Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 PS5 Review

Editor’s note: This review was originally written by former GamesLatestNews contributor Jibril Moedeen and published on 18 October 2023. Stephen Dove substantially revised the article in 2026 to improve its accuracy, structure and technical detail while preserving Jibril’s original judgement and 9.5/10 rating.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 brings Peter Parker and Miles Morales together as equal protagonists in Insomniac Games’ most ambitious superhero adventure. The sequel expands its version of New York, introduces Web Wings, develops both Spider-Men with separate abilities and places Venom and Kraven the Hunter at the centre of a darker story.

Insomniac does not abandon the foundations established by Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Web-swinging, open-world crimes, cinematic missions and rhythmic combat remain central to the experience. The improvement comes from how confidently the sequel develops those systems.

Traversal is faster. Combat gives Peter and Miles stronger individual identities. Boss battles demand more awareness, while side missions spend more time exploring the people beneath the masks.

The result is a sequel that feels familiar without becoming redundant.

Peter and Miles have been protecting New York together before the story begins. Peter continues to balance his responsibilities as Spider-Man with his relationship with Mary Jane Watson and the practical difficulties of adult life. Miles is attempting to complete his college application while struggling to move beyond the death of his father.

Harry Osborn’s return initially gives Peter something he has lacked for years. His childhood friend appears healthy, optimistic and determined to use the Emily-May Foundation to improve the world.

That optimism exists alongside a growing threat. Kraven the Hunter arrives in New York with an army of well-equipped followers and begins hunting super-powered targets. His search for a worthy opponent draws several established villains back into Peter and Miles’ lives.

Kraven works because he is not motivated by wealth or control. He wants an opponent capable of giving him the death he considers worthy. His Hunters treat New York as a private hunting ground, disrupting the lives of heroes and villains with equal indifference.

The symbiote provides a more personal danger.

Peter initially gains extraordinary strength from the alien organism. Its tendrils give him powerful attacks, increased aggression and abilities capable of controlling groups of enemies. The same power gradually changes how Peter speaks to his friends, responds to threats and defines his responsibilities.

The story uses the symbiote to examine qualities already present within Peter. His anger, grief and frustration do not originate with the suit. The symbiote amplifies emotions he has spent years suppressing.

Miles faces a separate internal conflict. Martin Li remains connected to the death of his father, and Miles’ desire for revenge threatens to undermine the hero he wants to become.

These character arcs allow the two Spider-Men to support each other without making either one feel secondary. Peter has greater experience, but he is not presented as emotionally infallible. Miles is younger, but his compassion and judgement become essential when Peter begins losing control.

Switching between the two heroes is almost instantaneous during open-world exploration. Some story missions require a specific Spider-Man, while crimes and several optional activities can be approached with either character.

The division works because Peter and Miles do not simply use different animations for the same abilities.

Peter gains mechanical Spider-Arms and later develops symbiote powers. Miles retains his bio-electric Venom abilities and expands them with a more volatile blue electrical form.

Each Spider-Man has an individual skill tree alongside a shared collection of traversal, combat and gadget upgrades. The shared skills preserve consistent fundamentals, while character-specific abilities give players a reason to change heroes.

Peter’s symbiote attacks are forceful and destructive. Tendrils can pull enemies together, launch them into the air or strike a wide area. Miles’ electrical abilities are quicker and frequently create opportunities to stun or reposition opponents.

The game also introduces ability cooldowns. Selected powers are assigned to combinations using the shoulder buttons and face buttons, allowing stronger attacks to be used without interrupting combat through a radial menu.

Gadgets use a similar approach. Web Grabber can pull several enemies into one location, while other tools launch targets or create openings for follow-up attacks.

Combat remains based on timing, movement and crowd control. Spider-Sense warns of incoming danger, but the sequel distinguishes attacks that should be dodged from attacks that can be parried.

Parrying gives Peter and Miles a direct defensive response against enemies who cannot be interrupted through ordinary attacks. The mechanic becomes particularly important against heavily armed Hunters and during boss battles.

Dodging remains essential. Unblockable attacks require movement rather than a parry, forcing the player to read the warning and choose the appropriate response.

This distinction prevents defence from becoming automatic. A mistimed decision can leave either Spider-Man exposed even when the warning was recognised.

Enemy groups also contain more specialists. Hunters use shields, ranged weapons, aerial equipment and attacks capable of disrupting abilities. Symbiote enemies introduce greater mobility and aggression later in the game.

The larger encounters can become visually busy, particularly when several warning indicators, gadgets and special attacks appear simultaneously. However, the responsive controls make it possible to move between targets without losing the rhythm of combat.

Finishers remain cinematic without becoming detached from the underlying system. Peter and Miles can also perform team takedowns when another hero or ally is present.

Open-world crimes occasionally bring both Spider-Men together. The uncontrolled hero may arrive during the fight, exchange dialogue and help defeat the remaining enemies before leaving.

These encounters are brief, but they reinforce the idea that Peter and Miles are protecting the same city rather than occupying separate campaigns.

Peter and Miles feel like partners because their differences affect both the story and the way each hero fights

Boss battles show some of the clearest improvement over the previous games.

Major enemies have recognisable attack sequences, multiple phases and defensive requirements that extend beyond repeatedly dodging before landing a short combination.

Parrying, aerial movement and ability management become important during these encounters. Bosses gain new attacks as phases progress, requiring the player to respond to changing patterns.

The battles remain cinematic and include scripted transitions, but the combat between those moments demands more sustained participation than many encounters in the earlier games.

Kraven, the Lizard and Venom each test different parts of the system. Their size, movement and attack patterns create a scale that ordinary encounters cannot reproduce.

The fights occasionally last longer than necessary because several health bars and phases can repeat similar ideas. Even so, the strongest battles provide the spectacle expected from Spider-Man while preserving enough mechanical pressure to remain engaging.

Traversal remains the game’s greatest strength.

Web-swinging carries more speed than before, and the expanded movement options allow momentum to build across long distances. Loop de Loops, corner turns and slingshots give experienced players additional ways to maintain velocity.

Web Wings provide the most significant change. Peter and Miles can glide between buildings, catch wind tunnels and cross open areas where conventional swinging would be less effective.

The wings do not replace web-swinging. They complement it.

A dive can generate speed before the Web Wings are opened. Gliding can then carry that momentum across a river or between low buildings before another web line continues the journey.

Wind tunnels create fast routes across the map, while updrafts allow either Spider-Man to regain height. The combination makes movement through New York almost continuous.

This matters because the expanded New York map adds Brooklyn and Queens, bringing residential districts, wider roads and lower skylines into a world previously centred on Manhattan. Coney Island also provides a distinctive location away from the dense central city.

These areas would have exposed the limitations of a traversal system built only around tall buildings. Web Wings allow the larger map to feel deliberate rather than merely more spacious.

Fast travel is also unusually flexible. Once the relevant district progression has been completed, the player can select almost any point on the map and transition directly into movement near that location.

Loading is effectively hidden behind the transition. The feature is technically impressive, but the basic traversal is enjoyable enough that fast travel rarely feels necessary.

New York remains visually recognisable from the previous games. Manhattan contains many familiar streets, landmarks and districts, but denser traffic, larger crowds and improved lighting give the city more energy.

Ray-traced reflections remain active across the primary PS5 graphics modes. Glass buildings, vehicles and wet surfaces reflect the surrounding city, adding detail during both street-level movement and high-speed traversal.

The expanded map does not give every district equal personality. Some sections of Brooklyn and Queens contain fewer memorable activities than central Manhattan, and repeated crimes eventually reveal familiar patterns.

However, moving through the city remains rewarding even when there is no immediate objective. The combination of speed, animation and player control makes traversal an activity rather than downtime between missions.

Side content varies considerably in purpose and quality.

Some activities continue familiar open-world patterns. Players complete challenges, collect objects, stop crimes and clear enemy bases to increase district progression.

Repeated combat objectives can become predictable. Crimes begin to recycle enemy combinations, while several map activities rely on following markers or completing short mechanical tasks.

The better narrative-focused side missions use their smaller scale to develop Peter, Miles and the communities they protect.

Miles helps students at Brooklyn Visions Academy and supports people within his neighbourhood. Peter reconnects with figures from his past, while several missions give former villains room to exist beyond their previous crimes.

These quieter stories contrast with the central threat. They show why saving New York matters without requiring every problem to involve a supervillain or city-wide disaster.

One optional mission involving Howard is particularly effective because it trusts a simple interaction to carry emotional weight. The game’s supporting playable characters also include Miles’ friend Hailey, whose sequence presents the world through her experience as a deaf character.

Not every activity reaches that standard, but the strongest side stories understand that Spider-Man is defined as much by small acts of responsibility as spectacular battles.

Mary Jane Watson’s playable missions also return.

These sections remain more restricted than the main combat, but the design is less dependent on immediate failure after detection. MJ can use a stun weapon, distract enemies and defend herself when stealth breaks down.

The change gives the missions more flexibility. Detection creates danger rather than automatically forcing a restart.

Her capabilities occasionally stretch credibility beside enemies who challenge two super-powered heroes. However, the revised missions are more active and less frustrating than their equivalents in the first game.

The main story balances personal conflict with blockbuster spectacle. Its opening encounter immediately demonstrates the scale Insomniac can achieve on PS5, while later missions move between emotional conversations, large battles and rapid traversal sequences.

Yuri Lowenthal gives Peter’s symbiote transformation the necessary aggression without losing sight of the exhaustion underneath it. Nadji Jeter gives Miles greater confidence while retaining the vulnerability of someone still processing grief.

Laura Bailey grounds MJ during a story that frequently places her between Peter and the people he is pushing away. Graham Phillips presents Harry as hopeful and sincere, which makes his deteriorating circumstances more painful.

Tony Todd gives Venom an imposing physical and vocal presence. This version of the character is closely connected to the emotional conflict surrounding Peter and Harry rather than existing as a separate monster introduced late in the story.

The narrative is strongest when it focuses on those relationships.

Peter wants to protect everyone and struggles to accept that doing so may not always be possible. Miles must decide whether holding onto hatred is helping him honour his father or preventing him from becoming the person his father wanted him to be.

Harry’s desperation develops from his fear of losing his health, his future and his friendship with Peter. These motivations give the central conflict more emotional substance than a conventional battle over New York.

The final act moves at a much faster pace. The growing symbiote threat transforms the city and introduces new enemies, but it also leaves less room for some characters and ideas to develop naturally.

Venom’s arrival is powerful, yet the story could have benefited from spending longer with the character before escalating towards its conclusion. Several major developments occur close together, reducing the space available for their consequences.

The game still delivers a satisfying continuation of Peter and Miles’ stories. Its ending resolves the immediate conflict while leaving both heroes changed by the experience.

Accessibility is extensive. Players can adjust challenge settings, simplify selected actions, alter chase timing, enable high-contrast visual options and customise several elements of combat and traversal.

The difficulty options can also be adjusted through individual parameters rather than requiring every system to use one preset. Enemy health, enemy damage and stealth awareness can therefore be changed separately.

These options support players with different physical, visual and cognitive requirements while also allowing the wider audience to tailor specific parts of the experience.

The PlayStation 5 version uses DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive trigger effects. Traversal, combat and environmental interactions produce different sensations through the controller, although these features remain optional. Sony also lists 30 accessibility features for the PS5 edition.

The base PS5 version offers Fidelity and Performance graphics modes. Fidelity prioritises image quality and targets 30 frames per second, while Performance targets 60 frames per second with adjustments to image quality. Ray-traced reflections remain part of both principal modes.

Compatible 120 Hz displays allow additional frame-rate behaviour, while VRR can smooth performance on supported HDMI 2.1 screens. The exact result depends on the selected graphics mode, display capability and system settings.

The following details describe documented PS5 features rather than independent GamesLatestNews measurements.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 PS5 Feature	Documented Support
Fidelity Mode	Higher image quality with a 30fps target
Performance Mode	Reduced image quality with a 60fps target
Ray-traced reflections	Supported
120 Hz display mode	Supported on compatible displays
Variable Refresh Rate	Supported on compatible HDMI 2.1 displays
DualSense haptic feedback	Supported
DualSense adaptive triggers	Supported
Game Help	Supported
Local players	1
Accessibility features	30 listed by PlayStation
Reviewed version	PlayStation 5 launch edition

PlayStation lists Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as a single-player PS5 game released on 20 October 2023. The official listing also confirms DualSense vibration and trigger effects, Game Help and PS5 cloud streaming through a Premium subscription.

The graphics modes both preserve the game’s defining visual feature. New York contains reflective glass, moving traffic, crowds, detailed interiors and rapid transitions between street level and the skyline.

Performance Mode is the most natural fit for the speed of traversal and combat. The 60fps target improves responsiveness when swinging between buildings, parrying attacks and changing direction during crowded encounters.

Fidelity Mode offers a sharper presentation but sacrifices the fluidity that complements the movement system. Players using a compatible 120 Hz and VRR display have additional flexibility between image quality and performance.

Insomniac later enhanced the game for PS5 Pro, but those improvements were not part of the original 2023 review. The launch assessment remains based on the standard PlayStation 5 edition.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 does not transform every part of Insomniac’s established formula. Open-world activities still become repetitive, some side content feels more substantial than others and the final act moves too quickly through several important developments.

Its improvements nevertheless reach almost every system that matters.

Web Wings make the expanded city enjoyable to cross. Peter and Miles offer meaningfully different abilities. Parrying and stronger boss design add new demands to combat, while the story gives both heroes personal conflicts that connect directly to the villains they face.

The technical presentation supports those ambitions. Rapid character switching, near-instant fast travel, ray-traced reflections and consistently impressive traversal demonstrate a game designed specifically for PS5 rather than held back by an earlier console generation.

Most importantly, the sequel understands why controlling Spider-Man remains appealing after dozens of missions. Movement provides freedom, combat rewards improvisation and the quieter stories remind players that heroism is not measured only by the size of the enemy.

The repetitive activities and compressed final act stop the adventure from being faultless. They do little to undermine a superhero game that improves upon its predecessors while preserving what made them successful.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 brings Peter Parker and Miles Morales together in a sequel that is faster, broader and more mechanically confident. Its original 9.5/10 rating reflects an exceptional PS5 experience and one of the strongest superhero games Insomniac has produced.

Marvel’s Sider-Man 2 Quick Facts

Developer

Insomniac Games

Publisher

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Reviewed platform

PlayStation 5

Release Date

20 October 2023

Genre

Open-world action-adventure

Game Modes

Single-player

Graphics modes

Fidelity and Performance

Frame-rate targets

30fps and 60fps

Ray tracing

Supported

DualSense features

Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers