How long is Spider-Man 2? “About the same as the first game,” says Insomniac

The two Marvel’s Spider-Man games released to date (2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2020’s Miles Morales) have been great examples of what can be done with a shorter open-world game. The more focused scope of the games means Insomniac can put more love into the set pieces that made it. This means a faster, more compelling plot can take center stage. This means there isn’t too much open-world bloat that detracts from the overall experience.

Insomniac apparently kept this philosophy in mind when developing the second entry in the series. “Spider-Man 2 is on the same level as the first game in terms of total playtime,” explains Ryan Smith, senior game director at Insomniac Games, in an in-depth interview with VG247. “And we really thought about how we could make every single moment a little more epic, a little deeper, or a little more integrated into the story.”

For what it’s worth, HowLongToBeat lists Marvel’s Spider-Man as being around 17 hours long, with a completion time of 34½ hours for those wanting to aim for Platinum or 100 percent completion.

From the preview I played, everything was tight; Whether you were Miles or Peter, there was always a very strong sense of momentum pushing you forward. Even the “go here, do this” missions designed to advance the plot contained high-stakes, interesting elements. Nothing felt like it was included just because. Spider-Man 2 has all the urgency of the MCU at its best so far.

“We don’t want this to be an 80-100 hour game, that’s not our goal. We want to tell amazing stories as best we can,” Smith continues. “We want every mission to be truly memorable. That’s what we’re aiming for, rather than going super far.” And the proof is there, as they say: even the short preview I played was well-paced, well-planned and curated.

Smith goes on to say that the open world is “evolving” to accommodate this more focused scope. “We want to make sure that everything you discover in the world has a story element,” he explains. “We’ve seen players really respond to this when we’ve done it well in previous titles.” To that end, even if you pick up some of the many collectibles (clearly marked on your map and marked with a pretty interface highlighted, for what it’s worth), hearing your active protagonist joke about the item in Spider-Man style.

It’s clear that Insomniac understands both its characters and its player base and has found a beautiful, focused way to tie them together into an experience that never takes too long to arrive.

Spider-Man 2 releases on October 20th exclusively for PS5. You can read everything we know about Spider-Man 2 so far at the link.