Summary
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 excels in improving side content, providing engaging missions with substantial story content.
- Insomniac Games learned valuable lessons from Spider-Man 2, offering a great foundation for Marvel's Wolverine's development.
- Future games should follow the example set by Spider-Man 2, integrating side quests that enhance the game's universe.
Insomniac has had a lot on its plate over the last few years. After taking a bit of a break from AAA development after the release of Sunset Overdrive in 2014, Insomniac Games made an impressive return with the 2016 Ratchet and Clank remake, swiftly followed by the amazing Marvel's Spider-Man in 2018. What's followed is a slew of critically acclaimed releases from Insomniac, with Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 all dropping within quick succession.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 earned critical acclaim upon its release last October, and for good reason. While it may not have been totally innovative, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 improved upon its predecessor's formula in just about every way, ranging from exciting new combat and traversal abilities to a wealth of new side content.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's New Game Plus Suits Explained
Insomniac has revealed more details about its long-awaited Marvel's Spider-Man 2 update, including glimpses of some exciting new Spidey suits.
Marvel's Wolverine Fans Don't Need to Worry About Side Content
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Features Some of Insomniac's Best Side Content
Side content is nothing new for Insomniac, but it is something the studio has struggled with a little in the past. The first Marvel's Spider-Man is the perfect example of this. An incredibly ambitious game, Marvel's Spider-Man gave players both a lengthy story campaign, and a wealth of side content, though the latter is often heralded as one of the game's more obvious shortcomings.
Though there's a lot of side content in Spider-Man, a large portion of it feels like filler. The bulk of Spider-Man's side content will have players taking down the same-looking bases and outposts over and over again, or completing mundane tasks for New York citizens, all of which fail to add any substantial story content to the game.
While Taskmaster's challenges and Tombstone's side mission lead to some engaging boss fights, these missions still have their slower moments, and they're a bit of a rarity.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2, on the other hand, tries to make every one of its side missions stand out, and while it doesn't always succeed, it does a much better job than its predecessor. Whether it's following an old man across New York, leading Howard's pigeons to new pastures, discovering the Chameleon's secret base, or taking on Mysterio's challenges, the vast majority of Marvel's Spider-Man 2's side missions feel worthwhile, with most adding quite a bit to the game's world, and even teasing potential future Spider-Man content.
The Flame questline is the perfect example of this, containing several boss fights, narrative twists, and excellent writing that's easily on par with some of the game's best main story moments. Even Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Spider Bot collectibles added depth to the story, linking Insomniac's universe directly with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in a rewarding final cutscene.
Marvel's Wolverine Just Needs to Carry Those Lessons Over From Spider-Man 2
It's clear that Insomniac has learned a great deal from Marvel's Spider-Man when it comes to side content, and it only seems natural that it'll learn a lot from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as well, which means that Marvel's Wolverine already has a great foundation to work from. Though Marvel's Wolverine likely won't be a fully open-world game, there's still room for side missions, with games like God of War Ragnarok providing the perfect blueprint for how to work side content into a more linear, open-ended title.
When it comes to creating side content for Marvel's Wolverine, Insomniac simply needs to reflect on what fans loved about Spider-Man 2's side missions. An integral takeaway is that side missions should add substantial story content to the game, meaning that Marvel's Wolverine should feature plenty of side quests that flesh out the game's universe, and potentially add new cameo characters to the narrative.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Released
- October 20, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Spider-Men Peter Parker and Miles Morales face the ultimate test of strength inside and outside the mask as they fight to save the city, each other and the ones they love, from the monstrous Venom and the dangerous new symbiote threat.
Explore an expansive Marvel’s New York with faster web-swinging and the all-new Web Wings, quickly switching between Peter and Miles to experience different stories, epic new abilities and high-tech gear.
Wield Peter’s symbiote abilities and Miles’ explosive bio-electric powers in battle against new and iconic Marvel Super Villains – including an original take on a symbiote-infused Venom, the ruthless Kraven the Hunter, the volatile Lizard, and more from the Marvel Rogues’ Gallery.
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Insomniac Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Franchise
- Spider-Man
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action-Adventure, Superhero
- How Long To Beat
- 17 hours
- Metascore
- 90
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
