Spider-Man knocked all our socks off in 2018, while Spider-Man: Miles Morales proved itself the perfect launch game for the PlayStation 5 (assuming you were able to track one down).
The sequel, Spider-Man 2, was recently confirmed and the teaser trailer showed Peter Parker and Miles Morales taking on some of Kraven the Hunter's goons before being confronted by Venom. Not much has been revealed beyond that, but a recent leak has generated a lot of attention online.
As is so often the case, we have no choice but to take this with a grain of salt, but there's a lot here that makes sense and it comes our way from someone who claims to work for Insomniac. Official details are a long way off, so this intel on villains, gameplay, and that suit is definitely welcomed.
Spider-Man 2 could be the best game featuring this iconic superhero to date, and that's a point we think you'll agree with after taking a look through some of these rumoured details...
5. First, The Bad News (With A Little Bit Of Good)
Remember playing Spider-Man and then being pulled away from the action to wander around a museum as Mary Jane Watson or to stealthily avoid some robots as Miles Morales? It wasn't much fun, and there is going to be more MJ missions in this game.
However, this leak alleges that those sequences will be shorter and less frequent, with the vast majority of "human" missions played as Peter Parker or Miles Morales out of costume. It's not going to be all plain sailing for Peter and MJ, however, as the influence of his new suit (we'll get to that) leads to them breaking up.
As a result, Spidey will find himself tempted back to Black Cat's side; she returns here after the big cliffhanger in "The City That Never Sleeps" DLC and will seemingly take advantage of the web-slinger's turn to the dark side to pick up where they left off, romantically speaking.
4. We Are Venom
As we learned at the end of the first Spider-Man game, this franchise is taking inspiration from the Ultimate Universe with how the Venom symbiote is portrayed. It will be a man-made creation rather than an alien from the stars, and Peter somehow acquires it relatively early on.
We're not sure what that means for Harry Osborn, but Spidey will gain four extra tendrils he can use in combat and a host of other changes (we're assuming he'll be stronger, faster, and a little less forgiving). Unsurprisingly, Peter does eventually lose this new suit to an unspecified new host, but enhances his own costume to include the four extra arms we saw in the trailer.
Insomniac has confirmed that Tony Todd will lend his voice to Venom, and we're assuming it's Eddie Brock in there. This leaker didn't specify the villain's identity, unfortunately, and admitted that he doesn't even know if Eddie is even part of Spider-Man 2.
3. Gameplay Mechanics
It's hard to fault the gameplay mechanics of Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but improvements are set to be made in the upcoming sequel.
The web trick system has been improved, while a priority for Insomniac is to have wall-crawling make a bigger impact this time around. It's been worked on so that it's a more seamless part of the gameplay, which is good news given how superfluous it felt in the previous two efforts. However, not much is changing with "parkour" given how tricky it is to connect its momentum with web-swinging.
Talking of webs, they can now be reeled in similar to a grappling hook system. Plus, thanks to the PS5's SSD technology, web-swinging speed is 1.7 to 1.8 times faster than in Spider-Man. That should make travelling through New York City both a quicker and more exciting experience.
2. Spider-Man Or Spider-Man?
Following the release of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, there was concern among fans about who would be the lead of the inevitable Spider-Man sequel. Playing as Miles was an absolute blast (literally), so to see him sidelined and be forced to wait for a fourth game would definitely sting.
At the same time, Peter being pushed to one side would also be problematic, so the good news is that gamers will be able to choose between playing as Peter Parker or Miles Morales in missions, with each of the heroes given unique skills and abilities. As for how that's going to work, whoever isn't chosen will be controlled by A.I. and provide support during missions.
This sounds similar to missions in previous games, and we're hoping it adds to the level of replayability the game has, especially if this choice means you have to approach the action in different ways.
1. New Villains
Venom will clearly be one of Spider-Man 2's lead villains, as will Kraven the Hunter. This leak alleges that the latter's minions will be a recurring threat throughout the game, similar to The Raft escapees and Silver Sable's agents (we're assuming regular crooks will also continue popping up).
As for the other classic foes you can expect to face, it's believed both The Lizard and Mysterio appear in the game. The Sinister Six members certainly got their due in Spider-Man, so some fresh faces are essential; despite that, we certainly hope to see more of Shocker and The Scorpion.
Unfortunately, we don't know if Doctor Octopus is set to return. It's also unclear whether Norman Osborn is going to suit up, but we'd bet on that being saved for the next instalment, anyway!
h/t GameFragger, Reddit