Spider-Man 2 (2017 PS4 Video Game)

Spider-Man 2 is a 2017 action-adventure video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4, serving as a sequel to the highly-critical and successful Spider-Man video game that game out two years prior. The game went into development in late 2015, right after the first game sold over 40 million copies within the first two weeks of release and got mostly positive reviews, in which Insomniac Games decided to make a sequel to continue on the journeys of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The game's initial release date to PlayStation 4 consoles in October 26, 2017.

Rating
T (Teens) for Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Violence, & Sexual Reference

Gameplay Dynamics/Features

 * 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 still 60, but Insomniac Games heard gamers' complaints on how leveling up was a little too casual; Insomniac has made it so that it is harder to level up and takes skill to do so, completing certain objectives, some challenging and some just regular objectives
 * 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 Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Raft, Ryker's Island, and Queens all playable in, wholesomely expanding from the last game; there are more interiors the player can enter (which will be mentioned later in this list)
 * There are a total of 35 (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 four (vanilla base) game suits in the game
 * There is a separate skill tree for Miles and unique abilities as well; Miles can camouflage himself, perform venom's touch, shock people, and is very competitive in stealth, but his spider sense is slower and weaker than Spider-Man's, making it more of a challenge to fight with; he also has his own gadget abilities unique from Spider-Man's
 * Felicia has three (vanilla base) game suit 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)
 * 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)
 * In separate story DLC and in the endgame content, Black Cat is playable. Black Cat is very agile and very much similar to Catwoman in the Batman: Arkham video game franchise. In the DLC, players have the option to roam the world as Black Cat.
 * 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

HLTB
Main Story (alone): 31 hours

Main Story (plus a few extra activities): 40 hours

100% Completion: 58 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 missions by himself; playable after completion of story and holds a couple of unique, individual challenges and side missions)
 * Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Amy Johnston; playable in certain missions that require both her and Spider-Man; also playable in two unique main story missions by herself; playable after completion of story and holds a couple of unique, individual side missions)
 * Eddie Brock/Venom (Benjamin Diskin; playable in separate story DLC)
 * Norman Osborn (Mark Rolston; playable in four unique story missions)

Protagonists

 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Yuri Lowenthal)
 * Miles Morales/Kid Arachnid (Nadji Jeter)
 * Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Amy Johnston)

Main Story Antagonists

 * Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
 * Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven The Hunter
 * Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin
 * Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon
 * Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard
 * Quentin Beck/Mysterio
 * Mark Raxton/Molten Man
 * Aleskei Sytesevich/Rhino
 * Aaron Davis/Prowler

Side Story Antagonists

 * Flint Marko/Sandman
 * Tony Masters/Taskmaster
 * Alex Hayden/Agent X
 * Abe Jenkins/Beetle
 * Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer
 * James Sanders/Speed Demon
 * Thomas Fireheart/Puma
 * Mendel Stromm
 * Frederick Myers/Boomerang
 * Doppelganger
 * Jonathan Ohnn/Spot
 * Max Dillon/Electro
 * Batroc The Leaper (Kid Arachnid)
 * Anaconda (Kid Arachnid)
 * Arcade (Black Cat)
 * Hammerhead (Black Cat)

Supporting Characters

 * Mary Jane Watson
 * Eddie Brock
 * Harry Osborn
 * Captain Yuri Watanabe
 * Dr. Morgan Michaels
 * Donald Menken
 * Roderick Kingsley 
 * Mayor J. Jonah Jameson
 * Dr. Miles Warren

Synopsis
Just a year after the Devil's Breath incident that left New York scarred and not able to trust Mayor Osborn, Peter has spent his year working at his former college campus under the brilliant Miles Warren and training Miles Morales to become a superhero, with Miles so eager to do more with his career as a new Wall-Crawler, looking up to Peter as a mentor figure. After an attack on Osborn with the Lizard trying to steal the Devil's Breath to cure himself, Peter finds out about Norman Osborn's darkest secrets, including a prototype suit and the black symbiote, in which he bonds with, making him ten times stronger, but also ten times more aggressive. Peter enjoys the use of the symbiote to where it concerns those close to him such as Mary Jane, Miles, Eddie Brock, Yuri, and Harry, who returns from Europe all clean; the suit changes him. Norman's mistakes result into him losing his position at Oscorp and going mentally insane, spewing the persona of the Green Goblin, who Spider-Man uses the symbiote to fight. As the Kingpin of Crime returns to claim the city and Osborn's legacy hurting the city, this fight determines both the internal war Peter has with the symbiote and the external war he has waged against Osborn. Norman pushes Peter to his limits by attacking his heart and Peter slowly becomes a monster.

Story Events (Leading up to the ending)

 * 1) Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid, the superhero identity of Miles, are infiltrating a group of low-end thugs robbing a stock market exchange in Queens. Miles, although eager, manages to stay calm (Miles is wearing his classic suit from the comic books with a hoodie over his upper body and Air Jordans which help him maintain balance on buildings better). Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid shut down the operation, return the stolen materials, and confront the leader behind the operation; a shady fashion designer known as Roderick Kingsley. Kingsley is arrested per Spider-Man and his partner; Yuri arrests Kingsley, telling him there is a special place for him on Ryker's Island (as Kingsley has been running these shady business dealings for a year). Yuri thanks the two Spider-Men and the two swing away and Peter invites Miles over for dinner at his apartment; Peter proposes to make Miles new web shooters and Miles impresses Peter, telling Peter that he has already had a plan layout on making new ones for himself. Peter is very proud of Miles and after dinner, they call it a day.
 * 2) Peter goes to work at Empire State University; for the past year, he has been working for a brilliant biochemist known as Miles Warren, who is proved to be brilliant and very confident in his work, sometimes even too confident. Peter works as an assistant and although he does enjoy working for Warren, he has always told himself that this job is only temporary, as he still wants to work in a job where he can make a difference in the city (such as Octavius Industries until Otto went rogue). Peter respects Warren, but the latter does not seem to give back. Peter decides to visit MJ at the Daily Bugle; Peter reunites with Jameson after years of not working at the Bugle. Jameson admits to missing Peter. Peter meets Eddie Brock, an arrogant and self-absorbing staff photographer who agrees that Spider-Man is a menace. Brock is competing with Mary Jane for a director's position. Eddie is determined to get that position. Peter invites Mary Jane to lunch at Stan's Cafe and the two catch up; Peter admits Dr. Warren does not seem very fond and makes him kind of miss Otto, but at least one thing has gone great; Miles is training to be a superhero and aspires to be the greatest; MJ tells Peter that her job is going great and she knows she will be able to beat Brock. Peter and MJ then bring up the topic of Norman; for the past year, Norman has spent his time away from the public and the media, especially the Bugle, who are now doning him the name of the one responsible for the chaos caused a year ago with Otto, Li, the Sinister Six, and Devil's Breath. Norman is only CEO of Oscorp and no longer Mayor because of all the dirt exposed on him from last year. Norman gets away clean, but the city hates one other person even more; Morgan Michaels, who himself even feels guilty about the creation of the virus.
 * 3) The NYPD, with the massive support of Yuri, has implemented new security systems across Manhattan and Queens. Spider-Man goes around stopping crime on both islands and stops a house robbery in a wealthy Queens neighborhood. Spider-Man goes to save the house victims and notices something strange; all these crimes him and Yuri have been chasing across both islands have at least one similar purple, fish-bowl masked criminals; Spider-Man then examines the house for what this could mean and there is an invitation from none other than Mysterio, aka Quentin Beck, illusionist and magician who is a longtime foe of Spider-Man's. Spider-Man informs Yuri and Spider-Man ensures her that Mysterio is a joke compared to the other supervillains he has fought.
 * 4) Spider-Man and Yuri chase down leads on where Mysterio actually is. Spider-Man gets a call from Miles, who hears that Mysterio is back. Miles asks Peter if he needs help taking down Mysterio. Peter ensures Miles he has it under control, but asks Miles how work at FEAST is. Miles reminds Peter that FEAST is done remodeling and all the homeless have individual rooms to sleep in and Miles has been working hard, especially now that his mother is on a year-long business trip and he is staying with his uncle Aaron Davis, but Michaels, who is the director of FEAST after May's death and Li's "absence", is always depressed because of the guilt he feels from Devil's Breath. Peter tells Miles to tell Michaels that if he ever needs someone to talk to, contact Peter because Peter has experience with the "guilt tripping". Spider-Man goes around Queens looking for Mysterio's culprits and end up finding out Mysterio has a show awaiting at the Statue of Liberty for him.
 * 5) After a long day of boring lecture and Warren seemingly over-the-top of his lecture, Peter is excited to leave work, but before Peter goes; Warren says that he may seem very arrogant, but Warren just admits he is so deep into his biochemist research. Warren, however, does not tell Peter what that is, as Peter is only his assistant making $20 an hour. Peter suits up for the night's big show at the Statue of Liberty; Peter calls Mary Jane, who prepares a headline for the rise and fall of Mysterio. Spider-Man goes to the Statue of Liberty with the help of a boat driven by one of his biggest fans. Mysterio forces Spider-Man to play hide-and-seek on the island, with multiple illusion brains surrounding statue. Spider-Man must find Mysterio and goes into the interior, finds Mysterio, and has a short fight with Mysterio, who has still not improved his game the past decade he has known Spider-Man. During the fight, Mysterio reveals he watched Spider-Man fight the Sinister Six last year and was impressed. Mysterio is put behind bars by Yuri, claiming he is sharing a cell with Roderick Kingsley. Spider-Man goes to Eddie's Pizza in Greenwich to go get a pizza and meets Black Cat there, who he has not seen since the Maggia's return to New York (in the previous game's DLC). Felicia does not flirt with Spider-Man, showing how much she has changed. Felicia instead invites Spider-Man to a little tip she got about Norman; the FBI have sent agents to go investigate Norman, as they have noticed his penthouse has many strange items and secrets in it, including a secret room. Spider-Man remembers Mary Jane snuck into Norman's penthouse to go find more about Devil's Breath last year. Spider-Man and Black Cat agree to meet the next night to go investigate.
 * 6) Peter goes over to MJ's apartment and MJ is working on the new cover on the FBI investigating Norman. She would talk to Norman herself, but Norman has never been fond of her existence. Peter hides the fact that he is working with Felicia on this case; MJ has already stated multiple times that she does not like Felicia since she has betrayed Peter on multiple occasions. Peter manages to convince MJ that Felicia will be a big help. MJ reluctantly agrees and Peter suits up and meets Black Cat at Norman's penthouse. While him and Black Cat must sneak in without taking out any of Norman's associates, Peter gets a surprising phone call from Harry, who has returned from Europe after all this time. Peter keeps his excitement in and finds out Harry is waiting for him and MJ at Battery Park. Spider-Man and Black Cat make their way to Norman's secret room and after Norman leaves the penthouse in anger (due to the FBI investigating him), the television flashes an eerie warning for all New York residents to stay in their homes, as the Lizard, aka Dr. Curt Connors, Peter's old college professor, is on the loose from the Queens Mental Asylum. Spider-Man is surprised to hear this and Black Cat goes silent. Spider-Man enters the room and sees the map of the Devil's Breath, a green prototype suit, and a giant metal container. Spider-Man steps on a platform, which opens the metal container and just for a second, he sees an entity in water covered with a black symbiote, an alien substance which gets crazy when Spider-Man comes near. Everything happens in a flash when the Lizard pops out, steals the last remaining vile of Devil's Breath and the metal container with the unknown entity closes. Spider-Man hears the haunting voice of Dr. Connors. Spider-Man is choked by the Lizard's tail, but manages to escape. Spider-Man tries to find the Lizard, but fails and tries to contact Felicia to see where she went, but fails.
 * 7) Peter meets with MJ at Battery Park; she was contacted by Harry too. Peter, Harry, and MJ all bond like the good old days and catch up; they go to dinner and Peter and Harry begin discussing about the business they never started since Harry had to leave for Europe (claiming he was cured); Peter mentions his current job in Warren's class, but admits he misses working for Otto, even after everything that went down. Harry feels for Peter and tells him he should really think about that business.
 * 8) Spider-Man contacts Felicia, who agrees to meet him at the Brooklyn Bridge (since he loves the view). The two decide to investigate on how Connors got out from the Queens Mental Asylum. Spider-Man calls upon Yuri, who agrees to help him by distracting the NYPD officers at her precinct so that he can research the files on Connors's arrest five years ago (Peter has flashbacks of Connors; Connors was and possibly still is one of the most influential figures in Peter's life). Spider-Man finds out (through several audio tapes) that Connors saw what the Devil's Breath did to Martin Li. Connors is crazy enough to believe it could cure him. But why does Norman have the last remaining vile of the bioweapon in his chamber? Spider-Man finds himself, along with Black Cat, trying to escape from the precinct, who detect intruders into their databases.
 * 9) After a long and boring day at work at Warren's, Peter immediately heads off to the asylum in Queens to investigate the damages the Lizard has bestowed upon the hospital. Spider-Man reunites with Dr. Michaels, who he is more than happy to see. Michaels tries to apologize to Spider-Man about the Devil's Breath since he was the creator of the virus, but Spider-Man ensures Michaels need not worry. Michaels is at the asylum because he, now being the director of FEAST, is helping access the damages and donate to the asylum's workers. Michaels also had previous history with Connors; Connors went to the same medical school as Michaels did. Michaels tours Spider-Man on all the damages and Spider-Man shows Michaels the audio files he discovered from breaking into the NYPD precinct back in Manhattan. Spider-Man draws the conclusion that Connors has changed extensively after injecting the cross species serum all those years ago; he believes Norman and Devil's Breath; he believes the virus can cure his missing arm and win him his son and wife back. Michaels insists that Spider-Man's first action should be securing Devil's Breath... and destroying it once and for all...
 * 10) Norman has a meeting in which the Oscorp Board of Officials (OBO) is questioning Norman on why Spider-Man and the Lizard was in his penthouse the other night and why the Devil's Breath still exists. Norman dodges factual evidence of the Devil's Breath's existence with the corrupt system questioning him, a CEO and former Mayor. Even Donald Menken, Norman's life-long friend and assistant, is questioning Norman. Meanwhile, Peter is at his apartment and on the phone with Miles, who calls and insists Peter call him up anytime if he needs Miles on a mission; Miles goes as far as saying he does not mind ditching school to go fight as Kid Arachnid. Peter discourages this, but he asks Miles a huge favor; using his tracking device to hack into all the systems; from Financial District all the way down toe East Harlem in Manhattan and going as far as the surveillance systems in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Peter goes out as Spider-Man while Miles guides him through all the evidence and trails he catches from the Lizard; the two are both smart enough to know that Miles cannot use the surveillance to spy on innocent people because that would be wrong. After the guide, Spider-Man eventually enters the outer terrain of a sewer system near a cathedral in Brooklyn. Spider-Man does not get to tread far, as the Lizard pops out and the two have a mini encounter; the Lizard remembers Spider-Man and mutters, "Haven't you ruined enough lives?" Spider-Man feels this and tells the Lizard he can help him. Spider-Man manages to grab the Devil's Breath after distracting the Lizard. Lizard gets away once more on Spider-Man's annoyance and disappointment, but Spider-Man calls Michaels to ensure the next plan of action; Michaels suggests Spider-Man take the virus barrier from Michaels's old lab. Michaels trusts Spider-Man enough to go into Michaels's house in Greenwich. Michaels tells Spider-Man to put on a hazmat mask. Spider-Man finds a hazmat mask; the one resistant to Devil's Breath in Michaels's house and goes offshore about twenty miles north of Staten Island; Spider-Man destroys the contents of Devil's Breath. That is it; the virus is gone forever. Spider-Man thanks Michaels for his help and reveals he is there to talk if Michaels needs help with his depression from last year (in Michaels's house were journals of how his guilt of Devil's Breath has changed his life forever).
 * 11) Peter decides to visit MJ at the Bugle to update her; Connors is still out there, but he managed to destroy the Devil's Breath (off-mission; Peter called Black Cat and Yuri as well to confirm with them that the virus is gone). MJ sees that Peter is very determined to get Connors back; maybe not even back to the asylum, but he wants to revert Connors back and get him the true help he needs for his mental and physical health. MJ is currently competing against Eddie on the Lizard story, with Eddie in the lead; Peter encourages MJ that she can outsmart Eddie for that director's position. MJ reminds Peter about that business him and Harry always wanted to start up. Peter tells MJ that he really has been thinking about it and that this business could change his life (off-mission, Peter and Harry have been talking about how their business should be revolved around preserving Manhattan's environmental sanctions). MJ encourages Peter to do so especially if he is not happy at Warren's.
 * 12) Norman has a flashback of Emily, his wife, who died from the genetic disease. Norman looks back at his last day with Emily and has a flashback of him firing Otto from Oscorp even after their life-long friendship. Norman's unethical experiments (which is the reason Otto started Octavius Industries) included of experimenting on Emily to find the best cure possible for the genetic disease; that included of tasking Dr. Morgan Michaels in creating Devil's Breath. Norman flashes out of his flashback and sees Harry come home and just sit on the couch, staring at the wall. Norman smiles. However, after his flashbacks and how angry he is that Spider-Man has destroyed the Devil's Breath; Norman finds out that the OBO has discovered Norman's secret lab. Norman tries to verbally defend himself and signals for Harry to exit the mansion (which is strange). Top members including the likes of Mark Raxton, Liz Allen, Conrad Marcus, and Rajit Ratha look into the lab; the electric and venom-touch spiders (the ones that bit Miles), files of the Devil's Breath, and the shady tank. Norman refuses to give the password to the tank and when the Board takes away all of his belongings and threatens to fire him, Norman gets violent and punches Marcus right in the jaw. Ratha dismisses this entire argument and officially declares Norman is on authorized and permanent suspension from Oscorp. Norman has doubts and voices in his head (specifically Emily's) telling him that he is a failure and that Otto was right about him. The CEO title is given to Menken and Ratha, being very arrogant and the only board member brave enough to stand up to Norman's leadership persona, tells Norman to enjoy his life of failure and that the Board is doing not only Manhattan, but the entirety of New York a favor by firing him.
 * 13) Peter, Mary Jane, and Miles are at MJ's apartment for dinner. After a conversation ensues about Connors, the three turn the television on to the Bugle news; Norman has been signed for official leave on Oscorp; Norman has been disgracefully discharged from the company. The three are surprised and Peter immediately calls Harry, after telling Miles who Harry is. Harry was just coming over and they ask if he is alright. Harry is honest; he says Norman deserves it after all Norman has done last year. Harry joins them for dinner and insists they celebrate that his terrible father is miserable. Peter and Mary Jane look at each other in shock, but join in along with Miles, who introduces himself to Harry as Peter's "little brother". After the dinner, Harry crashes on MJ's couch and MJ is fine with it. Peter and Miles both suit up and realize that now that Norman is fired and the city is at least a bit more secure, the two need to go around New York; Manhatt