinking to myself, "Well, he's kind of going along with this pretty quick." But then, when I thought about how much they did reveal about Harry and what his goal was for the world and everything, you can see how the symbiote would manipulate that. He's in a mentally vulnerable spot, and the symbiote is taking advantage of it.
(Various footage is shown, mostly focusing on Mary Jane, Miles Morales and the villains of the game)
Doug (vo): And we see this happen not only with Peter and Harry, but with other characters, too. Without going too much into spoilers, Mary Jane does get the symbiote for a little bit of time. And okay, I won't reveal what happens because it is a really cool, legitimate surprise and I thought it was really awesome. But again, some purists might not like it. But we see even through that how the symbiote manipulates all your small insecurities and brings them to the forefront. Any trouble you have is going to be magnified and exploited. And in a Spider-Man story, there is so much you can do with that, and they harness that as much as they can. But on top of that, you have all the other Spider-Man side stories about dating, relationships, Miles has an old enemy from the past that he's trying to come to grips with. And I think what really blew me away about it, like actually super elevated it over the last one, is that whenever a new supervillain would show up, I got a sense of dread. I would always say, "Uh-oh" because they did such a good job making us familiar with the personalities of these characters in the last game. If Scorpion showed up or Vulture or Rhino, I'd be like, "Oh, okay, just another bad guy to fight, whatever." But whenever Kraven or the Lizard or Black Cat or Venom would show up, it immediately makes you think, "Things just got a whole lot worse." It affected the gameplay and the story. It wasn't just another opponent I had to get around. They did such a good job fleshing everybody out, there wasn't one character I was disinterested in. Even the kind of filler material or palate-cleansing moments are done a lot better, in my opinion. You know, I'm not the biggest fan of playing as Mary Jane; I don't think anyone is. But I remember enjoying those levels a lot more when there was an action element to it—when they gave her a taser; that felt good, that felt satisfying. Well, here, she just has a gun. Because the story is so interesting with Peter and the symbiote and Harry and Kraven and all that, I don't mind experiencing it from a different point of view and a slightly different type of gameplay. I just still want to feel like I'm accomplishing something. I'm not just sneaking around, I want to take out some baddies.
(Footage focusing on stealth mode is shown)
Doug (vo): With that said, I have to be objective. I know you're going to say I'm hypocritical, but they maybe make it a little too easy not to go into stealth mode. And don't get me wrong, I don't like stealth mode, that's just not my type of playing, I don't get into it. But I acknowledge it is needed to add a little bit more variety to the game and to make it a little bit more challenging. And the majority of the time, I would either slip up or make a sound and I just get impatient again and start going punching out people, and it's very rare that that didn't work. I'm not a fan of stealth mode, but if you've got to have it, commit to it, make us feel like there's a reason it's there.
(Various footage focusing on the gameplay is shown)
Doug (vo): I guess that's as good a segue as I need to transition into the gameplay. The gameplay in the last one was pretty fantastic, and here, it's even better. They don't really take away anything that works so well in the first game, they only add upon it, and it's stuff that seems to make sense for Spider-Man and this story. Like, there's a lot more gadgets and he can now glide, which is not only from the comics, but really, really convenient. I mean, I love web-swinging around, that's like one of my favorite things to do. But sometimes, I just want to get to a place a little faster, and this just feels really convenient. It's really nice you have this option of do you swing there or do you glide there? Appropriately, when Peter gets the symbiote, he can do all new moves, which aren't so different that you can't get used to them, but he's supposed to feel like everything is improved on and elevated when he gets this suit, like he's addicted to it and you kind of feel that addiction when you can do all these cool new moves and everything. You see and feel how much fun it is, you understand the addiction. Miles' moves are just a little different. For the most part, they're pretty similar, but there are still things that set them apart like his electricity power. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that wanted the moves to be a little different, but at the same time, they are both Spider-Man, it kind of makes sense. And I think the idea of going in between these two Spider-Men and being like, "Oh, wait, this button does this now, I forgot about that," like, that can throw you off a little bit.
(Footage focusing on the side missions is shown)
Doug (vo): Where the side missions in the last game were a lot of fun, these are almost sometimes better than the main story, and the main story is already pretty great. Without going into spoilers, there's a side mission where you're helping this character dressed in purple, and a lot of people are saying, "No, no, you have to play this mission! It's almost a necessity! You have to! The story is so good! " And they're right, it's actually a majorly important plot thread that has to play a major part in the next game, and it's really weird that it's a side mission. And again, not only is it fun to play, but it's really well written. So much of the dialogue and the acting in this game is just so well done. How many times have we seen a main character almost die? I mean, it doesn't even phase us anymore. But in this, this guy's acting is so good, it really sounds like he's about to kick the bucket.
Spider-Man: (weakly) I'm...sorry I-I was always s-so busy, MJ...
MJ: Almost there. Hang on.
Doug: Man, he-he really sounds like he's dying.
Doug (vo): My one nitpick, I guess is that if you're not really into...I don't even know what you call it, social gameplay where you're just kind of like going around a theme park or riding a bike or sneaking around in the gym, something that has little to no action, you're really not going to get into those moments. I mean, it is cool seeing a little bit of character building and everything, but I feel like the outcome of them could have been a little bit more creative, could have had a little bit more variety to them. I don't know what I was expecting riding these carnival rides, but I guess I was expecting something, I don't know, anything. You just ride the carnival rides and that's it. I just, I wanted some funny line or interaction or something. And I guess I can't say it doesn't give what it promises, it just doesn't give anymore.
Doug: Is he ever going to put his arms down?
Heather (vo; chuckles): He's like, "No, I was told in the club one time, 'Put your hands in the air.'"
Doug: (chuckles) They never told me to put them back down.
Heather (vo): Put them down!
Doug: (chuckles) Just...just wow. Okay, okay, he's-he's still going. He looks...so excitingly bored. (giggles)
Heather (vo): Right, right? Like, he definitely looks like, "I am required to do this by the user." (She and Doug laugh)
(Footage focusing on Miles Morales' black Spider-Man suit is shown)
Doug (vo): Also, yeah, I guess let's talk about that suit. Everyone really lost their minds when they saw Miles' suit in the last chunk here, and I mean, it's not good. I definitely wouldn't choose it as like the final suit for a major character, but at the same time, if you just told me this was one of the suits you could choose out of a big lineup of suits, I wouldn't really point it out and be like, "Oh my God, that's hideous! How can that even exist?" Like, it's just another suit. I didn't like it, but I don't think that's what cost a game awards, as a lot of people were saying, though granted, that is very funny.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): So yeah, I think that's about it. I feel like this is a game that the PS5 was made for. It has great detail, it has great graphics, it has a great story, it has great characters. I really have to squint to find the problems with it, and even when I do, they're usually minor. Every single time I would return to play this game, I would get excited. And don't get me wrong, like every game should do this, you get excited to play it, but I just knew every single time I did, it was going to give me something I was going to fall in love with, I was going to be surprised by, I was going to gasp at. It was just going to give me a great, epic ride. The first game was a tough act to follow, but thankfully, this game had the spider-strength to pull it off.
(A scene where Peter and Miles are swinging around the city is shown)