Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023 PS5 Video Game)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a 2023 action-adventure video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5, serving as a sequel to the highly successful Marvel's Spider-Man in 2018. This game takes place just a couple months after Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. This game went into development in September 2020 and releases on PlayStation consoles on September 3, 2023.

Rating
M (Mature) for Blood & Gore, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Intense Violence, & Sexual Reference

The reason the game is rated M is because of the last two story DLCs. The base game's tone (as well as the first three story DLCs) is similar to that of the first game, but it pushes the T rating (which the game would have originally been) due to the story involving the black symbiote and Green Goblin. However, Venom and Carnage are two very complex and dark characters to the point the developers decided to give the game an M rating.

Gameplay Dynamics

 * The immersive combat system is partially inspired by the Batman: Arkham video games, mixing those dodge and attack elements with web gadgets, parkour, swinging, and great variety in combat, as the combat is what Spider-Man fights like in the comic books. There are two times more web gadgets to unlock, as the skill tree has added two more categories and makes the combat even more engaging than ever.
 * The maximum level cap is 75 for Peter Parker / Spider-Man and 35 for Miles Morales.
 * Since the last game tried it's best to capture real-life Manhattan, Insomniac has finally hit it out of the park; the map of Manhattan is entirely accurate, according to some geologists from Manhattan. Insomniac has also made Brooklyn, the Statue of Liberty, the Raft, Ryker's Island, and Queens all playable in. There are also more interiors the player can enter (which will be mentioned later in this list).
 * There are a total of 65 (vanilla base) game suits in this game, which players can unlock by gathering tokens, completing crimes, doing side missions, and many other activities. There are more tokens to be unlocked and the challenge in unlocking them makes unlocking suits and abilities very worthwhile.
 * Miles has 25 (vanilla base) game suits in the game.
 * This game continues on the aspect of exploring not just Spider-Man's life, but also that of Peter Parker's, who is now working at Empire State University; the player can go to the Empire State University, the Daily Bugle (to visit Mary Jane), Peter's apartment, as well as change into Peter Parker on the streets whenever necessary (some main missions and side missions require Peter's abilities). As Miles, the player can also visit his dorm room at Brooklyn Visions Academy and his mom's apartment in Harlem.
 * Although Peter is front and center in this game, Miles also plays a role as the secondary protagonist of the game.
 * Insomniac Games has made it so that players can customize their own unique suit and can mash abilities from other suits and add any color schemes, eye-lids, and in-game advantages they want. This ability, however, does not unlock until the player hits level 20.
 * There is actually endgame content that come after the player beats the story (certain side missions activate after the player beats the game and challenges pop up in the map to be completed).
 * There are fighting/stealth arenas players can participate in and play to compete for worldwide leaderboards, complete challenges (which lead into obtaining certain suits); arenas/maps are locations from the actual game's storyline.
 * With the symbiote playing a major role in this game, all of Peter's suits will have a symbiote variation attached from the first half of Act 1 (when Peter first bonds with the symbiote) all the way through the end of Act 2.
 * The Friendly Neighborhood App returns, with the player being able to use it as Miles Morales.
 * Since Brooklyn and Queens have several small buildings and infrastructure, there are new web mechanics and traversal techniques to play along with this.

How Long To Beat (HLTB)
Main Story (alone): 23 hours

Main Story + Extras: 34 hours

100% Completion: 46 hours

Playable Characters

 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Yuri Lowenthal)


 * Miles Morales/Kid Arachnid (Nadji Jeter; playable in certain missions that require both him and Spider-Man; also playable in several unique main story and side story missions by himself; playable after completion of story and holds a couple of unique, individual challenges and side missions; playable in separate story DLC)


 * Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (Mark Rolston; playable in five unique story missions)


 * Eddie Brock/Venom (Benjamin Diskin; playable in separate story DLC)

Protagonists

 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Yuri Lowenthal)
 * Miles Morales/Kid Arachnid (Nadji Jeter)

Main Story Antagonists

 * Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
 * Harry Osborn/Anti-Venom
 * Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin
 * Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven the Hunter
 * Dr. Curt Connors/Lizard
 * Aaron Davis/Prowler
 * Mark Raxton/Molten Man
 * Quentin Beck/Mysterio
 * Flint Marko/Sandman

Side Story Antagonists

 * Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man; endgame side villain)
 * Janice Lincoln / Beetle II (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man)
 * Alex O'Hirn/R.H.I.N.O. (joint side mission)
 * Adrian Toomes/Vulture (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man)
 * John Jameson/Man-Wolf (for Peter Parker/Spider-Man)
 * Hobie Brown (for Miles Morales; endgame side villain)
 * Mendel Stromm (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man; endgame side villain)
 * Tony Masters/Taskmaster (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man)
 * Baron Zemo (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man)
 * Fifth Avenue Phantom (for Miles Morales)
 * Spot (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man)
 * Morris Bench/Hydro-Man (for Peter Parker / Spider-Man)

Supporting Characters

 * Mary Jane Watson
 * Captain Jean DeWolffe
 * Eddie Brock
 * Dr. Morgan Michaels
 * Councilwoman Rio Morales
 * Gwen Stacy
 * Ganke Lee
 * Gloria Grant
 * Danika Hart
 * J. Jonah Jameson
 * Roderick Kingsley
 * Liz Allen
 * Donald Menken

Main DLC Antagonists

 * Yuri Watanabe/Wraith
 * White Dragon
 * Dr. Morgan Michaels/Morbius
 * Roderick Kingsley/Hobgoblin
 * Jason Macdenale/Jack O'Lantern
 * Lefty Donovan
 * Eddie Brock/Venom
 * Cletus Kasady/Carnage

Other DLC Antagonists

 * Bloodthirst
 * Jackson Weele/Big Wheel
 * Ana Kravinoff
 * Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino
 * Modi Thorson

Synopsis
The Osborn Legacy hovers over all of New York and curses the city. An alien symbiote attaches itself to Peter, but it changes Peter's psychological and mental state for the worst. As the war against Osborn is waged and the city slowly turns its back on Spider-Man, the conspiracy drives on.

Act 1
It has been just a month after Simon Krieger and Roxxon were exposed by Aaron Davis. Peter Parker is back in New York. He has a flashback of him and Harry in high school. Cut to present day, Peter is in his apartment, looking at a picture of him, Harry, and MJ. Peter and MJ are sharing their memories and kiss one another. Peter hears a crime going on in the radio. Some of the Underground are still out on the loose. After the death of Phin Mason, the Underground have taken to robbing some of Tony Stark's technology. Peter and Miles team up to take down these criminals. The first 25% of Act 1 consists of Peter and Miles tracking down the remaining Underground. Meanwhile, Peter is working on moving all of his remaining stuff to May's house in Queens. Peter has also taken a job as a Professor's Assistant as Empire State University. Since Peter was temporarily working at the Daily Bugle again for a while, he has reunited with his old friend, Eddie Brock. Show Peter's struggle with moving back into May's house and still feeling that a part of him is missing after May's death. On Miles's side of the spectrum, Miles is still working at FEAST, which Gloria is now leading as the new Operations Manager after May's death. Miles is back at Brooklyn Visions in Brooklyn (which is explorable for both Spider-Men) and is living in a dorm with Ganke. Miles has also started seeing Gwen Stacy, a girl that goes to his school. Things kick off awkward for them, but they eventually start hanging out. All the while of Peter and Miles's personal lives being presented and their hunt for the remaining Underground being presented, Norman has released Harry from this tank. The black symbiote, which is revealed to have been from space and was discovered by Oscorp half a decade ago, rejects Harry because of his disease. There would be some flashback missions of Norman, Harry, and Emily in their past life as a happy family. While Norman and Harry struggle with the idea of the symbiote, Dr. Connors is in the background regretting his work for Oscorp.

Peter and Miles finally take down the remaining Underground and even go as far as dismantling their entire hideout in Fisk Tower. Miles misses Phin, but is happy that she died sacrificing her life to save Harlem. Jameson jumps on the Spidey hate train even after the remaining Underground are taken out and all taken under custody to the Raft. After all of this, Spider-Man is introduced to Jean DeWolffe, the new Captain of NYPD. DeWolffe is replacing Yuri after her "murders". DeWolffe thanks both Spider-Men for their work on dismantling the remaining Underground. Their victory is short-lived, however, as two infamous Spider-Man villains have managed to break out of Ryker's Island; Mysterio and Sandman. The next 25% of Act 1 consists of Peter trying to send Mysterio and Sandman back to Ryker's. However, Mysterio has formed his own gang known as the Illusionists and Sandman is really good at hiding. Meanwhile, Norman can obviously see the failure of the symbiote, which angers him. Norman sets up a raid on Oscorp and blackmails Mysterio and Sandman to be a part of this raid; Norman intends on using the symbiote on Spider-Man to see what happens. Spider-Man goes to Oscorp Tower, where the Illusionists have basically taken over. Spider-Man encounters Sandman and Mysterio individually and manages to ground Sandman temporarily, but has a hard time finding Mysterio. Spider-Man eventually reaches Norman's office and finds files on Harry's disease. While he fights multiple Mysterios, Norman releases the symbiote and the symbiote attaches itself to Peter. The symbiote slowly works its way up Spider-Man's body and Mysterio and Sandman manage to escape. An angry Peter swings home to Queens. You can see Peter getting angrier as the symbiote works its way up his body. Peter doesn't even notice this. When Peter gets home, he goes to bed. The symbiote feeds off of his emotions and the player gets a chance to see the day Uncle Ben died, the day Aunt May died, and voices in Peter's head implying that he is worried about Harry. Peter wakes up in a new black suit. He is confused, but swings in it and feels extremely good. Peter sees a woman being cornered by a group of street thugs. The thugs are concerned about Spider-Man's new look, but Spider-Man gives them a new one and beats them to an absolute pulp. The woman thanks Spider-Man, but he doesn't reply. Spider-Man looks at himself and remembers getting the symbiote that night of the Oscorp raid.

The next 25% of Act 1 is Spider-Man testing out his new abilities and new strength. Miles catches onto Peter's new look, as well as Jameson, MJ, Eddie, DeWolffe, and the rest of New York. Jameson, as always, is on the Spidey Hate Train. Meanwhile, Norman is in the shadows watching Spider-Man with the symbiote and seeing that Harry is not well, Norman wants it back. The symbiote rejects Harry because of his disease, but bonded well with Spider-Man because Spider-Man does not have a disease. Norman tries phoning Connors and after a couple tries, Connors answers. Connors and Norman talk about how they need to work on getting the symbiote off Spider-Man. In the meantime, Norman would give Harry Oscorp-funded antibiotics to help with the disease. Harry is weak. We then find out that Connors lost his wife and son during the Devil's Breath crisis. Spider-Man starts using his abilities to dismantle the Illusionists. Peter and Miles work together occasionally, but we can see that Peter doesn't even need Miles's help due to how powerful the symbiote is. Meanwhile, Norman has his door knocked on after a year of hiding. Meanwhile, another Norman mission is showcased to show his past life with Harry and Emily. Connors calls Norman and tells him that he is out. Norman thinks this cannot get any worse, but Liz Allen, Mark Raxton, and Donald Menken (the former two being husband and wife; all three of them being high-ranking Oscorp executives) storm into Norman's place and tells Norman that they got an anonymous tip confirming Norman's suspicious activities. Norman already knows that Connors is behind this. The three executives search Norman's place and find Harry. The three take Harry from Norman and Norman becomes hysteric. Norman begs the three to just leave him alone, but they said they cannot. "The boy will be getting treatment where he deserves it", according to Menken. Norman tells Menken that Harry will die without him. The three do not say anything and take Harry away. Norman yells and starts flipping things over in his mansion. Norman goes inside his lab and gains access to GR-35 (codenamed "Green Prototype Suit".) Norman takes a drink of the green serum inside the GR-35 point. Norman's eyes become completely green. Norman puts on a green prototype suit and grabs some explosives and gets his glider ready...

Peter is thinking more about that night at Oscorp. Norman hasn't been seen in the public eye for so long and Harry is nowhere to be found. The last bits of Act 1 involves Peter looking through Oscorp archives, the Osborn Mansion, and several other important locations related to Oscorp / Osborn that could allow him to find out more about Harry. Peter eventually finds out all about Harry, the symbiote, Harry's container, and the situation between the executives and Norman. Peter is worried for Harry, but the symbiote also feeds off his anger. Spider-Man uses some Oscorp databases hidden around the city (Manhattan and a couple of other sites in Queens) to find out where Harry is. This eventually leads to the remaining Illusionists catching onto Spider-Man and trying to stop him, only to fail. Peter eventually finds out that Donald Menken has Harry and is about to send him to Ravencroft Institute, which is basically a prison AND an insane asylum.