Summary
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2improves upon a lot of things from the first two games, but one change seems to come out of nowhere. While the refined traversal system and new suit abilities are a nice addition, Insomniac also seems to have changed the gadgets at players' disposal. Instead of eight unique gadgets with very useful abilities, the studio has limited players to just five this time around. That seems like a drastic change, andMarvel’s Spider-Man 2never really seems to explain why.
Since Peter Parker is a technological genius, it would make sense that he would havea wide assortment of Spidey-like gadgetsin his arsenal. Because he is helping Miles Morales become Spidey, it would also make sense that he would share these gadgets with Miles. What does not make sense, however, is the fact that many of the original game’s gadgets are just gone with no notable replacements. It was not like they were useless, but the studio still decided to take the system in a new direction this time around.
RELATED:Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Puts Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Spider-Man 2’s Gadgets Are Drastically Different from the Original’s
Marvel’s Spider-Manfeatured eight fun gadgetsthat players would use throughout their adventures. While Peter’s primary gadget was his web shooters, he could also use various other ones to accomplish his goals. Impact Webs could instantly stick enemies against objects, Web Bombs could unleash an explosion of webs, the Spider-Drone operated like an adorable companion, and the Trip Mine was a useful tool to take out foes during stealth sequences. Players could also use Electric Webs to fry their enemies, the Concussive Blast to knock foes off their feet, and the Suspension Matrix to hoist them into the air.
All of these gadgets proved extremely useful throughoutMarvel’s Spider-Man. However, for some reason, almost none of them made the jump over toMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. That game cut the gadget count down to four, with three of them being brand-new additions. And even though those new additions were fun to play with, they seem to have also been cut from the sequel.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2only features five different gadgets for players to mess around with. Just like the previous two games, one of those gadgets takes the form ofthe iconic Web Shooters. Alongside those, players can use the Upshot, Concussion Burst, Ricochet Web, and Web Grabber to take out their enemies. While some of them share some elements with the original game’s gadgets, they are all brand-new additions to the franchise.
It makes complete sense why Insomniac Games would want to introduce new gadgets with each entry. It is more fun to get new toys to play with rather than being forced to use the same mechanics across multiple games. But from a story perspective, it makes less sense. There is seemingly no reason whyMarvel’s Spider-Man’s Peter Parkerwould just toss out his useful tools in favor of new ones other than the fact that repeat gadgets wouldn’t be satisfying in an entirely new game.
One explanation as to whyMarvel’s Spider-Man 2may have gone with this route is because of how many innate abilities Peter and Miles are afforded in their individual skill trees, let alone the Web Line mechanic that completely rewrites the book on stealth, and how they all might substitute different gadget functions.
This gadget change does not ruin the experience at all, but it does feel a bit jarring. The inevitable third game will likely continue this trend, so hopefully Insomniac can at least come up with an in-universe explanation for why Peter is replacing these useful tools. Either that orMarvel’s Spider-Man 3needs to bring back every single gadget players have seen in anInfinity War-like culmination event. But, that does not seem very likely right now.
