roughly the same time to beat.
Insomniac Games' Spider-Man titles do an irable job adapting real-life New York City to an explorable game space. Recognizable landmarks dot the skyline and the virtual city's streets, and most included locations are about where one would expect to find them. The map from the first two games, which is practically identical between the two except for a winter theme overlaid in Miles Morales, does, however, morph Manhattan rather drastically. It appears quite squat, is turned counter-clockwise slightly to be oriented straighter north and south, and cleaves off much of Manhattan north of Central Park. This same truncated Manhattan returns in Spider-Man 2's map, but the additional boroughs are likely more interesting than a rectified Manhattan would've been.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Map Is Nearly Twice The Size Of The First Two Games'
The key difference between the map in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and its two prequels is the addition of Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan is practically unchanged other than the enhanced visuals, denser traffic, more detailed interiors, and larger NPC crowds. Combining the game's versions of Brooklyn and Queens yields a landmass roughly equal to that of its Manhattan. While it's likely not exactly double in size, Spider-Man 2's map feels significantly larger while playing, and some of the new boroughs' more residential areas provide an interesting twist to the series' gameplay, necessitating deft use of the Web Wings and shorter, quicker swings from the comparatively low buildings.
How Spider-Man 2's Brooklyn & Queens Compare To Real-Life New York
Spider-Man 2's Brooklyn is split into three districts – Little Odessa, Williamsburg, and Downtown Brooklyn – while Queens only has two – Astoria and Downtown Queens. While Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg are roughly located where expected, Little Odessa isn't much of a convincing facsimile. Little Odessa typically refers to Brighton Beach, a neighborhood known for its large Russian immigrant population on the southern end of Brooklyn, next to Coney Island. Little Odessa in Spider-Man 2, however, is Brooklyn's northernmost district, and would perhaps have been more accurately named Greenpoint.
The Spider-Man 2 version of Queens has similar yet unsurprising oddities. Astoria is the northernmost part of Queens in the game, reaching up the East River toward the virtual stand-in for Randalls and Wards Islands, much like it does in real life. Downtown Queens, however, is little more than a misnomer. There isn't necessarily any part of Queens traditionally known as downtown; based on the district's placement in-game, the closest real-world equivalent is perhaps Long Island City, the neighborhood directly across Newtown Creek from Greenpoint in Brooklyn. Much like the first two games, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has a more than recognizable but slightly flawed version of New York City, but more importantly, the addition of two new boroughs effectively doubles the size of the map and introduces new gameplay opportunities.
