5 things you should know before starting Marvel's Spider-Man 2

The release of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is right around the corner. The highly anticipated sequel to one of the most beloved superhero action-adventure games on the PlayStation 4 is a few short hours from its official release. While the sequel presents itself as a completely fresh experience, it does share plenty of gameplay-related similarities with its predecessor(s).

Much like the previous Spider-Man games, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features intuitive tutorials aimed at easing players (newcomers and returning Spidey fans alike) into its moment-to-moment gameplay loop. However, there are plenty of other elements that the game doesn't mention outright, leaving it to the players to figure it out for themselves.

Here are five things that you should know before you start your adventure as Peter Parker and Miles Morales, i.e., Spider-Men in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

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From combat basics to progression system, here are five things that you should know before playing Marvel's Spider-Man 2

1) Traversal basics

Web wings make exploring New York super engaging in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Image via Insomniac Games)

One of the biggest and most cherished aspects of Marvel's Spider-Man games is their traversal system, i.e., web-swinging. This remains true for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as well, albeit with some major new additions. Apart from the regular web-swinging fans of the previous two titles will be very well acquainted with, the sequel introduces "web wings."

As you initiate a swing by pressing "R2", you can quickly switch to the web wings by pressing the "Triangle" button on the controller. It should be noted that web wings can only be deployed after you reach a certain altitude.

They are as fun to use as they are efficient in getting through the vast open-world map of New York.

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2) Combat basics

Combat in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features a plethora of new additions (Image via Insomniac Games)

The combat in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, for the most part, remains the same as the previous two titles in the series. Both Peter and Miles have access to various combos that can be executed using the face buttons. However, there are also some new additions this time around, especially the parry mechanic as well as the ability hotkeys.

Instead of relying only on dodges, the Spider-Men can parry incoming attacks (by pressing R1). Parrying is very useful against elite enemy types, especially the ones equipped with shields. You can also access eight tools/ abilities for each Spider-Man, which can be deployed by pressing R1 or L1 with the face buttons.

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3) Graphics modes

Insomniac Games has crafted one of the best-looking open-world games to date (Image via Insomniac Games)

Much like Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales, the upcoming sequel is shipped with multiple graphics modes for the PlayStation 5. However, there's a caveat this time: instead of having a non-RT (ray-tracing) 1080p mode, both Performance and Fidelity modes come with ray-tracing enabled.

The Fidelity mode offers 4K 30fps gameplay with all graphical bells and whistles cranked to their absolute limits. The Performance mode boasts a modest 1440p 60fps target, focusing more on gameplay. The choice between the graphical modes comes down to personal preference.

That said, we recommend the Performance mode, mostly due to the 60fps target, which makes combat and traversal significantly more enjoyable. Also, if you have a VRR screen, you can enable the Fidelity HFR mode for 4K 40fps or Performance HFR mode for 1440p 60+fps (with upscaling).

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4) Side activities and progression

Completing side activities is the best way to unlock new suits for Peter and Miles (Image via Insomniac Games)

Like the previous two games, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features a plethora of open-world activities that will keep you busy for a long time. These activities range from simple collectible hunts to some cool and unique side stories. While it's entirely optional to engage with these activities, completing them is a great way to earn specific tokens and XP.

The tokens are used to craft new suits for the Spider-Men and gadget upgrades, whereas the XP earned goes towards leveling up Peter and Miles, earning you skill points.

The skill points let you unlock some cool skills for both the Spider-Men, from general stat upgrades to powerful combat skills.

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5) Open-world and fast travel

Marvel's Spider-Man 2's open world is a massive step up from its predecessors, both in terms of scale and spectacle (Image via Insomniac Games)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features the same map as the previous two titles but with some key new additions. The biggest of them are the two new boroughs, i.e., Queens and Brooklyn, which, much like other major boroughs such as Hells Kitchen, Chinatown, etc., feature many activities and side stories for you to complete.

To make traversal across the expanded map of New York seamless and more intuitive for players, Insomniac Games has ramped up the swinging speed significantly. And thanks to the ultra high-speed SSD of the PS5, fast traveling across different parts of the map is, well, very fast (roughly 1.3 seconds).

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Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to be released on October 20, 2023, exclusively for the PlayStation 5.