Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is still a great game, just not the best it could’ve been.

With the criticism surrounding the game, I think it’s easy to get swept up in the idea that this was a total train wreck that ruined the series and deserves to be driven into the ground. Everywhere you go, it seems the game is filled with criticism, hatred and anger over how bad it was.

However, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is far from a bad game. Statistically, it is the best selling PlayStation Studios game to date, with 2.5 million copies in 24 hours and it is highly rated anywhere other than here. People are so fixated on the negatives, they forget what the positives of the game are.

For example, yes, the game was not at the same level of detail as previous entires and things were cut, which are all valid concerns and complaints to have - I’m not saying you should praise everything coming your way, the game has its faults - but Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 still has a huge list of things it improved upon and delivered.

It allows you to fast travel anywhere, utilises the PS5 to its fullest, gave us a plethora of new abilities, revamped boss fights, added brand new traversal mechanics with web wings, loop de loops, slingshots and levels of swing assist. It doubled the map size, improved combat with environmental dependent combos, added destructible environments, the ability to switch heroes, diversified gameplay by making MJ more appealing with gun mechanics and tried new mechanics with spray painting and bicycle riding, even if they weren’t necessarily liked.

The game succeeded in all these areas, yet it’s the negatives that shine through. Repeatable podcasts were cut, the social media tab was cut, the characters tab was cut, newspapers can’t be read, FEAST cannot be entered, Act 3 was shortened, Life Foundation Symbiotes were cut, Miles’ Symbiote Arc was cut, Venom’s lines were reduced, NG+ was six months late, DLC was cut, side missions were left on cliffhangers, there were less bases, less side content overall, the time of day setting is limited, the first game’s suits are missing, double finishers were removed, the game was buggy on release with missing or undeveloped textures, they’ve been radio silent for the last year and some other issues I’ve probably forgot to mention.

There’s a lot missing, for sure, but there is no denying that it isn’t a clear improvement from its predecessors.

At the end of the day we’re all consumers. You’re entitled to your opinion and we’re allowed to discuss them and say what we think about the products we spent our hard-earned money on. We all want the best experience for what we paid for and are disappointed if our expectations aren’t matched, probably even more so if you’re also passionate about the series and know what was cut and the potential it could’ve had.

But, taking that, it’s nice to keep in mind that in games, things get cut all the time, either for time issues, or feeling too convoluted when put in the product. We don’t know why things were cut, just that they were. And now they’ve moved on from SM2, we should be more positive that they can put time and resources into other projects, potentially giving us the quality we’re all after. The past is the past. SM2 wasn’t the best, but we can move on and hope they can funnel that into future projects.

Overall, I don’t mean to excuse Insomniac and say the game shouldn’t be criticised or is flawless by any means. It wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, but it certainly isn’t the worst thing ever created and Insomniac isn’t the worst company on the planet either.

Let’s not forget they have suffered a 1.7 terabyte leak of 1.2 million files of all their work and employee information since, became unable to do anything since Voice Actor strikes have been ongoing for the last six months, saw an unofficial PC Port be made of their leaked work and had waves of backlash too, but they still haven’t given up on making games for their fanbases. It’s a miracle they’re still alive and able to give us more content and games, including a sequel to the game they just made, especially since it isn’t the first time their employees have seen death threats, constant backlash and threats from the fan base.

There’s still time for them to improve and us to see this content appear elsewhere. Of course, it’s annoying to know it was cut and truthfully, the leaks and game feedback wasn’t handled as well as it could’ve been, but it isn’t all lost and the game isn’t all misery either.