After years of hype and numerous teasers, Spider-Man 2 is finally here. And lucky for all of us, it’s really good! If you are just hopping into the game now and want some useful tips, we have some! These 19 tips and tricks should help make saving NYC as either Miles Morales or Peter Parker just a bit easier.
Oh and don’t worry. There aren’t any spoilers in here beyond what’s been shown in trailers before the game’s release. So feel free to peruse our spoiler-free tips before playing Spider-Man 2 without fear of learning about any late-game reveals or last-minute twists!
Pre-order Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
Get caught up on what happened in the previous games
Spider-Man 2 starts with an optional video recapping the events of the first game and the Miles Morales-led spin-off. And it’s…fine! But I’d recommend reading our more detailed recap of what happened before Spider-Man 2, especially if you didn’t play any of the first game’s DLC episodes.
Upgrade health and damage output ASAP
Once you finish up the intro and are free to explore NYC, you can also start upgrading your suit. And you should do that! We recommended improving your max health and damage output first. Fights in Spider-Man 2 tend to be bigger and last longer than in the first game and being able to take extra hits and punch goons harder will come in handy.
Use your wingsuit!
Swinging around New York is a blast, I get it, so why would you ever think about using your wings to glide? Well, because using the wings is also very fun! But more importantly, you can cover a lot of ground while gliding, especially if you take advantage of the various wind tunnels spread across the city. The wingsuit comes in especially handy as you’re crossing the East River or exploring the lower-rise areas of Brooklyn and Queens.
Try the 40fps mode
Spider-Man 2 has a lot of visual options to tinker with, including ray-tracing and various modes. Normally for console games, your choices are 60fps or 30fps. But if you own a 120hz TV, Insomniac has included a 40fps mode that delivers a smoother presentation than 30fps, but retains all the fancy visual details and graphical settings. I played a few hours in this mode and enjoyed it.
And if you are curious as to why 40fps works so well, but only on a 120hz display, check out this Digital Foundry write-up about Ratchet and Clank’s 40fps mode for all the details.
Don’t focus on side content at the start
Look, it’s fun to swing (and glide!) around NYC. I get it. And you might be tempted to start knocking out all the side stuff or taking down random criminals across the city right from the start. Instead, we suggest focusing on the main campaign for a bit to unlock more abilities, side content, and collectibles.
But don’t wait until the very end, either
Lots of repeating icons throughout the map—like Sandman’s crystals and the Forgotten Flame cult break-ins—slowly build toward a narrative conclusion as you complete them. These are far more satisfying if you haven’t already completed the main story.
Catching Kraven’s drones and completing all of his hideouts are especially worth completing mid-game because they help build out his character’s backstory and motivations in more interesting ways.
SLINGSHOT TIME!
The Slingshot Launch is an exhilarating new way to get some momentum quickly and cover large distances. Hold L2+X anywhere to start the slingshot move and then release to go flying into the sky. While you can do this practically anywhere, we recommend slingin’ off the top of a tall building for maximum effectiveness.
Web shooters are your friend
It’s very simple. ABC: always be cobwebbing. Your web shooters can slow enemies down, temporarily disarm them, or stick them to walls. Don’t forget to keep spamming the R1 button in-between punching and web-swinging to get the most out of your web shooters.
Upgrade the web grabber gadget
The Web Grabber is one of the best tools in the game. It ensnares groups of enemies and pulls them into a big pile, which is incredibly handy for crowd control and setting up combos. It can be upgraded to grab objects and big baddies, too, clearing whole waves of enemies in a cinch.
Keep an eye (and ear) open for blue and yellow tech crates
Dotted across the Big Apple are blue and yellow boxes that contain resources you’ll need to upgrade gadgets, suit tech and craft new costumes. Why are these boxes here? The game explains that. But regardless, if you compulsively collected every orb in Crackdown, this will feel very similar in a good way. To help locate these crates, listen for pinging and keep an eye out for bright blue or yellow lights on top of buildings or in alleyways.
Spread out skill points between both Spider-Men
While you can usually switch between the two heroes whenever you want, there are portions of the game where this isn’t possible. Likewise, most missions and sidequests require you to use a specific Spider-Man.
So don’t lump all your points into one. Try to upgrade both of them, as well as the shared skills, so neither Spidey is lacking. This becomes very important later on in the game when you’ll be forced to rely on one Spider-Man for large chunks of time.
Do some fast traveling
It might seem sacrilegious in an open-world Spider-Man game to fast travel, but this time around it’s so snappy and useful that you should save yourself some time and zip across the city. You will need to unlock fast travel in each area of the map before you can use it in that neighborhood, but once you do, take advantage of the power of the PS5 and instantly teleport anywhere you want.
Complete Prowler Stashes for useful loot and a nice payoff to Miles Morales
In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, players meet Miles’ uncle—who is also the supervillain known as the Prowler. By the end of that game, Uncle Aaron has realized the error of his ways (after his nephew beat his ass) and turns himself in to the authorities.
If you want to see what happens next, you need to complete all the Prowler Stash puzzles in NYC. Plus, you get some nice rare tech resources to upgrade your suit and gadgets.
Head to the baseball field for an easy trophy
In downtown Brooklyn, near Coney Island, is a large baseball stadium. Zip over there and run the bases as either Miles or Peter for some fun dialogue and an easy-to-grab trophy.
Parry during fights
A new feature in Spider-Man 2 is the ability to parry attacks. Sure, you can ignore this mechanic at first, as early on the game throws enemies at you who don’t hit too hard and can be taken out quickly. But later on, you’ll need to parry to survive intense boss fights and bigger combat encounters.
So instead of fumbling in the later parts as you try to master parrying, practice right away on weaker enemies and get the timing down.
Give yourself a challenge and push the difficulty up to Amazing
The game can start to get unbalanced as you begin unlocking more powers and accumulating upgrades, especially in the second half. If you’re clearing out most of the side missions before finishing the game, it’s not a bad idea to push the difficulty up to the hardest setting to keep things interesting. It’ll help to keep you from button-mashing your way to the end.
Don’t be afraid to skip puzzles or get free health in boss fights
Spider-Man 2’s accessibility options in the gameplay settings let you auto-refill your health when it hits zero and completely bypass certain puzzles in the game if they just aren’t clicking for you. If you get stuck, use them. The game’s more fun that way.
Die in boss fights to reset useful environmental traps
Some boss fights can feature multiple stages and take quite a long time to finish. One trick that can help is if you purposely die after reaching a checkpoint in a fight. This will fill your health without using Focus bars and reset traps in the boss fight arena, which is very useful when fighting certain tougher enemies.
Tall buildings are your best friends
With the new wingsuit, you can jump off New York’s tallest skyscrapers and glide for miles. Once you’ve unlocked fast travel for various parts of the city, you can immediately hop over to them, climb up, and take off to cover lots of ground quickly while looking for collectibles like Spider-Bots.
Oscorp Tower on the Upper West Side, the Avengers Tower in Midtown, and Freedom Tower in the Financial District are the best ones.
Pre-order Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
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