Now that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is out, players are wondering if playing the previous instalments are necessary to understand the story.

With the new Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 being one of the most anticipated and talked about games of the year, it’s understandable why someone would want to jump into the game without having to play through two full length games, which amounts to roughly 60 hours in total.

Do You Need To Play The Older Games?

Generally, sequels are developed with the players already having context of the previous instalments in mind. So naturally, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 continues to build upon the world that the previous instalments have set. Unfortunately, this means that previous instalments have to be played to get the context behind the story.

The overarching narratives of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 were set up in both the first game and in Miles Morales, especially the narrative surrounding Harry Osborne, which was set up in both of the games’ post credit scenes. Do expect some missing story context when skipping ahead to Spider-Man 2.

Although there is an in-game recap at the beginning of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it was likely designed to catch players that already played the previous instalments up to speed, as it omits many important details from the story. Experiencing the story through the recap doesn’t capture the same experiences that playing the prior games would offer. Certain emotional beats would also hit harder if you played and experienced the stories in its entirety.

Playing the previous instalments would help serve as a tutorial for the controls of the sequel, as the combat system in Marvel’s Spider-Man series gets progressively more complex, starting out in the first game and gradually building up from there would feel more natural, as that’s how it was originally intended.

Anyways, if you still don’t want to play 60 hours of gameplay to get to the sequel, we’ve prepared a recap to catch you up to speed before starting the new game.

Here’s What You Missed In The First Two Games

In Marvel’s Spider-Man, the first instalment in the series, a 23 year old Peter Parker is tasked with helping NYPD Caption Yuri Watanabe hunt down Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin. After the defeat of Kingpin, Peter finds out his boss, Otto Octavious, is beginning to experience some side effects from his mechanical arms, corrupting him. Peter also encounters a few villains such as Mr Negative, which causes the death of Miles Morales’s father. Although he eventually saves the city, he failed to rescue Aunt May, who perishes as a result of the conflict.

In the mid-credits scene of the first game, we learn that Miles Morales had also developed Spider-Man-like powers, with Peter Parker revealing his identity to the young teen. In the post-credits scene, Norman Osborn’s son and Parker’s best friend, Harry Osborn is revealed to be in a coma inside a large medical tank, with a strange black goo is wrapped around him, which is helping him fight the disease that killed his mom.

The story of Marvel’s Spider-Man lays the foundation for some major plot points that Peter would have to deal with in the sequel, such as coping with the death of Aunt May and the incident with Harry Osborne. Miles’s story also begins to develop from here, as the death of his father will also become a major plot point in the sequels.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes place a year after the events of the original game, and opens with Peter and Miles working together as the Spider-Men to fight the Rhino. Some time later, Parker tells Morales that he is leaving New York with Mary Jane to help her with a news story, leaving Miles to be the sole protector of New York.

To help the lone Spider-Man keep the city safe, Morales’ friend Ganke creates an app that lets people report crimes and strange events happening around New York City. Later, Morales has to stop a criminal gang known as the Underground from stealing a powerful prototype energy source, Nuform, from the Roxxon Energy Corporation.

After stopping the threat, Miles finally reunites with Peter as he returns from his journey, and the two Spider-Men catch up and get back to protecting New York City together. The post-credits scene of the game shows Norman Osborn speaking to Curt Connors, aka the Lizard, who are seen discussing about Harry Osborn, who is still inside the tank that was seen in the first game.

The story of Miles Morales has less significance compared to the first game, as it saves as more of an origin story for Miles, but still contain some plot points that will help the player understand concepts such as his Venom abilities or certain characters that appear later on in the sequel.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is available now on PlayStation 5.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: Insomniac Games

Release Date TBC

PlayStation 5

Spider-Men, Peter Parker, and Miles Morales return for an exciting new adventure in the critically acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise for PS5.

Swing, jump, and utilize the new Web Wings to travel across Marvel’s New York, quickly switching between Peter Parker and Miles Morales to experience different stories and epic new powers, as the iconic villain Venom threatens to destroy their lives, their city, and the ones they love.