Storytelling has been a selling point in the video game industry for quite some time now, and Marvel’s Spider-Man has used such a selling point in all of its entries. So, to no one’s surprise,Spider-Man 2continued that, having a remarkable campaign with many exciting moments in it. But that’s not all.
Its side missions also have great storytelling, from one-off missions you get in Spidey’s app to longer story arcs divided into multiple quests, making them definitely worth doing. Still, which of them offers higher value, at least from their story arcs? And just because some of them are only a single mission, it doesn’t mean their plot isn’t compelling.
Though we’ll avoid spoilers from the campaign, we’ll spoil the game’s side content here.
16Rooftop Fireworks
You have people using fireworks in the city, and it goes wrong. Though the reasoning for the fireworks makes this story a bit wholesome, it doesn’t go anywhere beyond it.
It’s a simple mission with a decent premise, and the ending with all the fireworks makes it fun to witness. But there isn’t much else to talk about here, making it the least interesting in the end. Not bad, but there’s nothing else to it.
15Emily-May Foundation
The Emily-May Foundation is a vast and amazing plot point in the story, and you get multiple side missions concerning it. The reason it’s not high either is that all its plot relevancy goes to the campaign, meaning these missions don’t add any new perspective or have a unique side-story to follow through. It’s just part of the main story.
They are fun activities to do when you need some breathing room from all the action, and they make you care more about the Foundation, which makes all the main story moments surrounding the EMF hit harder.
14Photo Ops
These are our photo missions in this game, replacing the landmarks from the previous game. Instead of places, we get to take pictures of the daily lives of New Yorkers, and we get fun comments about them from Robbie Robertson.
These missions will mainly give you a bit of immersion into the city, with Robbie’s insights being quite fun to listen to.
13Unidentified Targets
This set of missions has little story, but they made the cut primarily due to its ending. You get quite a mystery here, with Kraven hunting seemingly random people, some even dead, adding confusion to the whole plot.
Then, we end with the reveal that his target was none other thanthe Chameleon,who is also Kraven’s brother. It doesn’t go anywhere beyond that, but that makes the character available for future appearances.
12Monster In Queens
It’s a single mission with a simple plot, but it gets a higher ranking because it’s pretty funny, and the conclusion is rather lovely. You have a blind woman telling you about a monster in the suburbs, one of the hunter’s dog robots going haywire.
After essentially formatting the system and using dog videos as behavior references, we get a funny ending with the blind woman keeping the robot as a guide dog. It is silliness at its finest, in the nicest of ways, too.
11Graffiti In Trouble
Who would have thought that Hailey would be a playable character? This mission was perfect for giving us a bigger insight into the character, especially considering how important she is to Miles.
As a minor character who hasn’t appeared much, this mission does a good job of having us get attached to her and shows us what type of person she is, as well as how she sees the world.
10Photo Help
A mission also devoted to character development, but this time, it’s for none other than Peter Parker. Here, we get a flashback where he takes a photo of Spider-Man to Jameson to get a job as a photographer.
The mission shows us Peter in his early days and how Jameson surprisingly helped him develop more self-confidence. And lastly, a wiser, more mature Peter gives good tips for an aspiring photographer.
9Marko’s Memories
The Sandman may be responsible for thegame’s magnificent opening,but his input doesn’t stop there. You get multiple missions of restoring crystals that are part of him, which helps him stabilize his mind.
You get a lot about the character, from his daughter to his behavior towards the hunters, and you help him fix himself and start his path of reform, as well as give his daughter a remembrance of her father.
8Brooklyn Visions Club Fair
Miles deserves some extra character development outside the main missions, too. He gets a few exclusive missions helping fellow schoolmates from Brooklyn Visions Academy, searching for a missing mascot costume, taking photos of the campus, and helping a student with his homecoming date.
They’re all straightforward and show us some of the people Miles interacts with at school, and you get a nice suit with a Puerto Rican flag made by the students - we don’t know how they know about Spider-Man’s heritage, though.
7Prowler’s Stashes
Another Miles exclusive, you have Prowler’s stashes throughout the city, which will get you rare tech parts for some upgrades or suits. What gives them good story material are the conversations with Aaron once each is complete.
We get to know a lot more about the Prowler’s golden age, his former employers, and how things got bad between him and Jefferson Davis.
