Sony’s biggest game of 2023 is nearly here. Spider-Man 2 follows the 2018 original and 2020 follow-up, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which combined to sell over 33 million copies as of June 2022. The games were likewise successful critically, earning aggregate review scores of 87 and 85 on Metacritic, respectively. All to say, excitement and expectations are sky-high for Sony’s superhero sequel.
Ahead of its upcoming release, we’ve compiled this comprehensive overview of everything we know about Spider-Man 2, including a release date, platforms, price, gameplay updates, story details, and more. Read our full Spider-Man 2 review for more info.
Spider-Man 2 Release Date, PS5 Exclusivity
Spider-Man 2 will be released on October 20 for PS5. Spider-Man 2 is a Sony first-party release, and as such will be exclusive to PS5. However, there’s a possibility of a future PC release; Insomniac’s first Spider-Man came to PC four years after its PS4 debut.
Spider-Man 2 Trailer
The official Spider-Man 2 story trailer was released earlier this year during Comic-Con. The two-minute video sets up the next chapter for Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Check it out below:
Spider-Man 2 Performance
Spider-Man 2 will offer players three performance options: 30 fps, 40 fps, and 60 fps. Ray-tracing will be enabled across all modes. Insomniac has also implemented support for variable refresh rate (VRR).
Anecdotally, in our Spider-Man 2 hands-on preview, IGN’s Destin Legarie wrote: “The visuals of Spider-Man 2 are impressive. The character models are more expressive when delivering their lines, resulting in more believable performances from the actors that will in turn do a better job of pulling at your heartstrings. The ray-traced reflections add more depth and realism to the world. Breakable environmental additions make it feel like you’ve succeeded in unleashing havoc in an arena after a devastating combo.”
Spider-Man 2 Story
Spider-Man 2 continues the stories of Peter Parker and Miles Morales, though this time around, Insomniac has its sights set on a “darker” narrative, according to Marvel’s Bill Rosemann. "If the first Spider-Man game was Star Wars, Spider-Man 2 is kind of our Empire [Strikes Back]," he said.
The sequel picks up roughly nine months after Miles Morales, with a grieving Peter balancing his more mundane responsibilities (attempting to pay a mortgage he can’t afford) with his more extraordinary (being a symbiote-affected Spider-Man). Miles, meanwhile, is procrastinating on his college entrance essay and exploring the all-too-common post-high school question of what to do with his adult life. These personal narratives are intertwined with the overarching narrative of how the symbiote and Kraven affect both Spider-Mans.
With the new game comes a new group of villains: Venom, Kraven the Hunter, and Lizard will be the main antagonists in Spider-Man 2. Trailers have revealed Mr. Negative will also be returning for the sequel, while Insomnias has teased the inclusion of others.
No villain has received more pre-release attention than Venom (voiced by Tony Todd), likely correlating with the character’s significance to the story. The villain’s identity was a hot topic of discussion following the game’s reveal, though more recent trailers have seemingly confirmed who’s bonded with the symbiote (potential SPOILERS at the link).
Kraven also has a significant role to play in the sequel, seeing as the Spider-Man 2 narrative is (at least partially) inspired by the Kraven’s Last Hunt comics storyline. The wild-game hunter heads to New York to prey on the city’s superhumans, most notably our two playable Spider-Mans.
Peter believes Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors to be his best bet at saving the ailing Harry Osborn. As such, we've seen Peter descending into the sewers in an attempt to transform Lizard back into a human and help his friend. Mary Jane also returns, now working for a hard-assed J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle.
Spider-Man 2 Map
Spider-Man 2’s New York City will be twice the size of its predecessor’s. The sequel revisits Manhattan while adding two new NYC boroughs to the map: Queens and Brooklyn.
“Queens has a very residential feel to it that's a little different from parts of Manhattan,” said Insomniac’s Mike Fitzgerald. “Brooklyn has its own landmarks of course. We're excited for players who know Brooklyn and are familiar with the area to find unique buildings that they recognize from our New York in the same way.”
Spider-Man 2’s Queens will include Aunt May’s house, while all three boroughs will feature other known Marvel landmarks.
Zooming into the city streets, Insomniac promises a more authentic NYC: pedestrians are more diverse, vehicles subtly bob up and down as the streets test their suspension systems, and interiors will now feature actual occupants — all of which was incorporated to “help build a rich city backdrop that feels alive.”
You can learn more about the new PS5 technology that powers the city by reading our extensive interview with the development team at Insomniac.
Spider-Man 2 Gameplay
Spider-Man 2, like its predecessor, is a strictly single-player adventure featuring a mix of free-roam exploration, combat encounters, and cinematic QTE sections. Players will swap back and forth between controlling Peter Parker and Miles Morales for different story beats while being able to swap freely between them while playing in the open world with a single button press. The characters will have both a shared skill tree as well as individual ones.
There are 65 Spiders suits for Miles and Peter, including some from comics, movies, and original designs, and over 200 different looks in total when considering other customization options.
The free-flowing combat from the first game remains in place with some notable additions in the form of a parry button, increased enemy density, and a suite of new skills and gadgets at hand. One such combination of new skill and gadget is the Web Grabber and Miles’s Thunder Burst, allowing you to pull enemies together and pounce on them with a devastating attack from above:
Experiment with new abilities and gadgets, such as the Web Grabber and the Thunder Burst! #SpiderMan2PS5 #BeGreaterTogether pic.twitter.com/75rUsvxERm
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) June 3, 2023
New gadgets also change the ways in which Peter and Miles can navigate New York. The most notable addition is Web Wings, which allow you to glide through the air with a press of the triangle button. Your glide will lose momentum over time, requiring you to web-sling or use a wind tunnel, which quickly propels you forward. Spider-Man 2’s Slingshot will also speed up traversal, allowing Miles and Peter to catapult themselves extraordinary distances at three times the speed of the first game. The new Web Line gadget, meanwhile, enhances stealth options by allowing you to bridge the gap between two surfaces and set up dual takedowns.
Slingshot! Traversal in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is more exhilarating than ever! #SpiderMan2PS5 #BeGreaterTogether pic.twitter.com/LpCRK2t72f
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) June 27, 2023
Another notable change is the introduction of fall damage, a consideration absent from Insomniac’s first two Spider-Man games, though the feature will be disabled by default. "Something we're seeing more and more of is that players like to be able to customize their experience," Insomniac’s Dough Sheahan told IGN. "For those players, we added the ability to enable fall damage and even let people tweak how swinging feels with our Swing Steering Assist setting. We hope players who enjoy a deep dive into the details have fun experimenting."
As noted on PS Blog, Spider-Man 2 will utilize the DualSense’s haptics and adaptive triggers for added effect (e.g., reverberating ripples from a massive tolling bell) and gameplay purposes (e.g., using asymmetrical levels of pressure on the triggers to complete a particle collider minigame).
There are all but certainly other gameplay changes that Insomniac has yet to detail. We’ll be keeping our Spider-Man 2 wiki updated with all the latest.
How to Play Spider-Man (2018) and Miles Morales
Insomniac’s original Spider-Man can be played on PS4; a remastered version is available on PS5 and PC. We awarded it an 8.7 in our Spider-Man PS4 review, calling it “a spectacular adventure.”
Its standalone follow-up, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, is available on PS5, PS4, and PC. We awarded it a 9 in our Spider-Man: Miles Morales review, saying it improves on the fundamentals of the original game while telling “an essential story” of its own.
Spider-Man 2 Special Editions and Preorder Bonuses
See our full preorder guide for Spider-Man 2 for more info.
Preorder Bonus
Preordering any version of Spider-Man 2 will net you the following in-game goodies:
- Arachknight Suit for Peter Parker "with 3 additional color variants"
- Shadow Spider Suit for Miles Morales "with 3 additional color variants"
- Web Grabber gadget
- 3 skill points
Standard Edition – $70 USD
- Copy of Spider-Man 2 for PS5
Digital Deluxe Edition – $80 USD
- Digital copy of Spider-Man 2 for PS5
- Five unique suits for Peter
- Five unique suits for Miles
- Additional Photo Mode items
- 2 Skill Points
Collector’s Edition – $230 USD
Physical Items
- 19-inch collector's edition statue
- Steelbook case
Digital Items
- Five unique suits for Peter
- Five unique suits for Miles
- Additional Photo Mode items
- 2 Skill Points
Spider-Man 2 Special Edition PS5, Controller
Ahead of the game’s release, Sony has released a limited-edition PS5 console and DualSense controller. The console (digital game code included) and controller were released on September 1 for $600 USD and $80 USD, respectively.
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
