One of the most anticipated games of the year finally got a release date last week at Summer Game Fest: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is finally releasing on PlayStation 5 consoles on October 20th. Just like its predecessor, the hype around the title is tremendous as it brings an original story split by two Spider-Men this time, Peter Parker and Miles Morales, facing fan-favorite villains on the rise. With a little over four months until we get our hands on the game, many questions have been asked by players, such as how big the new map is, and which other villains are confirmed. With that in mind, we organized all of the scattered information around Spidey’s newest adventure in one post with everything we know so far about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Both Peter Parker and Miles Morales Are Playable
If playing with Peter in the 2018 game was already fun and refreshing, Miles’ standalone spin-off made the web-swinging experience even better with more creative and smoother moves. Now imagine being able to play with two Spider-Men in the same game. Thanks to the power of PlayStation 5, now we can.
Unlike what many players expected at first when the game was announced, it’s actually not a couch co-op or multiplayer but another solo adventure now played from two different points of view. In an interview with Eurogamer, creative director Bryan Intihar said that players can’t choose characters during the story mode, but that it changes at the press of a button in the open world. “We have content designed around Peter, we have content designed around Miles and we have content where you can play either. You’ll be able to – in the open world – freely switch between them with a simple button press,” he explained. Intihar also confirmed that both Spider-Men will have their own skill tree and a third shared one.
A Bigger Map
Way before the first game’s release in 2018, gameplay videos left fans crazy by showing the magnitude of its map. After launch, we indeed had our own playground for Spider-Man – its faithful representation of New York City, with landmarks like Central Park and the Empire State Building.
Bryan Intihar revealed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s map will be almost twice as large as the previous games. “In this title, Queens and Brooklyn have been added, and roughly speaking, the map is about double the size of the last games. These two boroughs have small residential areas, so I think you can feel a different charm from Manhattan. There are also unexpected situations that have never been seen before, such as battles using the river that runs through the city,” shared Intihar.
The Symbiote Suit
The charm of the sequel is the black suit. Fans around the world seemed very receptive to Insomniac’s grotesque version of the classic Spider-Man costume shown in the PlayStation Showcase footage, and based on the combat gameplay it seems that it will live up to the look.
Unlike any other previous Spider-Man media, the game’s symbiote suit will give fans a different experience by letting Peter uses Venom-like abilities during fights, like the venomous arms he splashes onto Kraven’s minions. Peter’s personality will change throughout the game due to the symbiote, and that change could also apply to his look and explain the new aggressive abilities the not-so-Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is using. Could Peter become a boss to Miles eventually?
Peter Needs Doctor Connors to Help Harry Osborn
In the gameplay video, we got to see both Spider-Men running after Lizard in a jaw-dropping pursuit action sequence. It starts when Peter tells Miles to not lose Doctor Connors, as he’s the only one able to help his friend Harry who’s apparently dying.
For those who don’t remember, the first Marvel’s Spider-Man has a post-credit scene where we can see Norman Osborn treating his unconscious son Harry inside a bacta tank with… the Venom symbiote. That was enough for fans to speculate about Harry Osborn becoming Insomniac’s Venom, something similar to what happened in the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show. In Spider-Man 3 (2007), Doctor Connors is the first person Peter Parker looks for to talk about the symbiote, probably the same reason why Peter needs the Lizard’s human counterpart so badly in the game as well.
Does that confirm Harry as Venom in this universe though? Well, read the next topic and form your own conclusions.
Venom Is Not Eddie Brock
During Insomniac’s presentation at Summer Game Fest last week, Bryan Intihar surprised the audience by revealing that Venom is not Eddie Brock, the symbiote’s most famous host. When asked if it’s Brock or an Osborn, Intihar said: “Our goal was to tell an original story, something you haven’t seen in the comics, in the movies yet. Obviously, we love Venom for a reason. All those things you love about the character are going to be there, but how the story plays out, who is Venom… you’ve got to play the game and see how it goes”.
It seems like Venom’s secret identity will be a major plot in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. If not Harry Osborn or Eddie Brock, who else could host the alien symbiote? I mean, will it even be alien-based in the first place? Of the confirmed characters in the game, Kraven seems the most likely, even though he already donned the symbiote in the limited comic book series Spider-Man: Life Story (2019), which goes against what Bryan Intihar said about an original storyline for the slimy villain.
There Will Be More Villains
Of course, Kraven the Hunter, Lizard, and Venom wouldn’t be the only bosses in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Also during Summer Game Fest, Bryan Intihar seemed very excited in telling Geoff Keighley about new villains appearing in their upcoming game, even though he didn’t confirm which ones. With so many great Spider-Man villains in the first game, and a trio already confirmed in the sequel, which other classic villains could cross Peter and Miles’ path?
From the most popular list, we have names like Mysterio, Sandman, Morbius, and obviously, the Green Goblin, which in my opinion would make the perfect main villain for a third game. Carnage is also a possibility, even though very unlikely to happen. In the not-so-popular-but-still-cool list, we have Chameleon, Morlun, Hydro-Man, the Enforcers, and maybe even the Spot, who recently got the spotlight – sorry – in the box-office hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Pre-Order Bonuses
Pre-orders for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 start June 16 at 10 am local time. Players who buy the standard version before the game’s release on October 20, get to unlock +3 Skill Points, the Web Grabber gadget, and the Arachknight suit for Peter and the Shadow-Spider suit for Miles, both with three color variations.
Digital Deluxe Edition owners get all of the previously mentioned content, plus +2 Skill Points, additional Photo Mode items, and ten new original skins for Peter and Miles (five each) designed by guest artists such as Kris Anka (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and Raf Grassetti (God of War: Ragnarok). Insomniac already revealed on Twitter that the content from the Digital Deluxe Edition will be exclusive to it, meaning players won’t be able to unlock any of its suits in-game, only if they upgrade their standard edition to the Deluxe in the PlayStation Store.
The Collector’s Edition brings all content from Digital Deluxe Edition along with a stunning 19-inch statue of Peter and Miles fighting Venom. It also comes with a steel book display case with exclusive artwork and a digital copy of the game.
And that’s all for now! For more information about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, keep checking back at Twinfinite and have a look at the related posts below.
Published: Jun 11, 2023 08:05 pm