Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Defeats Starfield on Metacritic in Big Fall Showdown

Our Marvel's Spider-Man review went live today alongside dozens and dozens of other reviews for the new PS5 game. And all of these reviews have contributed to a Metacritic score for the PS5 exclusive. More specifically, 120 different reviews have gone live for the new Spidey game, or at least that's how many have been posted to Metacritic. And so far all of these reviews have distilled down to a score of 91. If this score holds, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will boast a "Metacritic Must Play" badge and will be one of the highest-rated games of 2023. 

This fall, each platform holder has one huge release. PlayStation has Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Xbox has Starfield, and Nintendo has Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Reviews for latter of these three releases haven't come out yet, but we can now compare Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Starfield, and when it comes to critical reception, the former has come out on top. While Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is sitting at a 91 on Metacritic, Starfield is sitting at an 86 and 83, with the scores varying depending on the platform. These are respectable scores for the Bethesda RPG but they are beneath the highs Bethesda Game Studios has achieved in the past. And now they are lower than the competition's big fall release. 

Of course, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 may not retain this score over time, but it seems like most outlets received a code early, which in turn suggests the score won't change much. And for what it's worth it's 120 reviews is more reviews than Starfield has on Metacritic.

At the end of the day, these two games attempt to do two very different things. They aren't even in the same genre. So comparing them as just games is borderline pointless, however, because both are so important for their respective brands, there is a comparison to make. And in this comparison, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has seemingly won. That said, something tells me Super Mario Bros. Wonder could end up being the highest-rated of all three.