Summary
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2hit a lot of the right notes in its story and gameplay, tugging on a lot of heartstrings that Insomniac knew fans would appreciate. Indeed, the sequel married a lot of original character interpretations with interpretations that were popular in other games, such as having symbiote tendrils envelop New York City like they do inSpider-Man: Web of Shadowsor having Venom play similarly to how he does inUltimate Spider-Man. That said, giving Miles a boss fight against Peter was a great original idea, even if it was entirely predictable.
Knowing thatMiles and Peterwere both playable, it only made sense that an enraged, symbiote-imbued Peter would need to be fought and assisted at some point. It supposedly wasn’t necessary to give him a boss fight, but it allowed Miles to go toe-to-toe with him and have players see how they might contend with the same abilities and attacks they’d been using for half the game beforehand. This was logical from that standpoint, and it further makes the choice not to have a similar boss fight inBatman: Arkham Knighta disappointing one when its own setup would’ve been rich and suspenseful.
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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Peter Boss Fight was a No-Brainer
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is split between its dual protagonists and to turn one of them into a boss fight for the other was a terrific choice. It’s not believable that Peter was actually harboring all those awful sentiments about Miles and the symbiote simply let them slip, but the boss fight itself is a highlight of the game, especially since it directly follows a boss fight against Kraven while playing as Peter.
Of course, the next main mission of the game is put in a position to eclipse this boss fight wholly since Harry takes the symbiote and players are able to rampage through Oscorp andeat Kraven’s head as Venom.
Players also receive the Anti-Venom symbiote suit later on, meaning that this boss fight wasn’t the last they see of Peter’s symbiote abilities. Regardless, nobody went into the sequel believing that Miles wouldn’t be fighting Peter since the trailers also explicitly established their contentious relationship, as well as MJ possibly being hunted by Peter while in an evolved, monstrous form of the symbiote. This all turned out to be true and the boss fight was everything it needed to be. Unfortunately, no such boss fight was offered inArkham Knight, which could have easily integrated its own.
Arkham Knight Denied Players the Perfect Chance to Fight Batman
Arkham Knighthas a heavy enough emphasis on the titular villain and his militia that fans wouldn’t be immediately criticized for having forgotten all the details of its Joker dilemma. InArkham Knight,Batman is still infected with Joker’s blooddespite the inexplicable continuity error of him having drunk the cure inArkham City.
Having detained several others who are already expressing symptoms of literally becoming their own Joker, Batman knows he may eventually need to lock himself away, too, if his symptoms worsen. Joker appears in hallucinations throughout almost all of the game and talks to Batman, but eventually begins to take over Bruce’s body when his symptoms are amplified by Scarecrow’s fear toxin. There were then multiple opportunities where a boss fight could have ensued with fans playing as Robin and having to battle a Joker-infected Batman, similar to how Miles fights Peter.
Robin himself notes that he wouldn’t be able to stop Batman if this was to occur and perhaps that’s correct, but it would’ve been exciting to see Batman as a boss in that compromised, green-eyed state regardless, at least until Robin is able to temporarily snap him out of it. Fortunately, players will finally get to experience something comparable inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice LeaguewithBatman brainwashed, mind-controlled, or infectedyet again, this time by Brainiac.
Batman: Arkham Knight
WHERE TO PLAY
Batman™: Arkham Knight brings the award-winning Arkham trilogy from Rocksteady Studios to its epic conclusion. Developed exclusively for New-Gen platforms, Batman: Arkham Knight introduces Rocksteady’s uniquely designed version of the Batmobile. The highly anticipated addition of this legendary vehicle, combined with the acclaimed gameplay of the Arkham series, offers gamers the ultimate and complete Batman experience as they tear through the streets and soar across the skyline of the entirety of Gotham City. In this explosive finale, Batman faces the ultimate threat against the city that he is sworn to protect, as Scarecrow returns to unite the super criminals of Gotham and destroy the Batman forever.“Be The Batman” – Live the complete Batman experience as the Dark Knight enters the concluding chapter of Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy. Players will become The World’s Greatest Detective like never before with the introduction of the Batmobile and enhancements to signature features such as FreeFlow Combat, stealth, forensics and navigation.
