About a month ago, I had a craving to play a superhero game. Something like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is one of my favourite video games of all time.

Not long after, I learned Spider-Man 2 was coming to PlayStation Plus. For non-gamers, this is a Netflix-style catalogue where you can download games and play them for as long as they are a part of the service. I'd been waiting for Spider-Man 2 to come to the library for a while because I enjoyed the first game and the spin-off, Miles Morales.

I’ve also been a fan of Insomniac Games since the first Ratchet and Clank game. In fact, I’ve played all 15 titles in the series, including the reboot of the first game. I was even a fan of the Resistance games, which I hope they make a comeback one day

Back to Spider-Man 2, the game picks up 10 months after the events of Miles Morales. Like the previous games, you get thrown straight into the action, taking on Sandman. It's the best way to learn the controls, even if you've played the previous Spider-Man games. You also switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales as you try to take the villain down. I enjoyed how they both felt different. Miles has more supernatural powers like electric shocks, while Parker relies on gadgets to get the job done.

The real story centres around Kraven, who is hunting super villains like Scorpion, Vulture, Electro and Black Cat. It sounds to me like he’s doing Spider-Man's job. Parker isn’t a fan, though, and naturally tries to stop him. At the same time, Parker is also dealing with his best friend, Harry, who’s back in the picture, and his girlfriend, Mary Jane, who now works for J. Jonah Jameson. Miles, on the other hand, is procrastinating on his college essay by trying to be Spider-Man full-time.

Yeah, there’s a lot going on.

The good news is that it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot going on. The pacing is perfect, with the game giving you a moment to breathe between some of the story missions. I'm not usually a fan of games stopping you from progressing the main campaign, but those breathers helped me absorb the plot.

Switching between Peter Parker and Miles Morales also helped with the pacing. The plots would play out in their own way and come together before the final credits. There were even a few MJ missions, which I didn’t mind playing as they broke up the web slinging nicely.

Plus, there is so much to do in the city. You can waste hours looking for little spider bugs that unlock new tech. You'll find some of Sandman's remnants scattered around dark alleys to clean up. I lost myself to taking photos around the city to make some extra cash, which I used to upgrade my suit. The Spider-Noir one fit like a glove.

I also liked that the main story didn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a total of 31 missions, which I kept tabs on in the menu system. The missions did get longer as the game went on, but not to the point where I was hoping it would wrap up.

The one thing I didn’t love was the boss battles. I’ve never been a fan of taking out a boss, only to see them get back up with a brand new health bar and a few new tricks. Some of them I dropped four times and they still wanted to punch on. Thankfully, when I got taken out, the game didn’t send me back to the first phase of the boss fight. That would have been game over for me.

I definitely recommend Spider-Man 2. Insomniac Games has made another fantastic superhero game. It feels incredible to swing through New York City and beat up bad guys. There’s also tons to do and an amazing story to back it up. If you haven’t played it, get on it.

It’s got me even more excited to see what they do with Wolverine, the studio’s next game. I know I won’t be waiting 889 days to play it.

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