The wait for the next chapter in Insomniac’s Spider-Man universe is finally over. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is now out, which means millions all over the world will be swinging through its rendition of New York City soon enough. From combat and traversal to the side activities and much more, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 improves upon its predecessors’ formula in a variety of ways, which means there will be plenty that will demand your attention as you jump into the game’s offerings. With that in mind, to make your initial hours in the game a bit easier to get to grips with, here, we’ve put together some useful tips and tricks that’ll be worth keeping in mind as you play the game.
WEB LINE
If there’s one thing you’re always guaranteed to find in any Insomniac game, regardless of franchise or genre, it’s inventive new gadgets to use in creative ways, and as you’d expect, there’s plenty of that to find in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as well. One of the standout new introductions is the web line, which takes mobility and freedom of movement in stealth to an entirely new level. In fact, it’d be safe to say it’s quite an overpowered tool during stealth sections. Once you get access to the web line gadget, you’ll find that it’s all too easy to pop out a few lines running over busy hotspots in areas down below and pick off enemies one-by-one. Stealth becomes pretty easy to cheese that way, especially since enemies, for whatever reason, don’t seem capable of simply looking up.
AERIAL COMBAT
Aerial combat has been an important part of the combat loop in Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles since the original 2018 game, but Spider-Man 2 gives you an even wider toolset to enable that. There’s more ways than ever to keep your enemies above the ground while you’re beating them to a pulp, from gadgets to abilities to certain new combos, and you’ll find that it’s far better to stay aerial during fights than it is to engage against enemies while being grounded. Through skill tree upgrades, you can also increase your Focus gains and the damage you dish out during aerial combat, making it that much more useful.
AERIAL AND MECHANICAL ENEMIES
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 improves upon its predecessors in many ways, combat being one among them, and one of many elements that contribute to its combat improvements is the sheer variety of enemies you take on throughout the course of the game. Different enemy types demand different strategies, though there are some types in particular that you should ideally be taking out as soon as you spot them. In particular, aerial enemies and/or mechanical enemies can be quite a nuisance when left unattended, so it’s far better to just take them out of the equation as soon as a combat encounter begins, before turning your attention to other enemy types.
CHAIN LIGHTNING
Miles doesn’t get his hands on Peter’s new, overpowered Symbiote abilities in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but he does eventually learn new variations of his bioelectricity powers. Mostly, these are different variations of chain lightning, and they are particularly useful when you’re fighting against larger groups of enemies. Though Miles’ Venom powers (i.e. his original bioelectricity powers) are better if you’re looking to deal more damage, his chain lightning abilities are much more effective for crowd control, so keep that in mind as you decide which ones you want to equip.
PARRYING
Parrying is one of several new iterative features that Insomniac has introduced in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s combat side of things, and though the bulk of the combat’s focus is still very much on attacking, dodging, and using gadgets and abilities, parrying does prove to be quite useful from time to time. Rightly timing a parry on an incoming attack can prove quite useful, especially in the particularly hectic combat encounters where you’re taking on large groups or a tougher foe. While there are usually ways to avoid these attacks, we’d still recommend learning the right timing windows for parrying.
FOCUS UPGRADES
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has made a few tweaks to its progression system. For instance, all suit tech upgrades are done through a common tree, with Focus, Health, Damage, and Traversal being the four categories where you can invest in upgrades. All four of them obviously have their uses, but our suggestion would be to prioritize investing in Focus upgrades. From new ways to earn Focus more quickly to being able to bank multiple finishers to having multiple Focus bars and more, there’s plenty of key ways investing in Focus upgrades can help out.
EXPLORATION
2018’s original Spider-Man game was often guilty of shoving way too many repetitive collectathon-style side activities down players’ throats, though Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 makes plenty of improvements on that front. One of several ways it improves how optional content is doled out to players is by making it discoverable only through organic exploration, and finding it yourself when you’re swinging through the open world. As such, it’s a good idea to ensure that you’ve visited every area and location in the map at least once- and while you’re doing so, make sure to keep your ears and eyes out for any audio or visual cues that could lead you to side activities in the vicinity.
WIND TUNNELS
The web wings are among Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s biggest and most impressive new improvements, and without a shadow of doubt, you’re going to be using them a lot during your playthrough. And while looking for wind tunnels while you’re gliding through New York will eventually become second nature to you, in the initial hours, it can be a bit easy to forget. Our advice? Anytime you see wind tunnels around you, hop into the slipstream and see where it takes you, just so you’re getting into the habit of using them as quickly as possible. Some of them also prove to be excellent ways to get to certain optional activities, like Underground caches on rooftops, or Spider-bots floating really high up that you can only get to by gliding through rising gusts of wind.
SLINGSHOTTING
Plenty of new techniques and tricks have also been introduced in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s traversal side of things, and the highlight among all of these additions undoubtedly has to be the slingshot technique, which allows you to using two webs to slingshot yourself forward at significant speed from a stationary position. Scattered through the rooftops of New York City, you’ll find plenty of Super Slingshot spots, and though these are obviously excellent for covering large distances, remember that you can use a regular slingshot at any place, and at anytime.
TRICKS
Like its predecessors, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 lets you pull off and chain together a variety of flashy tricks while you’re swinging through the air, and from unlocking a Trophy to getting bonus XP, there are some actual advantages to doing that besides it just looking fun. So what’s the best way to get to the highest possible heights so you can chain together as many tricks as possible? One particularly effective method is using the series of rising wind gusts in Manhattan’s financial districts, in conjunction with the cluster of skyscrapers around you, to get as high as possible, giving you plenty of room to chain together plenty of tricks before you hit the ground.
