Spider-Man 2 arrives in stores this Friday and excitement among the wall-crawler's fans is palpable. Whether you're planning to get your hands on 19 inches of Venom or simply can't wait to once again swing past New York City's skyscrapers, it feels like the game is going to be a very special experience.
Today, that's been confirmed with the first wave of glowing reviews for the PlayStation-exclusive superhero sequel. We've rounded up a selection from a mixture of gaming and entertainment website and, while it doesn't sound like the gameplay breaks new ground (if it ain't broke...), the overall consensus is extremely positive.
We'll begin with IGN's review as the site scores the sequel an 8/10 and reveals, "Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip." As for Kotaku, it's said that "[Spider-Man 2] is as good as it’s ever been, and in plenty of ways, even better. Being Spider-Man never gets old."
Eurogamer describes Spider-Man 2 as "simple, familiar, and occasionally cluttered" but "still brilliant fun." Game Informer's 9.5/10 review, meanwhile, states, "With Spider- Man 2, the developer has found what makes superhero stories worth telling (and retelling) and given its likable heroes the journey they deserve."
GamesRadar+ gives the game a 5/5 score and concludes by saying, "[It] improves on its predecessor across the board, while saluting the superhero genre over the last 30 years as a whole. With a captivating narrative and unrivaled spectacle, it's the quintessential superhero game, in story and mechanical terms."
io9 was similarly impressive and explains, "The game itself might not be as vastly changed mechanically as some people might hope from a fully-fledged sequel, but that matters far less in what Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 achieves by using that broadened scope to deliver a richer, interestingly messier, and more satisfyingly matured experience." Polygon shared a similar sentiment by noting, "Canons were made to be broken, and Spider-Man 2 swings in that direction. With a sequel teed up by the game’s final act, I’m eager to see where Insomniac goes with that momentum."
The prevailing opinion does appear to be that the game is very much in line with its predecessors but GameSpot was still left mightily impressed. "All in all, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 may largely give us more of what we've played in Insomniac's previous Spider-Man games, but that winning formula is still so damn fun that it really doesn't matter."
"The story's exploration of loneliness is fantastic," the site continues, "creating gripping new narratives for the two heroes, Peter and Miles, as well as the two main villains, Kraven and Venom."
It's not just video game websites chiming in as Variety scored it 9.5/10 and declared, "To put it simply, the final act of the game features some of the best storytelling and gameplay I’ve ever experienced. It’s pulse-pounding and truly epic, with some stunning surprises I wouldn’t dare spoil. Suffice to say: My jaw was on the floor."
Needless to say, Friday really can't get here soon enough...