The Game Awards 2023 shined a spotlight on a good many video games from the last twelve months, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 being one of them. Insomniac’s third Spider-Man game continues to build upon the foundations laid by its predecessors while setting up the next chapter of Spider-Man’s story and further pushing the capabilities of Sony’s PS5 hardware.
With so much going for the game, from its cinematic storytelling to its industry-leading graphics and dopamine-flooding gameplay, it’s no surprise that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 received so many nominations. The superhero blockbuster got nods for an eye-watering seven awards in total, including Game of the Year, where it was up against other landmark releases like Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2. Ultimately, it lost out on the Game of the Year title to Baldur’s Gate 3, and while this may have been somewhat expected, what was less expected were Spider-Man‘s losses in every other category, which left Insomniac empty-handed at the end of the night.
All Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Nominations at TGA 2023
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Best Narrative
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Innovation in Accessibility
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Marvel’s Spider-Man Leaves The Game Awards 2023 With No Trophies
Releasing near the tail end of the year, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 followed a series of top-selling, critically acclaimed games across just about every genre. Still, it managed to garner a good amount of positive attention, becoming Sony’s most successful exclusive 2023 release. It’s not just the Spider-Man name that drew players to the game, either, as it has been praised for its slick, fast-paced gameplay, entertaining story, and spectacular visuals, and Spider-Man 2‘s Player Voice nomination further reinforces the notion that it was a success with players. However, it seemingly couldn’t compete with its fellow nominees.
Why Spider-Man 2 May Have Fallen Short at The Game Awards
Spider-Man 2‘s story is similar to several other games released in 2023, in that it is an impressive achievement that probably would have been better received, and performed better at TGA, if it had been released during another year. As it stands, it’s simply difficult to place Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 over groundbreaking releases like Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, and Tears of the Kingdom.
The award for Best Narrative provides a good example of how Spider-Man 2 measures up against its fellow nominees. The story of Spider-Man 2 is good, but it’s also a bit on the safe side, offering a superhero plot that is entertaining with a few good twists. Best Narrative winner Alan Wake 2, by comparison, has an experimental and bold story, which helps to place it above Spider-Man 2. A similar pattern emerges across the other categories: Yuri Lowenthal gave a great performance, but Neil Newbon created an icon through his portrayal of Astarion; Spider-Man 2 had excellent sound design, but Hi-Fi Rush is a game built around sound; and so on.
It may have been a bit of a disappointing night for Spider-Man 2, but its lack of Game Awards isn’t indicative of its quality; it’s more an indication of how great 2023 was for gaming. Many have praised 2023 as one of the best years in gaming, and that fact is reinforced when such a landmark title like Spider-Man 2 can’t snag an award because of all the competition. Indeed, Insomniac seems to be firing on all cylinders in the era of the PS5, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is further evidence of this. Only time will tell what the future will hold for the series and how this version of the Marvel universe will evolve in future Spider-Man games, along with the studio’s upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine, which will hopefully manage to capture the same rock-solid gameplay, narrative flair, and polish of Insomniac’s Spider-Man trilogy.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
The sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man and its Miles Morales spin-off, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a PS5 console exclusive. Insomniac’s open-world game features Peter Parker and Miles Morales as dual protagonists, with the two heroes going up against the likes of Kraven, Venom, and Lizard.
- Released
- October 20, 2023
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 20 Hours
- Metascore
- 90
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A