Sony Interactive Entertainment • 2023 • PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
Engaging combat, chill traversal
Story wraps in a few weeks
Low punishment, easy retries
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is absolutely worth it if you enjoy cinematic single-player games and have a soft spot for Marvel or superhero stories. It delivers a polished, fast-paced campaign with strong performances, spectacular set pieces, and traversal that feels good every single session. The game does not ask for esports-level skill or endless grinding; it fits neatly into a few weeks of normal adult play. You will spend most of your time swinging across a beautiful New York, fighting stylish brawls, and watching Peter and Miles' stories unfold. In return, you need to tolerate open-world checklists and a tone that stays firmly in blockbuster territory rather than deep, experimental drama. Buy at full price if you loved the previous Spider-Man games, adore Marvel, or want a dependable comfort-food-style action game after work. If you are only mildly curious or drowning in backlog, it is an excellent choice on sale. Skip it if you crave hardcore difficulty or dense, systems-heavy RPGs.

Sony Interactive Entertainment • 2023 • PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
Engaging combat, chill traversal
Story wraps in a few weeks
Low punishment, easy retries
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is absolutely worth it if you enjoy cinematic single-player games and have a soft spot for Marvel or superhero stories. It delivers a polished, fast-paced campaign with strong performances, spectacular set pieces, and traversal that feels good every single session. The game does not ask for esports-level skill or endless grinding; it fits neatly into a few weeks of normal adult play. You will spend most of your time swinging across a beautiful New York, fighting stylish brawls, and watching Peter and Miles' stories unfold. In return, you need to tolerate open-world checklists and a tone that stays firmly in blockbuster territory rather than deep, experimental drama. Buy at full price if you loved the previous Spider-Man games, adore Marvel, or want a dependable comfort-food-style action game after work. If you are only mildly curious or drowning in backlog, it is an excellent choice on sale. Skip it if you crave hardcore difficulty or dense, systems-heavy RPGs.
Weeknight around 8 p.m., you have about 60–90 minutes and want something cinematic but not exhausting; one main mission plus a few quick crimes fits perfectly.
Lazy Saturday afternoon with two solid hours, you are in the mood to binge a Marvel story arc with big boss fights and set pieces.
Short 30–45 minute window before dinner, you just want to clear your head by swinging across New York, stopping a few crimes and grabbing collectibles.
A focused 20–30 hour story fits neatly into a few weeks of 60–90 minute sessions, with excellent saving and pausing for busy schedules.
Spider-Man 2 asks for a moderate, very manageable commitment. Seeing the main story through with a healthy mix of side content will take most adults around 20–30 hours. Broken into 60–90 minute sessions, that is a comfortable few weeks rather than a season-long project. The game is very friendly to chopped-up play: you can pause anywhere, autosaves are frequent, and manual saves let you lock in progress before a boss or big choice. Missions and side activities are bite-sized, so it is easy to stop after just one more crime, photo, or story beat. If life pulls you away for a week or two, clear map icons and objective text make it simple to remember your next step, even if you have forgotten some advanced moves. There is no multiplayer, no raids to schedule, and no limited-time events creating fear of missing out. You decide how deep to go into checklists, and the core story still feels complete without 100 percent cleanup.
Combat and boss fights need your full attention, but traversal and light side activities create plenty of relaxed, low-brain moments during a typical session.
Spider-Man 2 sits in a comfortable middle ground for attention. When you are in combat or a major set piece, the game wants your eyes and hands fully on task. You are watching Spider-Sense flashes, recognizing which enemy needs webbing, and choosing when to heal or fire off a big crowd-control power. It is engaging but not mentally brutal, and the generous windows for dodging keep things from feeling twitchy. Outside of fights, the tone shifts. Traversal is almost meditative once you have learned the controls: you can swing, glide, and chase waypoints without thinking through every input. Side activities like photo ops or quick crimes add variety without demanding much concentration. Clear HUD markers and objective text mean you rarely have to puzzle out what to do next. You can pause at any time, and most of the open world is safe to walk away from for a minute. For tired evenings, it offers a nice mix of focused bursts and relaxed cruising.
You will feel competent within an evening, yet there is enough room to sharpen timing and ability use if you enjoy gradually mastering a moveset.
Learning Spider-Man 2 is fast and friendly. Within your first evening you will be comfortably swinging around the city, dodging basic attacks, and using a couple of flashy abilities. The game explains new moves clearly and layers them in over time, so you are rarely overwhelmed with button prompts. You do not need long combo strings or perfect timing to finish the story on standard difficulty. That said, there is real satisfaction in tightening up your play. As you grow more confident, you start weaving together launches, air juggles, crowd-control abilities, and well-timed dodges that refill your special meters. Fights become less chaotic and more like a stylish dance. Higher difficulties, challenge missions, and New Game Plus give extra room to express that skill if you want it. For a busy adult, the balance is kind: low barrier to entry, but enough depth that returning after a few days still feels rewarding as you gradually get smoother and braver in encounters.
Expect exciting superhero set pieces and energetic combat, but low punishment and flexible difficulty keep frustration and anxiety comfortably in check.
On the emotional side, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is exciting more than stressful. Big story missions feel like blockbuster superhero scenes, with loud music, dramatic camera angles, and bosses that fill the screen. Your heart rate will rise during those sequences, especially later fights involving Venom or large enemy waves. But because death simply reloads you a few seconds back, the pressure never feels cruel. On normal difficulty, you usually understand why you got hit and can quickly try again without losing progress. Between high-energy moments, the game gives you plenty of breathing room: casual city swinging, light puzzles, and short side missions that rarely threaten a game over. The story does touch on illness, loss, and personal failure, so there are a few heavy scenes, but they are balanced by humor and warmth between characters. If your day has already been rough, you can lean into easier settings and side activities to keep the experience more thrill ride than emotional gauntlet.