Spider-Man 2 is a great game, very beautiful, smooth and enjoyable to play. Even though the gameplay is very similar to the previous installments, it is still remarkable in its execution. The only flaw I would reproach is the screenplay, which is a bit too cliché of superhero movies.
You can find my full review here.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to take part in the adventure yet, here are some good tips to know before you start:
1) Slow down the action
If the game feels too fast, requires you to do too many actions simultaneously and during this time Spider-Man takes all the hits and shots from the enemies, it is possible to slow down the speed of the game.
By going to Settings, then Accessibility, and finally Game Speed, you can make the game run at 70 or 50% of the original speed. There’s no shame in adjusting the game to your liking, as long as you’re having fun with it.
It’s just a game.
2) Scan the environment
As in previous games, Spider-Men have a variety of items to throw at enemies.
And more often than not, enemies are just below a trap, or an overturning shelf.
So pay attention to the environment, it might help you get rid of enemies more easily. Or at worst, press L1+R1 in the heat of the moment, the combination of buttons to throw objects, and chances are the Spider-Man of your choice will automatically grab an object from around you didn’t have, and throw it in an enemy’s face.
3) Use an animated Spider-Man like in the animated movie with comic book effects
After several hours of play, you’ll unlock costumes for Spider-Man. One of them is the Spider-Man in the black suit. When you use it, you’ll have onomatopoeia from the comics that appear during important moves and finishers.
The same goes for the Spider-Man costume from the Spider-Verse. When you equip it, your character’s animation (and only this one) will be at 24 frames per second, just like in the movies, instead of the usual 30 or 60 frames per second chosen by default.
This causes a funny visual disconnect between your character and the rest of the universe in which they live.
Each of these costumes unlocks the option in the settings to turn comic book visual effects on or off, or to play at 24 fps for your character regardless of the costume.
4) Fast travel
In this episode, you have to unlock the fast travel by completing many quests in each district, but it happens sooner than expected by following the story.
In Spider-Man 2, when a district is accessible by fast travel, this time you can choose exactly where you want to teleport into it. Indeed, there is no longer a specific place where you can only travel.
Once you’ve figured this out, and need to travel to a nearby neighborhood that isn’t unlocked, all you have to do is teleport close to the border between the neighborhoods to get to your destination faster.
The fast travel is so fast in this episode that it’s so enjoyable to practice and still technically impressive to load into memory the different parts of New York City at full speed.
5) Improve focus first… or health
After a few initial levels of experience, you’ll be able to upgrade your costume’s technologies by choosing whether you want to divide resources into Health, Damage, Focus, or Traverse.
I suggest improving health at the beginning in order to survive the repeated assaults of brutes who take half the health in one hit.
Other people suggest improving Focus because it allows you to get multiple Focus bars, and you need at least 2 of them filled in order to easily demolish a brute by pressing Round + Triangle.
As you prefer, but be aware that brutes will be the most constraining enemies at the beginning of the adventure.
6) Overuse gadgets
You’re going to have gadgets along the way, and you’re going to have plenty of them. Feel free to overuse them, as they are reusable after a short while. Sometimes you’ll have so many gadgets at the same time, that you can throw them all at the beginning of the fight and they’ll finish the job for you automatically, without you having to throw a single punch.
7) Prioritize gadget upgrades
You’re going to get a lot of tech parts and tokens that allow you to either upgrade your gadgets or get costumes.
We recommend prioritizing gadgets, as these are the ones that will save you in battle. You’ll have plenty of time to change costumes and explore New York City in style, towards the end of the game.
8) Level evenly
Each time you get a skill point, you can either award it to Peter Parker, Miles Morales, or the skills they share. We recommend balancing the points between the 2 heroes so as not to leave one more vulnerable than the other in combat in the story and on the streets of New York.
Image credits in the article: Sony Playstation / Spider Man 2 Press Kit
Do you have any other tips you could give about gambling?
Write them in the comments.
