A Critique of Marvel's Spider-Man 2: Good, but NOT a Masterpiece

Sorry this took so long, but I really worked hard on this one. Hope it shows. There's plenty more I should have put in as well, but I either forgot about it or didn't have time to include. Like how I didn't mention that the Ubisoft cell towers were removed (thank god!). Or how Miles' invisibility power is completely irrelevant. But I had to release the video eventually, and I'm still proud of how it turned out. But enough about me: what did YOU think about Spider-Man 2? Anything you majorly disagree with me on?

The symbiote gradually using and twisting May’s words to manipulate Peter is a fantastic idea, wow. Two grieving brothers falling victim to a false extension of their mother figures is a wonderful twist on the usual post-TAS “symbiote make me mad” thing. There’s so much nuance there for the picking! It’s a shame that it’s only used for Harry and still ends with Harry not even having agency within the suit. Pain

I think the arms wouldn't have been so bad if the story had at least made a token effort to explain them. Like, have Peter mention that he built the arms out of some leftover Octavius tech that the police hadn't confiscated. Have him bemoan that he tried to sell them, but no company wanted to touch it because of the tech's association with Otto. Even if it hadn't been an airtight explanation, it at least would've been something so that broke ass Peter Parker didn't just make some super-advanced robot arms out of nothing like it is in the game.

Giving Miles the symbiote is such a simple idea, but it has so much potential. The younger and less experienced Spider-Man, who's still angry about his father's death, and the older Spider-Man, who has gone through similar events and wants to help him, while Miles tries pushing him away would be such a fresh premise for a symbiote story.

"A good thing can have bad aspects." Completely agree. In this world, people either blatantly hate on something or call it the best thing of all time. Im glad you called it a good game while acknowledging flaws it had, even if I didn’t necessarily agree with all of them.

I'm really glad you touched on the whole MJ face situation. Of course it's awful her model was harassed over it, but that doesn't make her looking incredibly odd an invalid complaint. Especially when you look at pics of her model irl (even after the accident) who looks much better

Really wish we got more web based abilities for Peter instead of the dumb iron arms. Also imagine a web shield parry like web of shadows?

Honestly I think everyone's faces look really weird in this game. Not necessarily the structure of the face, but the way it moves. Their mouths seem to open really wide, and its just really offputting.

1:39:08 There's something that always confused me, why was Norman creating those spiders in the first game? Didn't he notice one was missing?

I feel like if Silk is in the next game, they will give her web-based attacks for her combat just like Peter in Shattered Dimensions

I’m so glad you brought up Peter’s and Miles’ personality issues. Peter having a temper and having very clear flaws makes him INTERESTING. Of course he’d be frustrated and angry at the world sometimes with all the shit he has to deal with as Spider-Man, and having to constantly make the right decision when it hurts him in the end. It actively makes him less relatable, because nobody is a kissass goody two shoes. And Miles, Miles in ITSV works so well because he’s a good kid, but he’s also a rebel. He wants to do his own thing, he breaks the law with graffiti, he can be disrespectful, he acts like he’s grown but he’s still just a kid. Insomniac gives none of that depth to either of them

I thought I was over the Peter face change, but then I saw flashback high school Peter and realized I'm still in the "face your greatest fears"-hole

Venom riding a bicycle makes this a 10/10 game of the year Edit: I would like to retract my statement because I have just witnessed ,,that,, miles suit

Man, if MJ can go Doom Eternal on entire bases and raiding parties of hunters and Symbiotes after just a few training sessions with Silver Sable and wielding just a glorified taser, imagine the kind of shit she could do after 24 hours of training with Shang Chi and a handgun. She'd be folding Goku like an omelette

I can’t stand insomniac Peter for the reasons you stated, thought I was going mad seeing everyone say he’s the best. Insomniac turned up the goody two shoes-ness to 11 with him. No backbone whatsoever, the kind of guy who’d apologise if he caught MJ cheating on him.

harry having “the depth of a single drop of water” is definitely a new insult 😂

Hrm, I don't mind the Spider-Arms in concept. My only issue with them is them is the fact they're nanotech that just materializes out of nowhere. If they came from the suit like how it works with the round bit on the back of the Iron Spider suit, I would like it more. But it feels like Insomniac didn't WANT to design their suit to accommodate the arms so they just said "Eh screw it, nanotech!" I have the exact same problem with the web-wings. I LOVE Spider-Man designs with web-wings like the original design, and wish they were more common... But in this game they're a gameplay mechanic that only appears WHEN you're using them. I'd much rather they be a part of the actual main suit's design.

Your criticisms in the story were very accurate and they express things other Youtubers I watched (such as Whitelight) didn't. Not because they weren't comprehensive, but because there is so much wrong with this story that it will feel wrong to different people in different ways. Such a shame when the 2018 story is so good. I enjoy watching videos like these because I have a particular taste in stories but not always I can identify why I liked or didn't like something. It requires analysis I'm not willing to do but you're excelling at. Thank you for the video! Subscribed.

1:17:21 PS5 Venom: “That’s really dumb, but he’s so cool. But that’s really dumb! But he’s so cool!!!”

Love seeing love for the 2021 Guardians game <3 (Its crazy how underrated it is)