Since 2018, Spider-Man has belonged to Hip Hop. Long gone were the days of Tobey Parker, Andrew Garfield (and yes to a certain extent Tom Holland) the neighborhood’s friendly spider belonged to the “Neighborhood’ and audiences embraced his world, his culture, and his music.
Miles Morales, the hip-hop generation’s Spider-Man, flung onto the pop culture scene with the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and made no secret who the hero was, a young kid shaped by the culture. Specifically, a young, black teen learning about the complexities of first love, family dynamics, responsibility, and education while bopping his head as he scales walls to Biggie, Rakim, and Post Malone.
Understanding the convergence of Hip Hop and the gaming community (shout out to Twitch), in 2020 Sony launched their flagship system, PS5 with the open world action video game Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales that found our hero learning the game from Peter Parker, his uncle Aaron while taking on Rhino, Dr. Octavius and the Underground. The same music team from the film worked on the video game and laced the soundtrack with Jaden Smith and Lacrae.
Following the film sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (music powered by Metro Boomin), Sony is back with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 video game. It picks up where the previous game left off, with Peter Parker and Miles Morales now both established superheroes taking on two new villains: Kraven the Hunter and Venom. Kraven the Hunter and Venom are both excellent villains for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Kraven is a physically imposing and skilled hunter, while Venom is a powerful and unpredictable alien symbiote.
Both villains pose a serious threat to Peter and Miles, and they are both well-developed characters with their own motivations. Kraven is driven by his desire to prove himself as the greatest hunter in the world, while Venom is driven by its desire to consume Spider-Man.
Peter and Miles work together to stop the big baddies and protect the neighborhood, while also dealing with their own personal challenges at different phases in their lives.
The gameplay in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is largely the same as in the previous games, but with some improvements. The web-swinging and combat are both more fluid and responsive, and there are new gadgets and abilities to unlock.
One of the biggest changes in the gameplay is the ability to play as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The two characters have different playstyles, with Peter being more experienced and focused on stealth, while Miles is more agile and has unique Venom powers.
The game also features ( check out the Web Grabber gadget) a new cooperative multiplayer mode, which allows two players to play as Peter and Miles together. This is a great way to experience the game with a friend, and it adds a new layer of strategy to the combat.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a significant improvement over the great first game and builds on the success in almost every way. The graphics are better, the gameplay is more polished, and the story is more engaging.
Featuring a larger and more varied open world, with new areas to explore and new side missions to complete.
Overall, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a must-play for fans of the first game and superhero games in general. It is one of the best games on the PS5, and it is sure to provide hours of entertainment.
Conclusion
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is an excellent game that builds on the strengths of its predecessor. It’s a great game to play with your family or hop on Twitch. No background soundtrack is necessary and the music within the game will keep your head boppin while you scale walls, shoot webs across NYC buildings and two piece villains. It features a compelling story, engaging gameplay, and top notch graphics. Heavily influenced by hip hop culture, this game is ours.
If you are a fan of superheroes, Hip Hop, then this game is a must.
