Eurogamer’s Marie and Victoria have both finished Spider-Man 2’s main story, and they have thoughts.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 released last week, to widespread praise and some truly bumper sales. In the first 24 hours alone, an incredible 2.5m copies were sold, making it Sony’s fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever.
Guides writer Marie and I have now both finished Spider-Man 2’s main story, and, well, we have thoughts. So join us as we discuss Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and what the ending could mean for the series’ future.
Please note, we will be heading well into spoiler territory below, so if you are yet to finish the game and want to keep it all a surprise, this is your chance to head elsewhere now.
Victoria: Hello there Marie, how are you doing? You and I have now both finished Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and I would love to hear your thoughts. How did you find it?
Marie: Hello! I’m still exploring the city post-story but (and I do not apologise for this), I’ve found it amazing and almost bordering on spectacular. The way the story was told really had me hooked from the beginning.
I do wonder if this was partially because I’m a big Marvel fan, so when specific characters were brought into the story, my mind was buzzing with trying to figure out what would happen next with them and how their presence would evolve Miles’ and Peter’s lives. Then, seeing it all come together in the final mission felt like a massive pay off. I wasn’t aware of how invested I was in the outcome of the story until it was over. How did you find it?
V: I really had a lot of fun zipping and flying (I loved the webwings) through New York. I especially agree with you about how it all came together at the end. The emotional payoff was definitely there! There were a few occasions throughout the game where I was moved to tears, especially when characters were going through very real and relatable problems. I became invested in each of their arcs. Insomniac is always brilliant at bringing depth to its characters, and Spider-Man 2 was no exception.
I think we have given readers enough warning here, but just in case anyone reading has not finished the game and wants to avoid spoilers, this is your last cue to head elsewhere, as I am about to bring up a big one.
OK, we now know Harry was Venom. Were you surprised by this revelation?
M: That’s complicated to answer – at first, with the way they introduced Harry, I really believed he was going to be Venom so it wasn’t a surprise. Then, when he lost the Symbiote Suit to Peter which resulted in Norman Osborn working on ‘another cure’ I started to believe we might see the origin of Hobgoblin or the infamous Green Goblin with someone else becoming Venom.
That being said, when it became more evident that Harry was not coping with the loss of the suit (and I cannot blame him for that at all in the situation he was in), then I guessed he would become Venom after all.
To sum up, I kept changing my mind on whether he would or wouldn’t be – which I think is a testament to how Insomniac threw a lot of twists in to keep you on your toes. Overall I wouldn’t say I was surprised as such, but (sorry Harry) I was really excited to see Venom come to life regardless of who was the host.
I remember you messaging me about it and asking who Venom was before you’d played but I refused to say, so how did you feel when it was revealed that you were right?
V: Ha, yes you were very good at keeping mum! I wasn’t surprised by Venom being Harry (or should that be Harry being Venom?), but I was surprised by how it came about.
When Harry first showed that he had powers from the Symbiote, he seemed to be handling it really quite well all things considered, but then it left him, and I wasn’t expecting that. Based on assumptions from the trailers, I actually thought there were going to be two Symbiote sources, one from space and one that had been engineered by Oscorp. I didn’t think the Symbiote that affected Peter would be the same one that made Harry turn into Venom.
I then appreciated – when the Symbiote did make its way back to Harry – that Harry now had this resentment embedded within him, and this is when it ultimately evolved into Venom. And, boy, what an evolution it was. Those wings, Marie. Wings!
M: I won’t lie, my notebook ended up halfway across the room when those wings appeared. I had to pause the cinematic and the fight to actually absorb that development, I was beyond excited to see it. Although, part of me did wonder how on earth I’d be able to beat a winged Venom…
V: If I had had a notebook on me, it would have been launched! And yes, I also had the same concern when I suddenly saw him start flapping away.
