Spider-Man vs Spider-Man 2: Which to Play First - Game Scout

Play Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) first. Spider-Man 2 is a direct sequel that picks up after both the first game and the Miles Morales spin-off, so it leans on relationships and reveals the earlier games set up. Starting with 2018 also teaches the web-swinging and combat that the sequel expands rather than replaces.

The natural order is Marvel's Spider-Man, then Miles Morales, then Spider-Man 2. Miles Morales is the shorter interlude that establishes Miles as a second Spider-Man before he becomes co-lead in the sequel. You do not need it to follow Spider-Man 2's plot, but it makes Miles's arc land harder. None of the three require any prior Spider-Man media, film or comic; the trilogy is written as a self-contained story.

Spider-Man 2's headline change is that you play as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, switching between them during the open world and at fixed story beats. Each has his own powers: Peter gains the symbiote suit and its aggressive abilities, while Miles keeps the bio-electric Venom powers introduced in his own game.

The other big additions are about movement and scope:

• Web Wings, which let you glide across a New York expanded to include Brooklyn and Queens, on top of faster web-swinging.
• An optional fall-damage toggle and other accessibility and difficulty options for players who want more challenge.
• A wider rogues' gallery, including a symbiote-infused Venom, Kraven the Hunter, and the Lizard.
• Deeper gear, crafting, and skill trees, plus dozens of unlockable suits shared across both heroes.

It is a refinement of the 2018 template with a second protagonist bolted on, not a reinvention of how the games play.

Both games share the same core: fluid, gadget-supported combat built around dodging, web attacks, and aerial juggles, paired with the best traversal in the superhero genre. Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) established that toolkit, and it still feels excellent, with a suit-power system and a steady skill-tree unlock curve.

Spider-Man 2 keeps the feel and sharpens it. The recurring point in player and critic reviews is that the sequel's combat is the more fluid of the two, with symbiote and bio-electric abilities, more complementary gadgets, and quicker web-swinging that the community consistently calls a clear step up. If moment-to-moment movement and fighting are what you value most, the sequel is the stronger of the pair; if you want the origin of that system, the 2018 game is where it started.

This is where the two games separate. Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) is the more focused package, and its story is the one players most often single out as the highlight of the series. Spider-Man 2 tells an ambitious two-hero story with the symbiote saga at its center, and its set-pieces are a step up, but its most-cited criticism is the open world.

In Game-Scout's aggregated player reviews, the sequel's recurring complaints are a perceived content downgrade, side quests that feel thinner, and a bigger map that some players describe as emptier than its size suggests. That is not just a forum grumble: IGN's review makes the same point, praising the game overall while calling its New York "bigger but not better," with a checklist of repetitious side activities. The first game trades scale for a tighter, more consistent experience.

The first game is the longer of the two to fully complete. Full completion of Marvel's Spider-Man runs around 46 hours, while Spider-Man 2 comes in tighter at roughly 31 hours for everything, which fits its reputation as the more streamlined sequel. Miles Morales is the shortest by a wide margin, closer to a 10 to 12 hour main story. A story-focused run of any of the three is well under its completion time. If length is a deciding factor, the 2018 game is the bigger time investment and Spider-Man 2 is the more finishable one.

The scores are close, but they hide an interesting split. On Metacritic, Marvel's Spider-Man holds an 87 and Spider-Man 2 an improved 90, so critics rate the sequel higher. Game-Scout players agree on the raw number, scoring the sequel 4.74 out of 5 across 235,944 ratings against 4.69 from 283,160 for the first game.

The written sentiment runs the other way. Game-Scout files the 2018 game as Great and Spider-Man 2 a notch lower at Good, because the sequel's longer reviews are more divided: the traversal and combat earn near-universal praise, but the story depth, some mission designs, and the emptier-feeling world pull the overall read down. The first game draws steadier, less qualified praise. In short, Spider-Man 2 has the higher ceiling and the higher critic score; the 2018 game has the more consistent reception.

There is no loser here. These are two halves of one Spider-Man story, so for most players the answer is both, starting with Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) for the origin, the tighter pacing, and the stronger standalone story, then Spider-Man 2 for the bigger, better-playing sequel with two heroes and the symbiote saga.

If you only have time for one, pick the 2018 game as a newcomer for its focus and its more consistent reception, or Spider-Man 2 if you want the best web-swinging and combat in the series and do not mind meeting the cast mid-story. Both are included with PlayStation Plus Extra, and both rank among our best story-driven games. If you enjoy this style of PlayStation action adventure, our God of War vs Ragnarok comparison covers a similar original-versus-sequel question.