Following the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the Spider-duo of Peter Parker and Miles Morales are back in the next blockbuster action chapter of the Marvel’s Spider-Man series.

In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, players will get to experience Marvel’s New York as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. As you saw in the PlayStation Showcase last month – the main storyline of the game will have you take control of both Spider-Men at different points of the campaign. In the open world, you will be able to switch nearly instantly between them as you explore Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Both Spider-Men have stories and missions in the world exclusive to each of them.

Peter and Miles are both key protagonists in the story, but darkness surrounds as fan-favorite villains like Venom, Lizard, and Kraven threaten them and Marvel’s New York.

Each character’s arm represents their new abilities: Peter with the symbiote, Miles with his evolved bioelectric Venom powers.

Ahead of tomorrow's launch, Insomniac community director James Stevenson revealed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be getting a New Game Plus mode as well as a mission replay feature.

Insomniac’s previous games include robust, feature-rich Photo Modes, giving players free rein to freeze the on-screen action, find a great angle, customize, and capture a memorable shot. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is no different. I’ve spent some a lot of time tinkering in its Photo Mode the past few weeks. For virtual photographers (especially for those of you who submit such excellent shots to PS Blog’s Share of the Week series), here’s what’s returning, what’s new or improved, plus some suggestions on using those options to snap your way across Marvel’s New York City. There’s also additional information and tips from Insomniac’s Aaron Jason Espinoza in addition to a sampling of the studio’s own snaps to inspire you. 

Shortcut to Photo Mode

First things first: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 lets you assign shortcuts to certain menu options by mapping them to either the left or right D-Pad button. You can equally tap the Options button to call up the pause menu and scroll down to and activate Photo Mode there. My preference is to have my Photo Mode options ready in a blink when I spot a great visual. If virtual photography is a key focus during your time in Marvel’s New York, map that as soon as you can. You could also map a complementary action to the other shortcut – I’ll get to that in a bit.

Menus and their options

If you’re coming from the previous two games, the Photo Mode UI and menu options will be familiar.

You’ll default to Camera Mode, L1 and R1 switching you between four tabs. First is Camera, letting you turn Hero or Enemy visibility off, play or pause visual effects (such as moving lights, smoke or the subtle rippling motion of the Black Suit). You can garb Peter or Miles in any unlocked Suits and Suit Styles and tilt the camera. A new Precision option will greatly lower the response on your analog stick movements or trigger pulls, allowing finer adjustments to get your camera positioning just so. Use this to get your final composition just right.

The Lens tab changes Field of View (think close-up portrait or wide-angle landscape scene) and Exposure. This menu also lets you set your Depth of Field tinkering between Aperture, DOF Range Near and DOF Aperture Near. It means you can have background and foreground blurred if you want the eye focused on the scene or figure in the middle-distance. Filters and Frames are self-explanatory, with Filters from the previous games returning, and Frames featuring new Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 specific styles. The last tab, Overlays, introduces Vignette, Film Grain and Sharpening to your chosen image.

Tapping Square will switch you over to three other menus. Character Mode (letting you choose from a shortlist of preset poses that are character specific, rotate those poses and change your character’s facial expression). You can tailor your lighting setups with Lighting Mode, offering three independent lights (in Spot Light or Sphere Light versions) and the ability to fine-tune the natural lighting of a scene (locked to whatever time of day you’re currently playing in). Sticker Mode has four different subsets of sticker types that can be moved, resized and plastered onto your shot. I’ll leave the specifics of what those are to be discovered: there are some fun ones that’ll appeal to long-time comic fans.

Finally, two key options. Triangle hides the UI. Doing so also locks the menu to make sure you don’t accidentally lose your setup. But if you do want to reset everything, reactivate the menu then hit the Touchpad.

Adjusting Game Speed

So, that other shortcut. Aside from Photo Mode, there’s a multitude of other options for the extra button: open the FNSM App (to quick select missions) toggle on the in-game Camera Gadget (to snap side-activity specific shots). You can also map some of the fantastic Accessibility options the game includes to the Shortcuts. One of those is reducing game speed to 70%, 50% or even 30%. This has a secondary yet equally super useful benefit when it comes to virtual photography: more easily capturing the perfect combat composition or mid-web-swing pose.

“You know, I’m somewhat of a virtual photographer myself… so I always urge players to adjust their lens! Adjusting Aperture and Focus Distance can add a ton of dimension to your photos. Meanwhile, a higher field of view (FoV) can produce great landscape shots, while narrow FoV can accentuate finer details. The slightest changes here can upgrade your photo from a mere screenshot to a masterful piece of virtual photography.” – Aaron Jason Espinoza

Using custom poses, Artificial Lighting options, and reframing

You can use artificial lighting to increase the intensity, infer game world lighting to still highlight characters that’d otherwise be in shadow, or make your photo both more natural and moody.

The photo of Miles below is captured in the same moment as the shot of him above. I liked how his figure was lit in the original (single, high-intensity light positioned at his front), but I thought I could better infer – and incorporate – the billboard lighting of Times Square. But first, I fired up the Character Mode to choose a new pose. Worth noting: there are separate pose sets when on the ground or in the air. I spun the first artificial light from his front to his side, then activated two others and positioned them similarly. I altered the coloring of all three to better match the output of the billboards behind. The resultant silhouette shot – bathed and framed by the lights of Time Square – is much better.

It’s worth noting there are separate custom pose sets on the ground and in the air.  Fun Easter Egg: Miles’ aerial poses include one that mirrors the key art from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Another note: rather than being halted by one end of the Tilt option bar or the other in Camera Mode, you can keep spinning, as it resets to the other side automatically if you keep left or right on the D-Pad when held down.

“Experiment with Spot Lights and Sphere Lights and make your subjects pop in to frame! We always recommend using at least one Spot Light to get a nice rim light on your subject, which can cast a luminescent outline to their silhouette or separate them from the background.” – Aaron Jason Espinoza

Look around to capture the flavor of Marvel’s New York

Marvel’s New York is teeming with life. Be it street side or rooftop, school or festival, there’s plenty to capture outside combat and big story beats, from candid snaps of friends talking, portraits of key characters, or taking the time to grab a memory of an enemy takedown. So: keep your eyes out while patrolling and get your feet on the street. Not shown here: spectacular art exhibitions and statues dotted throughout the city, which are also worth a photo tour.

Using environmental lighting, colored backgrounds, filters

Don’t overlook environmental or in-game artificial lighting. Over the course of the game you’ll be exploring Manhattan during different times of the day, so create a Manual Save with each switch to easily get back to the sky you need. Equally if you spot a potentially cool moment with lighting you can take advantage of: Manual Save.

“Anyone can wield the camera. Whether you’re capturing photos of Peter Parker soaring between buildings with Web Wings or getting that electrifying shot of Miles Morales’ new Venom Powers, we look forward to seeing what captures your eye when Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches on October 20. Don’t forget to tag us on social media @InsomniacGames and use #InsomGamesCommunity for a chance to be re-shared on our official social media accounts! In anticipation of our upcoming launch, Insomniacs captured a few shots for us! Here’s our studio’s Photo Mode Gallery below!”  – Aaron Jason Espinoza

Pre-orders will open on June 16th, 2023 at all participating retailers, PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Direct. Pre-Orders will go live at 10:00 AM local time on June 16, 2023. Fans who pre-order any version of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will receive an early unlock Arachknight Suit for Peter with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Shadow Spider Suit for Miles with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Web Grabber gadget, and 3 skill points to get you started!

The Digital Deluxe edition of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 ($79.99 / £79.99/ €89.99/ ¥9,980 MSRP) will include the game, all the pre-order incentives, as well as 10 unique suits (5 for Peter, 5 for Miles), additional Photo Mode frames and stickers, and 2 additional skill points. 

Additionally, we are excited to announce that these 10 suits were designed by guest artists across comics, films, and PlayStation Studios! The featured artists are Kris Anka, Julia Blattman, Sweeney Boo, Anthony Francisco, Raf Grassetti, Jerad Maantz, Joel Mandish, Darren Quach, and Victoria Ying! 

For our hardcore Spider-Man fans out there who want an incredible Spider-Man collectible alongside Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we have just the edition for you while supplies last. The Collector’s Edition ($229.99 / £219.99/ €249.99/ ¥31,790 MSRP) includes a voucher for the Digital Deluxe Edition, as well as a Steelbook case, and an extraordinary, high-quality 19-inch statue featuring our Spider-Men battling fan-favorite Venom. Fans can order the Collector’s Edition on PlayStation Direct in those select markets (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Austria, Spain, Portugal) starting at 10AM local time on June 16th, 2023.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is coming exclusively to PS5 on October 20, 2023.