Awesome / Marvel's Spider-Man 2

I know my enemies not gon' play nice, so Ima give it my all every time.

Pre-Release

• The sheer teamwork between Miles, Peter, and Ganke (who has hacked into a hunter drone) to take down the gunship.
• Seeing Peter don the Black Suit is something fans longed for since the first game was released. As per usual, the symbiote grants Peter tendril like attacks and increased strength and durability. Although, as fan know, that power comes at a price when it comes to the Symbiote...
• While he noticeably takes a brief pause when deciding whether to pursue the Lizard or save civilians from the falling gunship, in the split decision, Peter still chooses to prioritize saving people over his own personal wants. It goes to show that the good-hearted nature of Peter Parker cannot so easily be extinguished even by Venom's corrupting influence.
• Miles has definitely grown as a superhero in the time between this game and his own. He not only manages to keep up with Peter in the chase and fight against the hunters and Lizard, but it's his and Ganke's idea to use the drone to bring down the gunship not Peter’s.
  • Special mention when he manages to save Peter from being captured after he got briefly knocked out by the gunship's defenses.
• Despite not wearing the Symbiote anymore, Harry selflessly risks his life to save Peter from being captured by Kraven's hunters by turning off a machine emitting a high pitched sound that puts him and the symbiote in immense pain.
• The TV Spot showing Peter and Miles facing off against Venom. It starts off with the symbiote-empowered villain handing our webbed heroes their asses but then we see them quickly both get back up and give the villain some very good hits with Peter using his spider legs and Miles using his Venom blast powers (no relation). With them both together charging at the villain. A good reminder of just why Spider-Man is The Determinator.

Post-Release

• Much like the first game, the intro here not only packs in a pitch-perfect introduction to both Peter and Miles, showing off just how in-sync they've become since Miles' solo stint, and when it's finally time for the player to step into their shoes, they're once again asked to...
  Swing
• The first boss fight against Sandman does not disappoint, being a truly epic battle that feels more like the Spider-Men are fighting Godzilla as the grand finale of some other epic adventure. After a knockdown, drag out brawl through New York City, Miles absorbs a lightning strike and uses the electricity to power up Peter's mechanical spider-legs to fire off a laser beam worthy of the Proton Cannon. Their teamwork throughout the fight is impeccable as well.
• Kraven notes that out of all of Spider-Man's rogues, the one who gave him the hardest fight was, of all people, Shocker. While never quite sinking to the level of a Harmless Villain, Shocker has always been something of an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain between his ridiculous name and equally ridiculous suit, coupled with the slightly more cordial personality this version had — so it says something that, weighed against the likes of Scorpion, Vulture, and Electro, he gave the Hunter his hardest fight yet, being Defiant to the End. While Kraven speaks of all the villains as disappointments in the end for not besting him, he praises the "sincerity" with which Herman fought for his life, and there's a twinge of admiration and even intimidation in his voice as he describes the way his dead eyes continue to "stare into mine like he might try to kill me".
  • We're also shown Scorpion hiding and ambushing Kraven, stabbing the hunter with his stinger tail, the same stinger tail that's shown to send both Peter and Miles into a hallucination-filled drug trip. Kraven treats it like he got a splinter, rips out the tail, turns the tables on Scorpion and kills him with the stinger.
  • Remember the last game, where one of the foes Spider-Man showed the most concern about was Electro? How if Electro ever applied himself he could be an Avengers-level threat? Kraven killed him and made it look easy. And outright calls Electro a waste of his time.
• Tombstone might've chosen to go straight, but when Kraven's goons ambush him at Coney Island, he shows them he hasn't lost his touch, as Spidey hears tapping into their radio.
  Hunter: We're containing Tombstone as much as we can, but we cannot-
  Tombstone: Surprise! You thought you could kidnap me with a little rope and The Power of Friendship? Think again!
  • It's worth noting that they had to use four nets to keep Tombstone restrained just long enough to capture him. For comparison, Spidey struggles to break free of one net (in cutscenes and gameplay).
• Harry saves Pete and a ride full of civilians at Coney Island by holding an entire burning support up.
• MJ ends up in a surprise playable chapter where she proves to have taken a level in badass, curb stomping the hunters who drove her to the abandoned zoo and carving a path of carnage through it to rescue The Lizard. While she’s nervous the entire time and can’t confront large groups directly, she can still easily one shot any of them.
• When Miles goes missing, Rio contacts Peter for help. Peter, who is currently under the symbiote's influence, is dismissive and just irritably says he'll find him. Before he can leave...
  Rio: All Miles talks about is how to be a better Spider-Man. Not school, not his friends... how to help you. Go. Help. Him.
  • Peter can't even respond, just turning and leaving to do just that. Considering he was more symbiote than Peter at this point and just came from a heated argument with his best friends, the fact that Rio shut him down completely to make him find her son is incredibly impressive.
• Miles, captured by Kraven and forced into a deathmatch with Li, proves the last lesson his father gave him true. Li pushes Miles to his physical and mental limits, and uses the voices of his mother, his best friend, his hero, and his father to demand him to just give in. With all that against him, Miles wins by being a guy who never gives up. And as the cherry on top, Miles essentially demasks himself to Li and reveals his identity as the son of Jefferson Davis. For most heroes, this is already a supremely ballsy power move, but for a Spider-Hero, whose lives almost universally go to hell when a villain learns their identity, this essentially screams Not Afraid of You Anymore in heavy metal bass.
  Miles: You're done, Li! I'm not doing this anymore! You wanna know who I am!? I'm the kid whose dad you killed at City Hall.
  Li: What...?
  Miles: He died because YOU decided YOUR problems were more important than all of those people's lives! Jefferson Davis was a HERO who saved people from YOU.
• The match many were waiting for - Peter, under the corruption of the symbiote, against Miles. The fight is incredibly tense, with Peter throwing everything he's got at Miles while ranting and wallowing in self-pity - but Miles, showing his incredible development as a hero, battles his mentor on even footing, giving Peter You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech combined with him calling Peter out on his actions under the symbiote's influence, shooting all of Peter's claims that he's better with the black suit down.
  Peter: I can't let this go! I'm finally everything everybody needs me to be!
  Miles: Yeah?! You don't even answer my calls anymore, man! And what about MJ?! You could've killed her! I know you're hurting, Pete - but you're better than this!
  • And at the climax of the fight, the moment everyone knew was coming - Peter, thanks to Miles weakening the symbiote with the church bell Kraven brought in for his match and finally getting through to him, choosing to reject the symbiote and tear it forcefully off of him.
• It crosses over with Nightmare Fuel, sure, but Peter, Miles, and MJ are joined by one other playable character. Once the symbiote re-bonds with Harry and knocks out Spider-Man, the camera slowly maneuvers right behind his shoulder, and the player is given a simple prompt: Attack. Three words: We. Are. VENOM. And he's just as much of a powerhouse as he's always been, allowing the player to lay waste to both the Oscorp HQ and Times Square and rip through Osborn's security detail and Kraven's Hunters like a tiger in a meat locker. And it all leads up to the mission's grand finale, in which Venom goes toe-to-toe with Kraven himself, and gives him the death he craved... by biting his goddamn head off. Move over, Sergei. There's a new Big Bad in town.
  • Kraven gets major points for fighting Venom, and not showing one inch of fear. At one point he even slices Venom’s tongue clean off. In fact, this is pretty much the final battle Sergei has been dreaming of and it shows.
  Kraven:Do you know what it’s like to have your body betray you?! Weakness will not claim me! If I am to die soon, I will die roaring!
  • We get a brief glimpse at just how powerful the symbiote makes Harry at the beginning of the story after Peter gets stabbed by Kraven. Once Harry realizes just what happened and loses his temper, it takes less than two minutes before the battle goes from fairly even, to Kraven giving it all he’s got just to stay in the fight, to Harry beating him in and out of consciousness. If MJ hadn’t called out to Harry to check on Peter, Kraven would’ve perished long before Venom got his teeth into him proper.
• While corrupted by the Scream Symbiote, MJ actually does a better job resisting the symbiote than Peter or Harry did. When touching on her deepest emotional desires and loves, she breaks out of its negative influences, and even the captions change to reflect that we're hearing her. She even helps Peter free her of it by having him knock a jackhammer next to a pile of steel beams, then jumping closer to the resulting noise to weaken the symbiote.
• After being saved by Peter from the symbiote's influence, MJ immediately calls Jonah, who, in typical J. Jonah Jameson fashion, is giving her a list full of unreasonable demands. A fed-up MJ, who has been struggling with putting up all of his crap throughout the game, tells him to shove it and promptly quits. Peter's reaction says it all.
  Peter: You're so cool.
  • In other words, Mary Jane never giving Jameson a long winded "Reason You Suck" Speech proves that she's above Jameson. In fact, had she told him to write something positive about Spider-Man for once, he probably would have never forgiven her.
• The finale of the game taking place in a symbiote-infested New York, covered in kudzu-like symbiote matter growing on the streets and off of skyscrapers. It's easy to forget that this is the same studio who made the Resistance games!
• With Miles' help, Martin Li pours all of his power into the inside of Peter's mind, risking his own life in the process, to save him from any further symbiote corruption. It works, Li survives, and Peter gets a sweet new Anti-Venom suit out of it, too.
• The final mission involves facing the grand final boss, Venom.
  • MJ utilizes her training from Sable and her proficiency with her advanced gun to successfully retrieve the crucial meteorite required for the symbiote invasion. She carries out this mission in a cavern that has been overrun by symbiotes, including a massive Symbiote Brute. Meanwhile, Peter leads Venom away and Miles fights off the Symbiotes that are guarding the cavern.
  • The Spider-Men's intense and emotionally charged battle against a Humanoid Abomination unfolds in four stages. The stakes are high, not only for the fate of New York, but also for the world. The objective is to free Harry from the symbiote while fighting for victory. The battle takes place in a dramatic setting, at Pete and Harry's former high school and the ruined Emily-May Foundation, with the added effect of the rain. Both sides showcase their skills and powers in the battle, with the tide constantly changing and both sides fighting their hardest to win.
  • One of the most epic parts may be Venom growing webbed wings, which, when combined with the night-time full moon setting and the use of a church, gives the distinct impression that the Spider-Men are fighting the Devil himself.
  • The Spider-Men successfully weakens Venom's grasp on Harry, although the symbiote's hold remains too strong. Harry could only restrain the symbiote briefly, allowing Peter to employ his Anti-Venom abilities to eradicate it. Regrettably, Harry is also fused with the symbiote, leading to his inevitable demise upon its destruction. It's only thanks to Miles' electrical powers that he can be revived.
  • Say what you will of Venom, but he makes it clear right from the get go that it will not be an easy fight, and lives up to his reputation as one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies by making sure they earn their victory. No matter what Peter and Miles throw at him, no matter how many beatdowns he endures, no matter how many times Peter exploits Venom's weaknesses, the symbiote will not stop hitting back twice as hard, and is virtually unstoppable. It gets to the point that Peter breaking his Thou Shalt Not Kill vow and potentially taking Harry with it is the only way to stop Venom, and even then, the only reason Peter does so is because Venom is using the meteorite to expand his symbiote tendrils to pin Miles and go after MJ to stop her from destroying the meteor.
    • He also throws a massive wrench in the team's plan in a way they couldn't predict - Peter attempted to lure him away from the nest so that Miles and MJ could steal the meteor, and thus take him too far away to get to the EMF to stop them. However, Venom quickly grows out his wings to cross the city in an instant, making there just as Miles and MJ arrive to throw an unconscious Peter through the facility before squaring up to Miles.
• Miles taking on the fake Mysterios in a side mission is just as incredible as the seminal fight against him in Spider-Man 2.
• And the end. Osborn, furious about Harry in a coma, decides it's time to finish the "G-Serum". Ladies and gentleman, the Green Goblin, the arch nemesis of Spider Man is finally coming.
• In another post-credit scene, Miles is introduced to his mother's new boyfriend Albert, and his daughter Cindy Moon. It appears there'll be yet another Spider-themed hero in the future!