We Found The Worst Playable Character In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features a solid roster of playable characters, but one minor inclusion is definitely way worse than the other options. Bouncing between a variety of protagonists was a concept first introduced in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, which occasionally set Peter’s story aside to follow the footsteps of Mary Jane Watson or Miles Morales. Neither of these offered gameplay that was quite as dynamic as Peter’s, with Mary Jane’s segments, in particular, receiving some flak, but Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 improves both of these options while introducing another that falls behind either.

The upgrade to Miles gameplay in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is obvious, as his full-fledged Spider-Man abilities explored in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales are expanded upon in the newest franchise entry. Improvements to Mary Jane gameplay come in the form of subtler but thoughtful tweaks, reworking generally lifeless stealth gameplay to add more agency and excitement. The approach to Mary Jane, in particular, makes it obvious that Insomniac knows how to respond to feedback and build meaningful improvements off of it, but it seems like a new character could have benefited from that process of audience review.

Hailey Is The Worst Spider-Man 2 Playable Character

Hailey Cooper has an engaging personality and an important role in the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 story, but it’s hard to say the same for her gameplay. Although she doesn’t command a large playable presence overall, she does receive one segment as part of an FSNM app request. A flashback tasks Hailey with covering up graffiti with a mural to help out the owner of a flower stall. Painting murals could be an engaging diversion if done through an interesting gameplay approach, but an awkward spray paint minigame fails to offer much fun or agency.

Hailey Deserves Better In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

More than anything else, Hailey’s segment in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 feels like a major waste of an opportunity. To its credit, the segment represents the character’s deafness by replacing audio with visual cues, which is a neat touch. Everything else, however, could have been better. A spray paint task that doesn’t allow any creativity quickly becomes tiresome, and structuring the sequence as a minor flashback isn’t a particularly interesting way to incorporate it into the story. Having offbeat side missions helps add some heart to New York City, but failing to deliver the same level of fun as Spider-Man gameplay makes it hard to fully appreciate any creativity.

Like Mary Jane’s missions in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, Hailey’s gameplay in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 could work as a basis for future improvements. Seeing more segments for her in future Marvel’s Spider-Man DLC or games could shift from disappointing to exciting with gameplay tweaks that make things on the player’s end feel less like going through the motions. Hailey Cooper is a valuable character in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and she deserves a playable role that lives up to that in place of the ultimately frustrating one that she got.