Zanobard Reviews

John Paesano brings a much darker edge to Spider-Man in this sequel soundtrack, with imposing electronics for the symbiote and moodily malevolent new themes for villains Kraven and Venom interplaying to excellent effect with Peter and Miles all across this thoroughly enjoyable eighty minute game score.

Fun fact; John Paesano’s Spider-Man PS4 score was actually the very first video game soundtrack I reviewed on this website, all the way back in 2018. And now, five years later, here we are once again as the long-awaited sequel game and indeed its score album have finally arrived! So, a little context for those who perhaps might not have heard the original – the absolute standout aspect of Paesano’s work for the first game was the main theme; this grand, noble, unapologetically heroic and so very Spider-Man theme for Peter Parker that echoed triumphantly through as the first track of the score, simply titled “Spider-Man”. It debuted to extremely high praise from both fans and critics alike – myself included – and for good reason as it is as I say the best part of Paesano’s Spider-Man works. And so, it should come as no surprise to anybody really that the opening track of Spider-Man 2 reprises that exquisite main theme once again, drawing listeners straight back into the bombastically heroic musical world of the PS4/PS5 games while also noticeably updating and adding to it stylistically too, to emphasize the growth of the characters and their world since the first installment.

The track opens with the composer’s happily familiar upbeat string ostinato for Peter Parker’s Spider-Man from the first game, with the orchestra then building quietly in the background until exploding spectacularly into heroism with triumphant vocals at the minute mark as the full theme then thunderously plays. This doesn’t last for long though as another theme then enters the fray a short while later, with the orchestra dramatically changing style as a result as rapid strings, loud hip-hop beats and upbeat electronics arrive with Miles Morales’ theme from Spider-Man: Miles Morales in tow. Living up to the opening track’s title of “Greater Together”, Miles theme then plays optimistically for a few further seconds before Peter’s Spider-Man motif then emphatically returns, and the two themes play in loudly wondrous tandem for the remainder of the frankly fantastic three minute cue. All-in, it’s about as perfect an album opener as possible really for this sequel game, so high praise to Paesano there.

To turn the thematic tables, ominous villainy then arrives in the subsequent “The Great Hunter” as a brand new theme for Kraven The Hunter, the game’s villain, enters centre stage. Low-pitched, moody drums open the four minute track, which then slowly build in both volume and intensity until a loud, electronics-infused crescendo is reached at just past the minute mark. Quietly imposing strings and moody vocals then occupy the next minute or so, with surprisingly morose-sounding strings playing a five-note motif for the infamous Hunter until deafening drums and bursts of villainous brass then bring the track to a loudly tense close. All-in it’s certainly an imposing introduction for the game’s villain, and while the theme itself isn’t perhaps quite as memorable as Spider-Man’s… it certainly leaves an impression here, let’s say that. The subsequent “Ready Or Not” then settles the mood somewhat with a gentle strings and piano-based rendition of the main theme, before “A Second Chance” introduces a brand new theme – for Harry Osborn – in its opening seconds. It’s a light and rather hopeful motif at first here, playing gently and quietly alongside Peter’s theme in the first half of the track on wistful strings until brass and vocals then kick off a short bout of tense action, and the theme then turns loud, electronic and almost villainous in the back half. Spoilers perhaps, but given Harry’s association with a certain symbiote in the game’s trailers – it’s not hard to deduce perhaps why his theme gets a little darker-sounding in the back half of its debut track.

Harry/Venom’s theme continues in gentler form at the start of “Betrayal” with echoes of Peter’s motif also sounding worriedly through. Action however then properly kicks into gear in the subsequent “East River Mayhem”, with the music very much living up to the track’s title as frantic strings, bursts of dramatic brass and thunderous drums dart and leap throughout the three and a half minute setpiece, holding both Peter and Miles’ themes aloft for various short, sporadic and rather tense renditions. Miles’ theme then plays rather solemnly on downtrodden strings in “Moving Forward”, with much more playful strings then juxtaposing together with a rather worrisome Peter’s theme in “Back To School” making for a rather uneasy piece of ambient music overall. Next track “Symbiotic Relationship” however is where things get very interesting indeed, as it’s tied for Standout Cue with “Greater Together” because of how utterly atmospherically immense it is. The cue opens with a spectacularly heroic rendition of Peter’s theme and everything seems fine to start, but an eerie ripple of electronics then unsettles the tone, with Peter’s theme starting to turn dark and moody as a particularly ominous electronic air cascades over the music. Over the course of the track’s six minute runtime the atmosphere then gets progressively darker and moodier, descending further and further into musical malevolence with the electronics building to almost entirely consume Peter’s theme – which is very clever musically, as it fits the idea of the symbiote taking over pretty much perfectly – until the track then ends on a rather sinister electronic crescendo.

“Sacrifice” sees the return of Peter’s theme, now in quiet and rather downtrodden style on sorrowful strings, but this relatively slow pace doesn’t last as ensuing cue “Battling Your Inner Demons” brings action back into centre stage. This particular action setpiece is much darker and tenser compared to previous entries, with Miles’ theme playing worriedly opposite Peter’s now quite malevolent-sounding motif. High-pitched brass, shrill vocals and rapid strings carry this thematic tension through much of the track’s five minute runtime, until both themes then come back together right at the end for a quietly hopeful finish. Ominous electronics however perpetuate a sinister mood once again in “A Familiar Bond”, with dramatic vocals hinting toward Harry/Venom’s theme at around the halfway point which then build to a loudly thunderous orchestral crescendo. “Fighting Back” continues where this leaves off, with a similarly loud and tense orchestra thundering along at a frantic pace throughout with both Peter and Miles’ themes fighting tensely together with sporadic electronic hints toward what sounds like (spoiler) Mister Negative’s motif from the first game. “At Last” reprises Kraven’s theme in a similarly malevolent mood to that of his debut track to start, before then descending into rapid action for the remainder of the cue with deafening drums and a dramatic electric guitar as the stylistic centrepiece.

Harry/Venom’s theme reprises downtroddenly at the start of “Trouble At Home” on solemn strings before Peter’s theme quietly plays, and tensions then suddenly kick up dramatically at the minute mark with the music becoming much louder and incredibly in-your-face as action returns. The subsequent and much slower “Mind Games” then interplays Peter’s theme with some very wacky-sounding electronics in its first half before reprising his theme on quietly solemn piano notes towards its end. As the album overall starts to near a close, “Midtown Madness” then kicks the action back into gear with a particularly powerful playthrough of Peter’s theme on desperately frantic vocals, brass and strings with Harry/Venom’s theme also playing in decidedly dramatic form. “Foundational Feud” then continues where this leaves off, with anxious electronics and imposing brass holding the pace high throughout the track with Miles’ theme appearing in several emphatic renditions opposite Harry/Venom’s. Closing cue “Healing The World” then reprises Harry, Peter and Miles’ themes one last time, opening with tense action before then slowing down in the back half with strings to end the album on a well-earned gentle finish.

Overall, John Paesano’s score for Spider-Man 2 is a grandly orchestral and indeed richly thematic adventure, and one that’s well worth checking out especially if you are a fan of the music of the first game (obviously, really). In this sequel soundtrack the composer takes the established themes and musical world & style of the first and Miles Morales games and enjoyably builds on them all, with both Spider-Man motifs – Peter and Miles – getting stylistic tune-ups and playing as loudly and heroically throughout as you’d hope they would. Alongside these too are a couple of new themes in Kraven and Harry/Venom’s, and while neither are perfect – Kraven’s isn’t all that memorable, and Venom’s never quite gets the the lengthy, crashingly villainous playthrough you might be hoping for – they are both effective in conveying the character of both their respective villains, and stylistically are very entertaining to listen to. Speaking of Venom too, the symbiote itself gets an interesting sub-theme of sorts in these dark, moody and really sinister electronics that crop up every so often, and the way they basically consume Peter’s theme in the standout “Symbiotic Relationship” to showcase the symbiote taking him over is a really cool piece of musical storytelling, so serious props to Paesano for that. The orchestral style too displayed across the album is also simply immense, with the action sounding impeccably grand and the slower, more tender moments sounding just as exquisite, so all-in – Spider-Man 2 is well worth the listen.

Score: 7.5/10

Standout Cues: 1. Greater Together/9. Symbiotic Relationship

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