also something i wanna add is that when he first gets the symbiote hes joking around a LOT. i think its because the symbiote is slowly digging deeper in peters mind, and since hes humor is kind of the surface level of his personality thats what the symbiote amplifies first and then when it gets deeper it amplifies his trauma because thats deeper inside him

Bro makes the dopest edit of the game and act like we ain’t going notice.

14:43 Everybody gangsta until Peter starts talking about himself in plurals

ima be honest my only problem with Spider-Man 2 is that it was to short, we didn't get enough. Like bro 300 mil for 15 hrs is crazy giive me more pls. btw it does have the best traversal of all time.

I love that Peter’s arc in the first game is him learning to accept help. That he needs to accept help to share the responsibility with. That’s what miles and his relationship with MJ is. This game is the 5 stages of grief of that and Aunt May. At the beginning he is in Denial that he is having a problem. The black suit represents his anger towards the fact that he needs people to help him. He thinks the suit can replace miles and MJ so they won’t be in danger. But he grows an addiction. The fight with miles is Bargaining. Then he is in depression as we see when he gets Anti Venom. And him giving all the responsibility to miles is acceptance.

There's another criticism that you forgot to put out: the fact that the game didn't include the best Spider-Man villain of all time: the wall.

Miles rocking the Killmonger cut is character assassination. No sane person rocks that shit unironically 😭

44:48 Agreed. The Fridge is Peter’s Arch Nemesis. It’s been the main villain of this Spider-Man Insomniac series. Hopefully in the 3rd game, Peter can finally beat it.

My problem with the Scream fight is that she’s not really held accountable for the things she said. Now, I’m not saying Peter should’ve held it over her head or something, but the second Peter got the suit off, he apologized for everything he did, but this feels more like her aggressively pointing out Peter’s flaws and having him apologize for everything, it would’ve been nice if she at least tried to apologize for what she said and have Peter say it’s fine, because he understands what the symbiote does.

42:42 ngl bro adding Otto here with the voice acting on top of that actually made me tear up 💀💀

The worst, most obviously annoying addition to the story is the Danicast. She literally just spells out everything that is going on for some reason. I genuinely think the story is pretty great as its own thing, but she went from kind of a fun neat addition that showed more of Mile's community to just telling us the plot that just happened.

41:46 This sequence is genuinely amazing, it shows how Peter changed over the course of both games and how he parallels from the previous game. Something I didn't notice, Good Stuff. 👍

Synthetic Boy’s ranting at the beginning of the video 😂😂😂

I love how when the little alley oop thing is over, the subtitles for Ganke say [WAR CRY!]

Sadly I feel like everyone doesn’t understand the story the way it is or like this video is because they were rushing through the game & tryna beat it first day instead of digesting everything & actually take their time to actually play it.

42:40 ok, I love this cut. 1. I felt like the only person who realized Peter was mirroring Doc Ock here, their need to be better after so many failures externally became something which nearly ruined Peter 2. Because the Symbiote mirroring the Neural Interface was a great move by the writers, and as for the rest of the entire video, it was really well done and backed up all claim’s with evidence from the games and didn’t overly bash on the game for its writing choices, just brought them up to make clear the intent behind the video.

as someone whos tried defending this game so fucking much its refreshing to see this thank the fucking lord

So I just finished watching this video and I just thought about the moment you bring up the opinion most people have on this game’s version of Venom and the symbiote being inherently evil reminded me of a line from Prey (2017). It is a line from Alex Yu to your character around a 1/4th to halfway through the game’s story where he says: *“People are quick to project human features onto things they don't understand. The Typhon kill us without hesitation. But it's not because they're evil. It's because they can't do otherwise. You know what we discovered? They lack mirror neurons. For all of their wonderful abilities, there is one thing that we can do that they can’t: empathize with the suffering of another living creature.”* I think in a way this quote can apply to Insomniac’s take on Venom. Because we have no actual way to say if this take on Venom was evil to begin with or not. Just thought it would be interesting to think about

I really enjoyed the video. I have the same score of the story as you do (8 out of 10). There's a lot to love about it. One thing I really loved about it was how it handled the Black Suit arc. While I can see the point of the suit could have benefited from more screentime, what we get of it is pretty great. I find it believable that Peter would fall into the Black Suit and turn into a monster from his own issues. Peter's actions come from a place of good intention. Him wanting to hang out with Harry and side-lining Miles. This wasn't out of malice. He wanted Miles to focus on his life and get his essay done. Peter hangs out with Harry because he wanted to catch up on lost time. When he gets the Suit, that's where those good intentions start to turn malicious. Peter leaves Miles out because he thinks Miles is off his game and that Peter thinks he can do it better on his own thanks to the suit. Peter hanging out with Harry turns more malice because the stress is getting to Peter and that he believes the suit should stay with him because it makes him a better Spider-Man. It shows how that Peter was still calling the shots despite being in the Suit. You ultimately feel for Peter. He wanted to do good, but the failure to balance his life and him giving into the suit is what turns him into a monster. It's my favorite way to handle his fall into the suit. It's out of established character traits and things established in the story of these games. Spectacular Spider-Man handled the Black Suit arc well, but since it was early in Peter's hero career (He only been Spider-Man for about 5 months) and he's only now getting his villain line up, we couldn't really do much with the mental struggle of Peter because his career of being a hero has just begun. The mental battle with the Black Suit was great of course, but the symbiote didn't have a ton to work with. Spider-Man 3's Black Suit arc set up was very shaky because it's built on a retcon (Sandman killing Uncle Ben) and Peter's questionable characterization in the beginning of the movie. I don't buy Peter's actions in the beginning of the movie because it's too much of a leap from the end of Spider-Man 2. Even if he's going through an ego trip, I don't buy him kissing Gwen the way he did. I have a hard time buying Peter would go through an ego trip at all. You can't show and tell me that Peter would protect MJ no matter what, just for him to act like a jerk to her in the very next film with no real built up. Despite the shaky set up, I feel the movie does well of handling Peter's fall and becoming a monster. It's just how we got there is what bothers me. The 90s show's Black Suit arc is iconic, and I have a ton of respect for it, but it doesn't really explore on what makes Peter tick all that much. The Suit is more responsible for Peter going bad then Peter was. Plus, Peter taking off the suit was just way too easy. The bell rings a few times and boom, the suit is off him. The 2017's Black Suit arc was just... pathetic. Good video. It was worth the wait.

I feel like they miss out on making venom scary by not having him actually hurt anyone close to Peter. It would add that extra oomph if we actually saw Venom use his teeth on someone Peter loves or knows. If Venom in the one scene with MJ broke her bone or something…it would be such a WTF moment. They give us this menacing huge animalistic beast and the only time we see him draw blood is against Kraven. A big part of what caught me by surprise with the first game was them killing May. I didn’t think they’d do it. But here everyone felt “safe” like we all knew nothing bad would happen to anyone Peter cares about.

Despite the issues that the game has in terms of story writing and character arcs, Spider-Man 2 is still an enjoyable game and I'm grateful for all the hard work Insomniac has put into it. :)

One detail I really love that's really just more of an observation is how this game starts so similar to the first one, with Spider-Man swinging to action to the detriment of his other life, but it still feels so different, and not just because of the bigger scope. The first game started with Peter on his own, the lone wolf Spider-Man is infamous for being, his only ally being Yuri who, despite clearly being more than just an ally, was still kept at a very strict arm's length by both sides. Spider-Man was very much a solo act and Peter wanted it that way. And Peter's arc in that game was in great part learning how to grow out of the notion that everything was his responsibility and that he has people in his life who will help him if he'll just let them. MJ's words in first game, "You're not alone anymore Pete." resonate all over this game's opening. Peter is still swinging to action, but now Miles is right beside him, MJ is on call ready to help and completely in the loop of the situation, Ganke is providing support from the background and is the fucking backbone of the whole operation, Rio is aware and encouraging Miles to do his best while still being worried about him, there's a whole network of people behind us now, Spider-Man isn't a solo act anymore, and it feels earned because we went through two games playing as each to get here, the whole thing feels right, I LOVE that I have so much help instead of being annoyed by it, and that's only possible because the construction to that help was so well done.

Dude for this game I was most hyped for venom obviously, but every single scene with Kraven was terrific. Every time I hear his theme I get the goosebumps. Man is a monster

47:57 If someone got a photo of this, J.J would be printing papers nonstop saying "Spider-Man beats helpless woman asking for help" or something...

Absolutely fantastic. This video didn't even feel like it was 2 hours. I'm really glad that you made this. I was invested in what you had to say the WHOLE time.

the way the venom says "thanks for coming pete" is so wholesome in comparison to something like spectacular venom saying the same thing, i know a lot of people don’t like this venom but i think it’s cool how the symbiote and harry still care about peter and wants him to rule WITH them instead outright hating him

its just sad to see people cant actually contain enough media literacy and just understand the story. peter is suffering not because he's physically weak, but because he's mentally and emotionally broken after aunt may's death, even the crossover with 616 peter deliberately stated where insom peter is going through.

Damn, what a great analysis! It's well edited and written. It made me love this game and its story even more! Keep up the good work

Finally a review of this game that isn’t “this game’s story is so unbelievably bad”. I have some issues with this game’s story but it’s still phenomenal and it doesn’t deserve the hate it gets and I can’t wait for spider man 3.

There is actually an interaction you might’ve missed with miles and Peter in the black suit, it’s short but it shows more of Miles’ concern. He called Miles before the “Wake up” mission. Telling him he’s going to bed tonight and asking if Miles is alright. Miles responds just by saying “yeah, you?” Peter responds with “Yeah, just tired.” Miles shows his concern by saying that Peter never acts like that. There’s also a part during the black suit story where Miles visits Aunt May’s grave, mainly telling Aunt May that Peter isn’t acting like his usual self.

I think with the fridge thing is that Peter was not expecting the fridge to fall on him like think about it if something you lift falls on you you would probably fall down because you won't expecting it

Don't disrespect Rufus. He's better than those rats 0:50

It’s finally here Grab some popcorn, boys

Yo, Colin thanks for the shoutout! Glad my video could help!

I love how you mention the Symbiote's POV too as Evan Filarca made an hour long video talking about Venom and the Symbiote itself and it pretty much touches on these topics as well

Colin putting out the video we’ve always been waiting for

I hope youtuber GodzillaMendoza sees this. This was nothing short of amazing.

I recently discovered that venom has a freakin air finisher. There is so much random details like this or the insomniac bus

I love how much peter with the symbiote reflects Otto, during the Lizard fight when he injects him with the antidote is when i first noticed how he uses the symbiotes tendrils like Otto's arms a lot, he does this when hes strangling Kraven too.

42:00 I swear dude that bit was incredibly bone chilling and it really made my day I'm glad you're one of the people that understand this game and the character spider

36:59 I’m just glad someone like LowTierGod doesn’t have Mr. Negative’s power. Miles would have never survived 😢😅

alot of people hate the fact that harry is venom in this game, and I thought I was going to hate it too before I had played the game but I'm honestly very happy with the adaptation we got. Probably my favorite adaptation of Venom in a long time.

It feels so rushed. It feels like as soon as you get the symbiote Peter takes it off

Spiderman 1 has a theme of inspiration. Spiderman and Martin Li were inspired by aunt May, Miles is inspired by his dad and Doc Oc was jealous of Osborn, helping people not because of inspiration or a genuine desire to help, but overtaken by the need to prove himself against Norman, leading to his downfall. “If you help someone, you help everyone” Spiderman 2 has a theme of legacy. May’s legacy has left an impact on Peter and Harry to do right by her, Peter sees his new job as an alternative to help the world as the Spiderman legacy becomes unfulfilling to him, which the suit temporarily solves, leading to the lab getting destroyed, Kraven wants an honourable legacy before his death, despite the innocent people who get hurt. Harry says to Peter “don’t you get tired of healing the world everyday, you can do it once” leading to his downfall, becoming obsessed with healing the world, forgetting why he wanted to help people in the first place.

yo, your videos are so expertly edited and well structured. You're massively underrated for your video quality and one of the only youtubers that i can watch for hours on end. You make a video game that i know the story to and know the ending,so much more detailed and makes my apprecaite literally ANY game more love long-form videos like these and make sure too keep these types of videos up👍 sorry for the glazing btw👍

You sir, have officially made my favorite video about Spider-Man 2! I love how in depth you went with Peter and Miles' arcs, as well as MJ's arcs. I especially love the way you described Venom (Uncle Terry) and is behavior. Mainly that the symbiote is acting based off of things it was "taught". The symbiote itself isn't necessarily bad in the traditional sense. It thinks it's doing the right thing, but it's going about it the wrong way! It's clear that this video had a lot of effort put into it and it's an amazing watch not just for people who already love the game (the vast majority of people), but I think this video may also sway people who may not like the game (the minority)! Thanks for making this video my man, cheers!

Awesome vid! Loved the analysis it put everything into perspective, great vid!

The editing is on point. The parralel from Peter to Otto sent a chill down my spine.

I’m really glad to see this story receive more nuanced dissection. I’ve definitely been guilty of being too harsh on the game and it is still incredibly solid.

Great work! This has to be the best Spider-man 2 analysis video I’ve seen yet! Great job explaining Peter, Miles, MJ, Harry, the Symbiote, Kraven, and Uncle Terry!

"they've cucked Spider-Man" is literally the worst reaction. It's so stupid like something emotionally complex is happening in front of you and you decided to call him Sneako

Let’s go i’ve been waiting for this

Having the outline of the video be red and blue is genius because it tricked me into thinking i was already halfway through the video. I was going to click anyway but that’s damn smart

This is absolutely amazing keep up the great work can’t wait to see more 🔥!

truly a great video watching all if this has been worth the wait. great stuff man.

1:23:20 The way I viewed this was less that the symbiote wanted to ditch Harry for Peter. Harry learned Peter is Spider-Man and realizes that his best friend is a super hero, he already wanted to heal the world with Peter, and now he saw another way they could help, as superheroes. Harry not only wants to scoop Peter onto their old project, he also wants to be like Spider-Man, and the symbiote recognizes this. Right after this, Harry is talking about being a hero, yet him and the symbiote would have no clue how to do that, Peter does. We've seen in other media that the symbiote will full on get off of their host to swap, and though that's nothing concrete, I figure it's worth bringing up. After this, it copies Spider-Man in multiple ways. Harry's first suit is a lot like a spider suit. The conversation Harry and Peter have before the foundry, Harry wants to be a "Spider Pal." During the mission, Harry is jumping around and moving more brute like but after the suit grabs Peter, he not only aquires a symbol but he's shown using tendrils to swing as webs, just like Spider-Man. Finally, when Harry sees Peter dying, the only thing he can think of is not losing Peter, and so to fulfill the desire to save Peter, the suit does the only thing it knows it can do. The only heavy issue I have with my own theory is mostly the suit grabbing Peter. My two theories were either it hsd Harry's desire to have Peter in his life or it was to copy his abilities for Harry to use, if you notice Harry's suit is armord because it needs to be as Harry is more fragile than Peter. But who knows, I had never considered that Harry probably isn't an ideal host and that Peter is a more desirable one, but I wonder if the suit would fully acknowledge this. The symbiote usually isn't unloyal, but it also typically bonds with Peter first, always wanting him back after being torn from him. In the game, it talks about how Peter was torn away from it, so if it wanted Peter from the start or got attached, it later ultimately culminates to it being angry they were separated. The only thing I'd wonder is if it would now leave Harry for Peter, I would assume yes but I'm not sure if we'll ever know

Im tired of this "Peter got nerfed" Wasn't it not told to us that when Peter is under a lot of stress and doubt, it hinders his performance as Spider-Man

Bro that starting clip of the guy talking about Ganke and the Miles game is CRAZY, also great analysis of the story

Evan Filarca's Incle Terry video is pretty eye opening and funnily enough you mentioned a few points he did like with the Symbiote learning from both Harry and Peter. I hope they explain more in the future officially regarding the Symbiote

Great analysis dude. This was a great watch.

I enjoyed the video as usual. You did a way better job talking about Peter, Miles and Mj's characters than in my review video. I really hate when people say that Mj is so bad and that she has no flaws which is not true. Overall I did enjoy the story and Peter and Miles characters in the game

bro that montage you did at the beginning of the video of the story beats was INCREDIBLE

This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for

Really well made video, dude. I'm glad to see someone actually have valid criticisms over something they love and not just... racism lmao

24:10 That was another really good video! I think your analyses are good, those I’ve seen thus far, of Peter’s symbiote arc and Miles’ arc. Still watching more of it after this comment.

Hang on, I just noticed that Pete is always wearing his web shooters. Even when he visits Emily May and Harry doesn't even know he's Spider Man. How this guy managed to keep his identity a secret is a mystery.

My biggest gripe with the story would be how fast the symbiote section went by. I feel the symbiote should have been attached to Peter much earlier in the game and have it slowly changing him throughout the game. Other than that I thought the story was top notch.

I think you should post all the edits you put in this vid individually. They’re actually so good

This video is objectively speaking facts. The story is great. The story is 8-8.5/10 but overall game is 9/10

My 2nd least favorite thing about the game is easily Venom, I despise symbiote invasions storylines and it’s a little unclear about how the symbiote works. Venom’s always at his best when he’s after Pete, not taking over the world. Might I say it’s also a little sad that your filler villain is miles better than your main villain

I liked your review of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 gameplay and story. While I like the story of Spider-Man 2 (2023) I still think Spider-Man (2018) had a better story overall.

I always like the thought of the symbiote being a baby and when it binds woth someone it take q part of who they are and becomes more like them. Like kid they absorb their surroundings and base their personality off it. And I think Insomniac's venom is a great showing of this idea, he's like a teenager with a great idea but because of his inexperience in the world he only sees one way of "healing the world".

Can we all agree that Peter's line: "All I wanted to do was to save everyone, MJ, May, now that city thinks that I'M the problem" is one of if not the BEST DELIVERED lines in gaming history.

I love your montages with the intro and the Peter fight. Hope to see more of that in the future. But the review itself, I like your interpretation of the story, it sounds better than "Symbiote is evil" that I've heard before. I kind of thought that the Symbiote was a learning alien when I first played it. (Also I wish I could've seen an edit when Miles was getting punched into the ground by Peter's rogue gallery and the 'Be Greater' trailer when Peter is falling)

Great analysis dude. Enjoyed this a lot

I absolutely love the symbols, themes and characterizations in Insomniacs games and it’s disappointing that people perceive it as only an agenda because there's a 'little' political messaging in it that has nothing to do with the main writing, as well as over exaggerating and over analyzing even the smallest imagery PS4 is better than this story wise, but Spider-Man 2 is still a fire sequel

Colin with another banger.

I think one of the biggest differences between Spider-Man 2 and the other two games is that they cover a lot of story and character development during gameplay, specifically boss battles, and you need to pay attention to their dialogues to fully appreciate the writers' work. I get that's a problem for a lot of people but I believe it is a totally reasonable choice as at some point you need to stop spending millions for cutscenes.

This is like the best video about this game ive seen. Colin you never fail to be the only person to see reason in video's. I feel like this story could have gone as one of the characters greatests if it had just a bit more time to flesh out the themes it was trying to tell. its great as is and the messaging about balance and leaving behind what doesnt help you and even the themes of abusing an addiction to cope with your own self esteem and self doubts are genuinely amazing. if the story was even just a few hours longer to show more of peter i n the black suit, and miles struggle of being afraid of loosing people aswell as add a bit to the admittedly super fast third act to flesh out venom aa bit more it would have been perfect

I know it's not directly related with the story, but you get so distracted in the Spanish version with their "neutral gender" approach that it takes you out of the narrative and seriousness of the themes... Like eating a good cake with some hidden needles inside

I personally think the main story went a bit too fast and glossed over Peter's transformation into bully lowenthal (was too quick). And the symbiote invasion was a bit too short imo And Miles suit just *appears*, the anti venom suit makes sense, it's a part of the story, same with Miles suit from his game, the anti Ock suit and the advanced suit, they all had story relevance. But the Miles Morales Original just exists to give a new suit. Plus it looks like shit

Got a good laugh and long conversation out of this tangled web of a confusing video. Thanks for the several hours of fun I had with the group watch.

Actually i have a theory about how electro could come back. It's that now that he's dead somehow that basically turned him into pure energy (which was his goal in ps4) maybe they even could make him crazy because his mind is being fluxuated and moved around and changed at a constant rate. And we could get the blue lightning ultimate Spiderman version. But that's just a theory

Kraven to me exemplified how what the most important thing is in a Spider-Man villain. To me at least. An ideology that opposes Spider-Man’s in some way. That’s more important than a villain’s powers.

I love Kraven in this but Venom has a problem I see a lot in modern black suit stories. It treats the symbiote like it controls the host, it and the host work together, it’s like alcohol, it lowers your inhibition and lets the symbiote become more aggressive.

At this point the neighbors have to know spiderman she was yelling his name lmao

This video deserves 10 million views bro it’s fantastic great job 😊

Love the video as always glad to see someone actually approach the game in good faith when Twitter will tell you this is the worst Spider-Man media ever to exist in anything

2:00 after NG+ I can say the story was still great. They incorporated a ton of real world issues from our own society and gave a ton of real world advice that hits you if you’re paying attention❤ the story in my opinion was one about growth and I loved it both times I 100% the story

I felt like the Aunt may Foreshadowing of balance was completely pointless we never see peter actually find perfect balance between anything by the end of the story he just gives up on being spiderman entirely for miles to takeover.

One thing I have mentioned before but here is a great opportunity. What they did with Venom in concept could have been perfect. Venom is a character who hates peter cause the symbiotic was abandoned by peter and hates Peter because Eddie hated peter. In this one harry likes peter even when betrayed and miles helped take the symbiotic off. So its miles who Venom hates because Miles replaced harry in the relationship: “That kid is the other one? A lot happened when you were gone.. believe me I Know ” and Miles is one of the reasons peter took the suit off.

At last, someone who actually knows how to review the story.

Would be cool if they showed like as Peter’s and Harry’s relationship was crumbling, Miles was reaching out to Harry and building theirs. So when Venom takes over he isn’t as aggressive towards Miles because Harry had a good relationship with him.

Great start to the vid thus far - gonna have the last of my pizza while I see how this goes - looks structured well, I like the other vids you did so interested in in this one. 🍕💯

YES another W vid from Colin, Im gonna enjoy watching this better get the popcorn.

Man, watching this really made me enjoy the story more. Just having you explain this story to us just makes this video very enjoyable. This is the best video you've ever made!

41:46 earned a like simply off the incredible editing of the peter miles fight. It's such a simple idea to weave together audio from the past with a current conversation to make a point but god. It draws so many connections to the first game i never thought of and breaths life into what i already considered a good moment within this game. The best way i can phrase this is, there are times as a film maker or editor that i see something online that I like but i wish was better. A tweak here, an extra cut here and it would be perfect. But this cut I have no issues, no notes, just excitement and love as a fan of both film and spider-man thank you for this

can someone please explain where the 'uncle terry' name for venom emerged from, is this some comics lore im not familiar with?

14:43 would have been so much funnier if it had a vine boom like imagine this Peter: Destroy Us? *Vine Boom*

Why did you delete the preview of this video? I loved watching it over and over 😭😭