Note: This review is based on the PC version. While I’m not a native Spanish speaker, this review will address the Spanish dub, based on my own observation and that of native Spanish speakers who requested I address its flaws. Finally, this will contain spoilers for the first two games.

Sequels have a high-wire act to follow if they want to be better than what came before. They need to provide more or at least different content from prior entries, but also not screw up what made the prior entries good. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 does the first well; the second not so much.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 follows up on the endings of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales, the spinoff title. The game begins as Peter Parker (original Spider-Man) and Miles Morales (new Spider-Man) have to team up to stop the rampage of Flint “Sandman” Marko. Their adventures only balloon in importance, stopping threats both new and old until the ultimate horror arises, one that will threaten the world if they don’t stop it.

Like the previous games, this is a superhero open-world game. As both Peter and Miles (and there is a mechanic to switch between them at will), you must traverse the city of New York and take down threats to public safety. Peter and Miles each have their own abilities, and Peter can handle some situations Miles can’t, and vice versa. Both Peter and Miles will have to engage in combat, use stealth, and perform certain traversal challenges in order to surmount certain problems. Being an open world, there is also a wide array of side missions and collectibles to find along the way. You will be forced to engage with the main story at some points, which will wall off any free-form exploration until you proceed to the next part of the plot.

It bears mentioning, since you can play as both Peter and Miles, that each one has their own unique abilities. Peter is a veteran of using his spider powers, and his upgrades simply make him a Swiss Army Knife with a bigger focus on combat abilities. Miles is nowhere near as versatile with his spider powers, but he has the ability to use electricity and deploy a temporary stealth cloak. Some story missions force you to use one or the other, so getting a good handle on the powers of each is key to success.

Graphically, this game uses a much-improved version of the engine from the prior titles. New York now has even more detail, with many more buildings not only looking unique, but many returning ones sporting details that did not exist in prior games. Reflections continue to look impressive due to ray tracing. Finally, Brooklyn and Queens have been added to the New York map, and both look just as photorealistic as the returning boroughs.

Sounds and music sound like something out of a Marvel movie and are crisp and distinct. The voice acting remains as strong as ever, both from new and returning voice actors. Unfortunately, I need to critique the Spanish dub for a second, especially that aimed at native Spanish speakers.

I am not a native Spanish speaker or writer, but one thing I do know is that Spanish is a gendered language, meaning some words have a masculine or feminine connotation. In Spanish, to refer to a male doctor, you would say “el doctor”. For a female, “la doctora”. The intent is, obviously enough, to convey both the title of the person and whether they are male or female in the same number of words to convey the intended person and their gender.

For some bizarre reason, Marvel decided the Spanish dub needed to be “gender-inclusive”, so they inserted gender neutral terms like “le doctore”. For one, they arbitrarily decided Spanish speakers did not know their own language and set out on a misguided and quixotic quest to “fix” it. Second, regardless of whether this decision was one of idiocy or malice, this is not how the language sounds and works to native speakers. Worse, the developers have refused to fix this, forcing native Spanish speakers to either use a dub that wasn’t butchered in another language or suffer through one that mutilated their native tongue beyond recognition. Friends who are natives of Spain have assured me this “Spanish dub” is, frankly speaking, a pretty high insult to both their education and their ears.

This title can be played with a keyboard and mouse or with a Steam-supported controller. The latter is highly recommended. Controls are remappable, but the basic controls are very good, and the tutorials are excellent.

Stability is generally good, though I have had a few crashes. This game runs natively on Microsoft Windows and will run on Linux via Steam Proton. This title is rated Verified for the Steam Deck. This game can be played on some surprisingly low-end hardware, but for optimal play, I recommend making sure your PC or laptop meets the minimum requirements.

Just a few notes on some things I did not like about this game. The story tends to put the player on rails, taking them away from the open world quite often. The prior games did this occasionally when story-relevant, but otherwise let the player choose to engage in the story content. Spider-Man 2 will not only force you to engage with story content, but it will even wall off all side-content, even if there is little logical reason to do so.

Second, the leveling system, after having been nicely streamlined in Miles Morales, goes right back to being complicated again in Spider-Man 2. Like the first game, you need to collect various tokens to upgrade things, some from some very tedious side activities. The first game only forced this to be done to buy optional costumes; now, you need to token hunt for basic upgrades to life and damage.

Finally, the enemy progression and AI approach the Dark Souls franchise in terms of balance. Some attacks have to be perfectly dodged and parried, or you will be severely hurt. This was true of the prior Spider-Man titles, but in this game, that is true of nearly half the enemy cast, and enemies can attack in hordes. This is even more true towards the latter end of the game. Combat becomes grueling and tense, as opposed to hard but fair at times, as a result.

Morally, there is quite a bit of concerning content.

Most of the violence is generally bloodless. There are some cutscenes with some blood and some implied gore. Creative camera angling tends to hide most of it, but it’s clear some very gruesome deaths have occurred, including one person getting their head bitten off by a monster. While the two major protagonists make a point to use non-lethal force, there is a sequence where you have to play as a villain briefly, who is all too willing to kill in cold blood.

Language tends to stay on the mild side of PG-13, with d*mn and b**t**d being the most frequent profane words heard. There is some flirting and innuendo. There are also multiple gay and lesbian couples (one mission involves helping a gay couple hook up, which you are integral to), as well as some prominent LGBT flags in some areas. It’s also implied that Peter Parker and his love interest, MJ, are cohabitating and potentially have had sex out of wedlock.

Unlike the prior games, which implied the supernatural and occult, there actually is some of that on display, specifically one artifact from an ancient and presumably pagan culture. There is also an apocalyptic cult that worships fire, which is a recurring antagonist. That aside, this title remains otherwise grounded in, at most, some science fiction in a contemporary setting.

Morally, both Peter Parker and Miles Morales are vigilantes, albeit with firm codes against murder and bending over backwards to assist honest police and emergency services. There is a brief moment in the game where you are forced to play as a villain to progress the story, one with no qualms about hurting anyone, innocent or otherwise. There are depictions of smoking and drinking and mentions of illicit drug use.

Overall, this is a decent game, but I did not enjoy it as much as the first two. It still has the same core gameplay that made the first two Spider-Man games great, but the balance decisions, forcing me on rails, and general tediousness of some of the latter half of the game annoyed me. Technically, it’s mostly solid, though it’s a bit crash-prone, has some minor bugs, and the Spanish dub is an absolute train wreck. Morally, this has quite a lot of concerning content, only fit for older teens and up. If you loved the prior games and can overlook the flaws of this title, then get this game on sale. Otherwise, I’d try to find another open-world action game.