Insomniac Games' follow-up to Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) and Miles Morales (2020) is a fairly ambitious title that shines, for the most part. The studio carefully picked its battles with regard to what areas to innovate in and where to simply iterate. The swinging and traversal have received the most amount of love, with Web Gliding being a more than welcome addition. The break-neck speed of the traversal is not just a bonus change of pace, but an absolute necessity, given the increased scale and scope of the open world. 

While the map is significantly larger, it is still replete with the charm and detail that makes Insomniac Games one of the best studios in the business. The combat is fundamentally the same, with a few bells and whistles in the form of new abilities mapped to the L1 and R1 buttons. One of the things that is abundantly clear from the first 20 minutes of gameplay is that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is going all-out with regard to boss battles, set-pieces, and general scale of things. The result is a game that feels a tad bit deeper than the original and Miles Morales while also making leaps in terms of cinematic set-pieces and boss battles.

The story is a rather simple affair - the Spider-Men must find resolve deep within themselves to overcome increasingly dire odds as they go up against Kraven the Hunter and some other key figures from Spider-Man's vast coterie of villains. The introduction of Harry Osborn is meant to be the emotional bedrock of the story in the sequel as the dynamic between him and Peter is perhaps the most crucial. While the story was functional and had some really high points, mostly by way of the captivating Kraven the Hunter, cracks begin to appear as the story progresses and begins to lose steam by the time you reach the final boss battle. 

For the most part, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a solid affair that makes very few missteps and leaves the player with a largely satisfied feeling. The few missteps come in the form of the story, which starts off as strong as a Spider-Man story has ever kicked off, but a meandering 2nd Act and a largely bloated 3rd Act make for a jagged narrative experience that doesn't quite hit the same emotional highs as the 2018 original.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2: An Undeniable Technical Marvel That Impresses in Parts

Gameplay

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 doesn't try and reinvent the wheel, which is the right call to make. Insomniac's combat system from the 2018 game and Miles Morales has easily been one of my favourite combat systems in gaming history. The system takes lessons from games like the Batman Arkham franchise to deliver a combat loop that gets more frantic the longer you extend your combo and one that incentivizes quick thinking, creative use of gadgets, and most importantly, style. Marvel's Spider-Man 2's combat makes full use of both the Spider-Men's new abilities.

Perhaps the biggest change introduced in the sequel is the speedy traversal. Web Swinging has been sped up quite a bit and players can dump points into Traversal abilities to go even faster. Web Swinging can be combined with Web Glide to go even faster and further than previously possible. As I said, the map dictates that players get around faster as there is now simply way too much of it. The new map now includes the original area of Manhattan as well as parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Web Glide changes things in a big way, making traversal not only a lot quicker - but somehow, even more fun.

While the two have clearly different animations and moves, the combat feels practically identical, save for the unique ability each one possesses. The biggest way Insomniac shifts the dynamic in a big way in combat is the introduction of the Symbiote suit. The Symbiote suit feels exceptionally powerful, with the sound design truly hitting home the brutality and bone-crunching strength of the suit. As Peter, players will be able to tap into "Surge" mode to unleash the full powers of the suit - allowing the player to get rid of large hoards of enemies with only a few hits.  The sound design work on the Symbiote suit does its fair share of the heavy lifting in selling the idea of a somewhat roided-up Spider-Man that smacks more than he talks. 

Swinging and gliding around the city, like always, is one of the best parts of any Spider-Man game and this one makes it a little more sweet by allowing Peter and Miles to team up organically. The Spider-Man as well as some other allies can drop in on an ongoing crime, making for an organic Ally team-up that feels like an idea lifted from Gotham Knights but done in a much more polished way. While the team-up combat doesn't work much differently, it still allows the player to execute fancy moves with their Ally (in an effort to not spoil the main story - let's just say that there are more Allies than just Peter/Miles). 

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a much larger, faster, and occasionally meaner game than the original, expanding upon key ideas from the 2018 game. Yet, the game feels more like an iterative title than a full-blooded evolution of the original. The game scarcely pushes the envelope in any significant way, which also means the game isn't exactly taking any major risks. The result is a sequel that ultimately feels like it is playing a little too safe in parts - especially the combat and mission structure. While the bombastic opening was a welcome change of pace from the usual game openings, that sort of mission structure does not make a return in the game. Save for one fantastic side quest involving Black Cat, the game rarely ever deviates from the standard mission structure players have come to know. 

Story

Insomniac Games have quickly established themselves as one of the best storytellers around, especially when it comes to Spider-Man. 2018's Spider-Man established both Peter and Miles as deeply likeable characters that persevere in the face of major tragedy. One of the things that the 2018 game benefited from was a solid 3-act structure that worked effectively and ended on an emotional high-point that has stood as one of the most iconic moments in the history of the character. (Spoilers for the 2018 game incoming) The ending to Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) remains one of my favourite Spider-Man moments as it encapsulates the very essence of the character, with Peter making the greatest sacrifice and not injecting Aunt May with the antidote, saving thousands as a direct result. 

Dilemma such as these makes for the best Spider-Man stories and the personal stakes of each character is essential. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a story of two 3rd Acts that never quite hit the high points as the original. Kraven the Hunter plays the foil to our webheads for most of the game and proves to be a rather interesting, multi-dimensional character. It is surprising the layer of backstory and characterization Kraven receives and it is truly riveting when players learn of his ultimate motivations. Yet, his singular obsession with "the hunt" is not nearly as compelling as Martin Li's duality in the 2018 game or Doctor Octavius' manic obsession with greatness and payback. Kraven plays the part of hulking, unbeatable brute well - proving time and time again that the Spider-Men are going to need a little "extra" to beat this primordial beast of a man. 

Harry Osborn is introduced as a key player right at the start and his story unfolds in a rather unexpected way. The game makes a couple of really interesting creative choices with the characters that appear promising at the start. Ultimately, his story arc leaves a lot to be desired as the ending to his story didn't quite carry the emotional punch that it should have. Peter's dynamic with Harry is ultimately what the success of the game's narrative rests on, so how you feel about the story is ultimately reliant on how invested you are in their friendship.

Peter and Miles receive a ton of characterization in equal parts. Peter struggles to hold down a job while Miles comes to grips with certain "negative" aspects of his personality while trying to become a better Spider-Man. The symbiote ultimately shifts the dynamic in a big way and Peter suddenly adopts a much meaner attitude as the game progresses. While Yuri Lowenthal certainly pulls his weight in selling Peter's growing brutality and resentment - Peter's motivation as to why he's suddenly so mean never quite hits home. While I was hoping that the game would drive home Peter's grief taking over - the game just simply tells you 'the symbiote is making him mad' and that's what you're going to have to believe. 

Given Miles' arc has him struggling with his need for payback and revenge, it somehow makes more sense for him to bond with the symbiote than Peter. Without the symbiote suit, Peter appears to be quite well-adjusted. The game ultimately tasks Miles with learning what it takes to be Spider-Man and that was ultimately a rewarding arc than Peter's this time around. A character that truly shines this time around is MJ. While MJ had her own little side quest in the original - she's given a lot more to do this time around. MJ's sections now play out a stealth-action 3rd person shooter (I see franchise potential here). While the gameplay isn't all that impressive (it's pretty routine), MJ's role in the story is a lot more active this time around and she proves herself to be a key asset to the team. 

Now, to talk about the big Symbiote in the room- Venom. Even though he is one of my favourite comic book characters ever, Venom has always been sort of a mixed bag. In some iterations of the characters, he is a comical anti-hero while in others he is a ruthless beast fueled by pure hatred. Insomniac's take on Venom is a little more one-note. Venom shares a common obsession with his host but wants to go about it in his own unique way. He is a little more than just the 'angry voice in his head' trope and has little to no personality aside from his one singular obsession. 

While Venom's character design and Tony Todd are nigh perfect, he doesn't come across as very compelling as a character. The final act of the game hinges heavily on Venom but the character has very little to add to the mix in the way of intrigue or tension. His character intro and the following gameplay section, while impressive, is the only high point of the character. Ultimately, Marvel's Spider-Man 2's over-reliance on gigantic set pieces and scale often comes at the cost of intimate character moments and personal stakes that made the 2018 original so great. 

Performance, Presentation, and Sound Design

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was heavily touted as a true showcase of the PS5's power and for the most part, that stands true. The game runs at a stable 40-45 frames per second on Performance Mode with Ray Tracing as the game runs on a Native 4K resolution. That by itself is quite impressive, but it's hard to shake off the feeling that the game does feel a little bit more rough around the edges as compared to the 2018 game. In a side-by-side comparison, I found that the 2018 game feels a tad bit smoother and more polished visually than the sequel. Perhaps it's down to the scale of the city and the sheer variety of ways the character can zoom about the open world, but New York appears a little bit rougher than it did in 2018.

Fidelity mode fixes a ton of these issues at the cost of frame rate. While it fixes most problems in terms of resolution and textures, sacrificing frame rate isn't really a choice for Spider-Man fans as the game is best experienced at higher frame rates. In my time with 26 hours with the game, I suffered only one major crash as the game failed to load textures for a district and forced a shutdown. Thankfully, this would be the only time the game crashed. 

Insomniac Games are rightly heralded as one of the most technically brilliant studios in the industry and it is reflected in the game's sound design. The reworked punch and attack sounds truly make for a heck of a soundscape that immerses you in the world. The sound design work on the Symbiote suit incentivizes players to tap into Surge mode often if nothing but to hear the bone-crunching sound of these punches. 

Final Word: Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is an ambitious yet safe sequel that isn't looking to reinvent the wheel in any major way. While the game is serviceable and often enjoyable, it doesn't feel that significant a step up from the original in terms of gameplay or storytelling. A meandering second act grinds the pacing to a halt and often compels me to abandon the main quest altogether and experience some of these side quests.

Speaking of Side Quests, the game's most interesting story arc comes in the form of The Flame side mission, which takes a rather unexpected turn right towards the end. Die-hard Spidey fans might spot the hint early on as to the true identity of The Flame. The game sets up several characters for a sequel, one that is shaping up to be quite the dark affair from the looks of it. 

The game consistently implies a darker tone rather than adopting one altogether, which feels like a cop-out. While Kraven and The Flame make for exceptionally enjoyable foils to our Spider-Man, Venom is a major let-down. While the game is a safe sequel, it is still a cut above the rest when it comes to open-world adventure titles.  

Sega’s popular Virtua Fighter series is set to make a return, the publisher has confirmed, some 18 years after the launch of its most recent numbered installment, Virtua Fighter 5.

Since then, there’ve been numerous updated releases of Virtua Fighter 5 with 2021’s Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, itself a remaster of the earlier Final Showdown, alongside mobile installments, and even an arcade update for Virtual Fighter 3. What’s missing from the series, though, is a brand-new game.

Also Read: Assassin’s Creed Shadows Will Have New Angle For Storyline

What To Expect From Sega’s New Virtua Game

Sega’s new global head of transmedia, Justin Scarpone, has offered some hope in an interview with VGC. "So we have a suite of titles in development right now that fall into that legacy bucket," he explained, "which we announced last year at The Game Awards; Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi."

"And we have another Virtua Fighter being developed," Scrapone added, before covering over the revelation completely, "And then in certain instances, we're also doing animation series, or live-action films to augment that and be part of those roadmaps."

Despite announcing a plethora of legacy game revivals last year - including Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe, “and more” - details remain limited. Sega has shared a little about its Crazy Taxi update -- calling it an open-world, massively multiplayer game that’s “AAA” in scope.

Also Read: Best Mythic Brawlers in Brawl Stars (November 2024)

Sega Teases Shadow The Hedgehog Design In New Sketches

One of the best parts of Sonic x Shadow Generations, released last week, is the wealth of music, stories, and art in the game’s Collection. Acquired hidden emblems throughout each stage can be used as keys to unlock treasure chests throughout the White Space central hub zone and, with a quick shift of location, Shadow can check out his history through some wonderful artwork.

Earlier, Hoshino worked as an artist and character designer on several games such as Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic Adventure, and Sonic Heroes. Shadow the Hedgehog as a character was first launched in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2 as the ‘Ultimate Lifeform,’ before appearing in his own standalone game in 2005 where he wields a gun. Hoshino worked as an art director on both projects. With further details provided by Hoshino, the sketches reveal early concepts for not only Shadow’s design, but the proposed weaponry, and bad guy Black Doom.

"I wanted to create a deep, mature story suited to backstory. Shadow was created with the idea of him being a lead character and not just part of a cast of characters," Hoshino tells Eurogamer of working on the Shadow the Hedgehog game, where that promise was fulfilled.

The recent Silent Hill 2 remake will be enhanced for PS5 Pro. Released for PS5 and PC in October, Silent Hill 2 sold over a million copies in its first three days, instantly becoming a huge hit. Soon, PS5 Pro users will be able to enjoy the new version of this classic title.

While some gamers were skeptical of Bloober Team’s ability to remake the classic Silent Hill 2, the game was praised for its combat and atmosphere. With Silent Hill 2 receiving mostly positive reviews from critics, it obtained an average score of 87 on the review aggregate site OpenCritic.

Also Read: Ex-Red Dead Redemption 2 Dev Working On New Game

Bloober Team and Konami Improving The Game

Now, the Silent Hill 2 remake has been tagged as “PS5 Pro Enhanced” on the PS Store, indicating that Bloober Team and Konami have decided to upgrade the game for the launch of Sony’s new console model. Sadly, there are currently no details on how exactly the upgraded version will work.

The current version of Silent Hill 2 for PS5 has both Performance Mode and Quality Mode, enabling gamers to run the game at 1440p with 30fps, or 1080p with 6-FPS, respectively.

Given the scenario, it’s likely that the PS5 Pro Update will make way for greater resolutions and frame rates at the same time. It’s also likely that the Bloober Team will unveil a new Silent Hill 2 update soon to implement these changes.

Also Read: Xbox Game Pass November Line-Up Revealed

When Is The Game Coming To PS5 Pro

What’s surprising about the PS5 Pro Enhanced version of Silent Hill 2 is that it was not properly announced before. Recently, Sony released a list of games confirmed to get PS5 upgrades. While the list included popular titles such as Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Final Fantasy 7, Rebirth, Horizon Forbidden West, and others, it did not include the remake of Konami’s classic horror game.

The PS5 Pro will break cover on November 7, and it has been a very controversial topic since its original announcement. The console is being released at a hefty price of $700 in the US, and it may be even more expensive in other countries.

Despite the new model offering a 45% faster GPU and advanced ray tracing, the high price prompted a discussion about whether the console was worth it, as a normal PS5 would still run the same games and be considerably less expensive.

Steam Game Recording is officially out of beta and available to all users, giving PC, Mac, and Steam Deck players a built-in way to record and share audio and video from their gaming sessions.

The console joins many other ways PC gamers have been able to record their highlights, including as a feature of tools like the Xbox Game bar, Nvidia GeForce, and AMD’s Adrenalin.

Also Read: Leak Hints Fortnite Chapter 6 Map To Feature Japanese Theme

Valve Updates Steam Game Recording

The version of the Steam client is also the first to drop support for Windows 7 and 8 machines, as well as Macs running macOS 10.13 and 10.14 after the company announced the move at the beginning of this year.

After an automatic update, players can start recording manually using a hotkey or set it to trigger automatically, with options to restrict the length, quality, and storage space that Steam can use. Valve says it works with any game, including now-Steam games that enable Steam Overlay to run. The recording is off by default -- users will find its settings in a new Game Recording tab in Steam’s settings.

The company has updated Steam Game Recording with a handful of new features that weren’t there when the beta period began in June, including adding “advanced” export options and the ability to configure game-specific settings. Valve also added Session View, which includes a “Recordings & Screenshots manager with game-specific tags and data.”

Also Read: Diablo 4 Rolls Out New Hotfix Update For November 2024

Valve To Stop Releasing New Steam Deck Models Yearly

The Steam Deck will not be getting yearly updates. At least that’s what one of its designers has suggested. But a Steam Deck 2 will likely happen at some point. During an interview with Reviews.org (via The Verge), Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang said, "We’re not going to do a bump every year. There’s no reason to do that."

He explained that he thought it wasn’t fair to users to provide only incremental improvements each year. He said, "...we do want to wait for a generational leap in computing without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck." This aligns with previous statements from Valve. On many occasions in 2023, Valve employees stated that a more powerful Steam Deck would be years away-- late 2025 at the earliest.

Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained that part of the Steam Deck brand is that every model can play the same games; Valve doesn’t want to change that until Steam Deck performance gets a significant jump without compromising on the battery life. During the interview, Yang did note that the company is working on a Steam Deck successor.

Users don’t have to take great pains to preserve their Switch to make sure they can still play their favorite games on it years and years from now. Nintendo has revealed in its earnings report that the upcoming successor to the Switch will have backward compatibility and will be able to run games made for the current console.

Moreover, Switch Online will also be available on the Switch 2, which means their saves stored on the cloud will be carried over and they will be able to play NES, SNES, and Game Boy games on the new console.

The company explained that it’s making Switch Online available on the upcoming console because it thinks it’s important for Nintendo’s future to "carry over the good relationship" it has built with its more than 100 million annual playing users to the new device.

Also Read: Sony To Introduce 50+ Games To PS5 Pro On Launch Day

How Will Current Games Work On Nintendo Switch 2

The main way to do this is to make use of the Nintendo Account, which ties a user’s history to one account and allows the company to "maintain a continuous relationship" with them across console generations.

Before the Nintendo Account was introduced, Nintendo had no easy way to carry a user’s history and purchase the next console. "As a result, our relationship with the consumers was interrupted when a new system was purchased," it said.

The company assured to give out more information about the Switch 2 "at a later date," though it didn’t say when exactly. In a recent event where we thought the new console could be launched, Nintendo introduced an alarm clock instead.

Considering its earnings results, it looks like people could choose to wait for the new console instead of buying the current Switch. The company had to downgrade its sales forecast for the fiscal year due to a big decline in console sales compared to the same periods last year.

Also Read: Intel Teams With Dentsu Gaming, StreamO For Gamer Days 2024

Nintendo Switch 2 Launch “Very Unlikely” Before 2025

Nintendo is now “very unlikely” to launch its highly-anticipated Switch 2 hardware this year, a games industry analyst has told Eurogamer. The recent financial results from Nintendo revealed a larger-than-expected drop in hardware and software sales for the current Switch, as the console ages and its release calendar quietens.

The results also passed by without even talking about Switch 2 being shown - and perhaps with Nintendo’s new hardware not due to arrive until sometime in 2025 - for good reason.

During an interaction with Eurogamer, industry analyst Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy Kantan Games, said any mention of the anticipated Switch 2 now would only further hamper Switch 1 sales during the console’s last holiday season.

Almost a year ago, Rockstar Games released the first trailer for GTA 6, which marks the franchise’s first sequel since Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2013. Fans had been hoping that today’s fiscal report for Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, would include a new GTA 6 trailer.

While that did not happen, Take-Two did confirm that the GTA sequel is still on track for a fall 2025 release. While speaking with CNBC, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged that some of the company’s old games have slipped from their planned release dates.

Also Read: BioWare’s Dragon Age Trilogy Remaster 'Wouldn’t be Easy'

Rockstar Confident About GTA 6 Launch Timeline

However, Zelnick expressed his confidence that GTA 6 would make its release window. Zelnick also emphasized that the extended development of the game is more centered on enhancing the experience rather than removing out.

"In the case of an extraordinary title, for which there are extraordinary expectations, it's not really about bugs, it's about creating an experience that no one's seen before, and Rockstar Games seeks perfection in what they do," explained Zelnick. "And perfection is indeed hard to measure, it is more subjective than objective."

The company noted in this year’s fiscal statements that GTA 5 has sold 205 million copies to date across all platforms, while Red Dead Redemption 2 had 67 million copies to its name.

Take-Two also revealed that Borderlands 4 and Mafia: the Old Country is set to be released during the company’s fiscal 2026, which should fall between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026. The other upcoming games mentioned by name, CSR Racing 3 and Judas, have no specific release window yet.

Also Read: Nintendo Switch 2 Launch “Very Unlikely” Before 2025

Former Developer Claims GTA 6 Will ‘Blow People Away’

Game designer Ben Hinchliffe has worked at Rockstar Games for over 10 years, and he contributed to games like Grand Theft Auto V, Read Dear Redemption II, and Grand Theft Auto VI before parting ways with the company in 2022. During a recent interview, Hinchliffe briefly discussed GTA VI, saying he believes the game will “blow people away” and be a smashing success when it comes to sales.

"It will sell an absolute ton, as it always does. People will be talking about it for ages afterward, just like they do with GTA 5," Hinchliffe told GTA VI O'clock. "I think they've raised the bar again. They always do, and they have done again with GTA 6."

When asked about what he’s most excited about GTA VI, Hinchliffe said he’s keen on seeing how the game has evolved since he left in 2022. He did not give out any information, as it is expected to be a secretive project. Hinchliffe now works at Sniper Elite VR studio Just Add Water.