After roughly a two-year wait, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is finally poised to release on PlayStation 5 later this month. By all accounts, this is going to be one of the biggest games of this year and will likely be the reason that many end up purchasing a PS5 console. Despite such excitement, though, Spider-Man is no stranger to the video game scene and has seen countless titles that date back to 1982 on the Atari 2600.
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With this in mind, there are more than enough Spider-Man games that you can look to jump into right now that can help make the wait for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 just a bit easier. Assuming you have the means to play them, here are five (technically, six) Spider-Man games that should be on your radar if you haven’t experienced them already.
Marvel’s Spider-Man + Miles Morales
Let’s just start with the obvious. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is clearly a sequel that was preceded by 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and the 2020 spin-off Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which released in tandem with the PS5. Both of these games were excellent in their own right and helped redefine what open-world Spider-Man games look like. They also tell excellent stories in an original Spider-Man universe that developer Insomniac Games has crafted itself.
If you somehow haven’t already played Marvel’s Spider-Man or Miles Morales, you should definitely experience them before diving into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Even though much of the story in Spider-Man 2 can likely be understood without having to play the games before it, your own playthrough of the new game will be greatly amplified if you go back to these installments. Best of all, both titles aren’t too long and can be snagged on the cheap nowadays.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, for my money, is the most underrated Spider-Man game ever made. At the time of its release in 2008, Web of Shadows was reviewed pretty negatively by many critics and failed to make much of an impact with fans. Since then, it has slowly become a cult classic thanks to its unique combat, use of various Marvel characters, and widespread memes. Web of Shadows also allows players to make their own choices like an RPG would, which can lead to some seriously crazy outcomes in its story.
Perhaps the only problem with playing Web of Shadows in 2023 is that it’s now ridiculously expensive. Whether you’re looking to pick up a copy on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, Web of Shadows runs from anywhere between $70 to over $100. Not to mention, it’s also not forward compatible on any current current-generation consoles. It might be difficult to play Web of Shadows now, but it’s definitely worth revisiting.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Based on the comic book series of the same name, Ultimate Spider-Man was the first Spider-Man game to come about after Spider-Man 2, which essentially set the bar for what these games could do in an open-world. Outside of featuring some new web-slinging and combat mechanics, Ultimate Spider-Man sticks closely to its source material and tells its narrative through comic book panel-like cutscenes. This combined with its vibrant cel-shaded artwork makes Ultimate Spider-Man stick out quite a bit in the pantheon of Spidey games.
One of the big reasons why Ultimate Spider-Man is unique is because it puts a key emphasis on Venom, who is a playable character throughout the story. With Venom set to be such a big part of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it may be worth going back to Ultimate Spider-Man to see how the character has been used previously in the medium.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Before the Spider-Verse became such a mainstream concept in Spider-Man media, Shattered Dimensions toyed around with the idea in the video game space. Centered around four different versions of Spider-Man (2099, Ultimate, Noir, and Amazing), Shattered Dimensions contains four unique campaigns that are all far more linear when compared to other Spidey titles. If you’re curious to see what Spider-Man games can be like when they don’t involve openly swinging around New York City, well, here you go.
Like many of the other options on this list, the most difficult part of Shattered Dimensions is simply finding a way to play it. Again, the game’s PlayStation and Xbox iterations jump between $50 and $90 on average and it’s not playable on current-gen hardware. Still, if you can find a way to play it, then you absolutely should as it’s likely one of the more distinct Spider-Man games that we’ve ever seen.
Spider-Man
2000’s Spider-Man was the Web-Head’s first big foray into the 3D space. Where every Spidey game before this was usually some variant of an action-platformer or side-scrolling beat ’em up, Spider-Man looked to finally give players a playground to swing about and actually feel like Spider-Man. Compared to what has since been seen in games associated with the character, Spider-Man is absolutely a bit archaic, but there’s also a certain charm to what developer Neversoft was experimenting with.
Likely the most enjoyable part of Spider-Man in retrospect is just how silly it is. The game portrays Venom as more of a wisecracking buffoon than a vicious monster and has a final boss that is a mesh of Carnage and Dr. Octopus. There have absolutely been better Spider-Man games since the turn of the millennium, but perhaps none of them are this goofy.
