Here’s What You Should Do To Prepare For Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Ever since 2018, Insomniac Games has gone to great lengths to pull the web-slinger out of the gutter. While there have been some bumps along the way, such as the controversial change of Peter Parker’s face model, the devs have managed to consistently deliver on their promise of phenomenal games. ones that understand what Spidey is about. With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac seems poised to surpass itself once again.

The marketing aspect for the upcoming sequel has been rather lax throughout its development cycle, with the majority of the information being backloaded. While the gameplay demonstration during this year’s disappointing stood out, a few people directed criticism towards the game failing to visually differentiate between normal and black suit Peter, mainly in the traversal department.

As more information about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has surfaced, it’s clear that the development team has been hard at work. The game’s voice actors, such as Yuri Lowenthal, have stated that people haven’t even seen what this title truly has to offer. 

With all the hype surrounding the next outing of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler, it goes without saying that you should be ready before October 20 comes around. That said, here’s what you should do to prepare for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Revisit The Old Games – Marvel’s Spider-Man & Miles Morales

Now I know this sounds obvious because it is, but we often tend to overlook the most obvious things in life. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 takes place a good while after the events of the prequel and Miles Morales. A lot has happened in this universe and I’m sure it’s been a while for many folks since they last played these games. Revisiting the stories of both titles will form the foundation for this upcoming experience.

The idea here is to build a narrative momentum and reconnect with the story, characters, and the world from scratch. This allows the player to have a fresh recollection of the events that took place till now, feel the true emotional impact of the plot, and reconnect with everything. You could even say that it’s a way of reminiscing practically. Of course, it will require some time as investing hours to replay two games and three DLCs might not be for everyone due to how busy life can get.

In that case, the foremost alternative would be to go through the story on YouTube. While this may seem like a time-consuming method of playing the games, watching a video grants you certain benefits. One of these advantages is a form of control over what you see. Being able to skip certain parts in favor of getting to a specific story point quicker or rewatching particular scenes to get a deeper understanding is something you can’t quite get from your own playthrough.

A demerit, on the other hand, would be the chance to miss out on certain easter eggs due to the player whose video you’re watching. Beyond easter eggs, podcasts, and comms with other characters might also be skipped if the player is rushing to get to a waypoint. If you just want a brief recap without fully diving into the story, this shouldn’t pose a problem.

Speaking of recaps, there’s a fair chance that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will feature a recap sequence. The reason I’m saying this is due to how Insomniac handled Miles Morales’ game. In case you forgot, the game featured a recap cutscene that brought you up to speed with everything that had happened throughout the first game and its DLCs. Considering how long it has been, doing it for the sequel seems natural, almost like a canon event.

But if you’ve already played the games and remember what happened by heart, there’s no reason to do this unless you prefer it. That said, there are external mediums that offer more insight into this universe, something that might be worth looking into before Spider-Man 2 if you haven’t already.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 And The Gamerverse Comics

The multiverse is real and most people out there are now aware of it. After the Spider-Verse movies and No Way Home, this outcome is only natural. The version of Spidey we see in these games by Insomniac has also been canonically inducted into the larger Marvel multiverse, plus he’s been featured in a fair amount of comic books. 

Events of these games and the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are great and all, but there’s a bit more to this Peter Parker. Something that can be understood by reading the Spider-Geddon books, where he’s recruited by Superior Spider-Man to fight the Inheritors, and the prequel comic to Insomniac’s sequel. Both of these books allow us to see a rather interesting side of Peter, given the vast differences that can occur in the multiverse.

One such thing is the fact that Otto Octavius is Spider-Man. After all, he’s the one who recruited Insomniac’s Peter. It doesn’t need to be said that Doc Ock has been one of Spidey’s greatest foes alongside Green Goblin, Kingpin, and Venom. But the unique touch here is the dynamic shared between this version of Peter and Superior Spider-Man, following the former’s great battle with his mentor back in the game’s universe.

And then you have the prequel comic that bridges the gap between the events of Miles Morales and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The book was released in celebration of Free Comic Book Day so there’s really no reason for you to be missing out on it unless it’s by choice. That said, you can head on over to Marvel’s website to read the synopsis and get an idea of what happens in this story.

Collecting All The Collectibles

Earlier I talked about playing the old games, rebuilding and reigniting that connection with the story and everything. Collectible hunting, however, is about rediscovering the pre-established history of this universe. The events of the first game take place eight years after Peter was originally bitten by the spider. Throughout our adventure, we got to see countless pieces of information, telling us about its events.

That doesn’t even include all the collectibles we had in Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales. The countless backpacks scattered around Manhattan allow us to peek into Peter’s life from a whole other angle. Gaining insight into the events he experienced throughout his eight-year tenure as Spidey, the villains he faced, and some easter eggs as to what we can expect regarding the future of this universe.

I would even go as far as to say that there is some solid foundation here for Insomniac to go down a new route. Considering the condition of Doc Ock and his relationship with Peter, a different version of Marvel’s Superior Spider-Man story might be a possibility but I digress. 

Similar to Peter, Miles has been living in this game was a long time and that means he has a history too. If you prefer not to play the whole story again, maybe consider swinging around collecting Time Capsules and backpacks for a bit of lore and trivia before Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 hits the shelves. With that said, it’s time to give you a bit of advice which brings me to my last point…

Clean Your PlayStation 5

Cleaning your hardware devices after prolonged use over a long period of time is simply a part of good maintenance. Depending on where you live and a whole other bunch of factors, your console may or not be clogged with dust. Regardless of your location, dust will naturally build up inside of such devices after some time passes, and whether you like it or not, it needs to be taken care of.

Earlier this year, Final Fantasy 16 saw its release to great reception. While reports of its sales have been rather indecisive, the general consensus is that it’s a great game. Another thing that stood out was a particular cutscene in the game that caused overheating issues on the PS5. Here’s the thing, it’s common knowledge that hardware usage peaks and vice versa depending on what section of a game you’re at.

However, the chances of underlying causes being the most obvious ones are almost always high. In this particular case, reports suggested that people suffering from overheating problems were rather low but I digress. While games can have bugs that overuse hardware at some point, it’s a safer bet to just be responsible and maintain the health of your gear to ensure peak performance.

That being said, all eyes are on Spidey’s next outing once the game hits the shelves on October 20, 2023, exclusive for Sony‘s PlayStation 5. One thing I know for sure is that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is bringing back that golden era of Spidey games.