Buzzkill Spider-Man 2 patch removes a bug that let you free-roam as Venom

Marvel's Spider-Man 2
(Image credit: Sony)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has a new update that patches out a bunch of bugs, and unfortunately, you can no longer use an exploit to free-roam New York City as Venom.

*Spoilers ahead for Marvel's Spider-Man 2*

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

(Image credit: PlayStation/MKIceAndFire on YouTube)

For a couple of weeks now, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 players have been enjoying a fun little bug that let them roam around New York City as the game's main villain, Venom. For context, there's a mission in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 that briefly lets you control the Symbiote, but only from within the very limited confines of the mission area. However, some wily web-slingers figured out that you could use an invisible wall to glitch their way out of the mission zone and explore the map freely as the antagonist. 

Those days appear to be behind us now, as players familiar with the bug are saying they're no longer able to access it. The scuttlebutt is that the bug was causing saves to become corrupted, so it's actually probably for the best that it's been patched out.

INSOMNIAC HAS PATCHED IT😔😔 from r/SpidermanPS4
Did they patch out the Venom free roam glitch? from r/SpidermanPS4

The patch notes for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 version 1.001.005 are available now on Insomniac's website with no mention of a fix for the Venom free-roam bug, but it's not unusual for patch notes to not always be completely exhaustive. I've reached out to Sony for confirmation and I'll update this article if I hear back.

While you probably won't be able to terrify the citizens of New York as Venom at your leisure, you might've noticed the Symbiote can literally play with fire and not get hurt. Game director Bryan Intihar recently explained that that's because having too many Venom weaknesses would be difficult to "communicate" to players.

Free-roam bug or not, GR's Joe Donnelly reckons Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Venom is the best take on the symbiote since his favorite Spidey game from 28 years ago.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.