Action adventure game Spider-Man 2 was officially released to the public on Oct. 20, with fans around the world very excited about the game. We felt the first two games were amazing and they were enjoyed by many. But with the $70 price tag, is it worth buying?

We all know the last two games were a massive success, so Spider-Man 2 has a lot of potential and expectations to meet. “Spider-Man” (2018) was the introduction to the series and had spectacular gameplay and great graphics for its time. “Spider-Man Miles Morales” was no let down when it released on Nov. 12, 2020, but the game was short. Many started to label it as a DLC or downloadable content, instead of a real solo game, but the experience was super good nonetheless. 

The new game has a lot of ups and downs, including new movements to traverse New York and a lot more post game content for each Spider-Man. The customization with suits this time around is amazing with a lot of options for both characters. There’s a new but similar combat system. They didn’t change much but the new skills and systems allow for a refreshing feel. The story is also very good. We will be going into these in detail, but will remain spoiler free.

First we will talk about the movement. This time they listened to the fans and added two highly requested features: the slingshot and the web wings. They both are really useful; the slingshot is good for building up speed and the web wings give you an alternative way to speed around instead of the classic swinging. If you’re crossing water it allows you to surf so you don’t have to swim across and there are many things the developer Insomniac did to help those new systems. For the slingshot they place spots on top of buildings for launching. 

Second is the post game content, after you beat the main story you can finally do all the sidequests you wanted to do during the story. This includes easier access to side missions and more collectibles than in the main game where you had to focus on finishing the story. There are more opportunities to level up and get more suits after you complete the game because the fact that you still have to complete the story before you do quests isn’t looming over you.

Being able to customize your character is something that many players enjoy and this time around Insomniac did not disappoint with having 68 alternate suits for the two Spider-Men. The number can get even larger if you account for most of the suits having color variants. One flaw with having so many suits is they can’t all have a unique ability, now they are just pure cosmetic, in return they made them easier to unlock. 

Finally, the combat and the bugs. The combat is still very similar to the first game as they did not change much, but the introduction of parrying added a whole new layer of challenge from having to worry about being able to parry an attack. 

The amount of bugs is high this time around with clipping being common and some boss fights not allowing you to transition to a new area, or some Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) spawning but not actually fighting. With the amount of bugs it takes away from the experience but once fixed it will be a lot better.

Overall the game is worth the $70 price. With all the new features and gameplay mechanics, Insomniac made a very good contender for game of the year, and an overall very spectacular game.