You’re swinging through the neon-soaked skyline of Little Tokyo, feeling like an absolute god, when suddenly your controller pulses. A faint, pinkish-purple ripple distorts the air. If you’ve spent more than five minutes in Insomniac’s New York, you know exactly what that is. It’s a Spider-Man 2 spider bot. Well, one of them. There are 42 in total, and honestly, they are easily the weirdest, most nostalgic, and strangely controversial collectible in the entire game.
Some players find them annoying. They don't show up on the main map like traditional icons. You have to actually use your eyes. What a concept, right? But for those of us who grew up reading the back issues or watching the various animated series, these tiny mechanical arachnids are basically a giant love letter from the developers at Insomniac Games. They aren't just junk to pad out your completion percentage. They’re a mystery that ends with one of the coolest, most "wait, what just happened?" cameos in modern gaming history.
The Hunt for Every Spider-Man 2 Spider Bot
Let’s be real: finding these things can be a massive pain if you don't know what to look for. Unlike the Sandman memories or the Prowler stashes, you can’t just pull up the map and waypoint your way to victory. You have to look for that visual pulse—a spherical distortion in the environment. It's subtle. Sometimes too subtle.
Each Spider-Man 2 spider bot is themed after a specific corner of the Spider-Verse. You’ll find one that looks like Spider-Punk, complete with the mohawk and vest. Another looks like the Superior Spider-Man (Doc Ock's version of Peter), and then you’ve got deep cuts like the Spider-Man 1602 bot or the one based on the Mangaverse. Insomniac didn't just skin these differently; they gave them distinct personalities through their design.
Why did they do this? It’s about movement. By forcing you to scan the environment while web-winging at 60 miles per hour, the game makes you appreciate the verticality of the world. You aren't just looking at the street; you're looking under bridges, on the sides of chimneys, and tucked behind billboards in Times Square. It changes the way you navigate.
What People Get Wrong About the Map
A lot of people complain that the bots don't appear on the mini-map. Actually, they do—but only if you have the "All-Seeing" upgrade in the Traversal suit tech tree. If you're struggling, stop what you're doing and invest your tech parts there. It makes the icon pop up when you get close. Without it, you're basically hunting for a needle in a skyscraper-sized haystack.
The distribution is also pretty even across the boroughs. You aren't going to find twenty of them in Harlem and zero in Astoria. Each neighborhood has a specific count, usually around two or three. If you’ve cleared a district and you’re still missing a Spider-Man 2 spider, check the water. No, seriously. Some of them are stuck to the supports of the bridges connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens. It’s a classic developer trick to hide things right where the land ends.
🔗 Read more: Target Switch 2 Restock: What Most People Get Wrong About Nintendo's Supply Chain
The Multiverse Connection and That Final Reward
So, why are we doing this? Is it just for a trophy? Sorta. But the narrative payoff is the real hook. Once you collect all 42, Ganke calls you up with a location in the Financial District. You go there, and a cinematic triggers that honestly feels like it belongs in a different movie.
A portal opens—not a Doctor Strange portal, but a hexagonal, glitchy one. A character named Delilah appears. For those who aren't deep in the lore, Delilah was a character cut from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. She’s a bartender at the Bar With No Name, a famous villain hangout in the comics. She takes the bots, mentions someone named Miguel (Spider-Man 2099), and then disappears.
It is a direct, canonical tie-in to the Spider-Verse films. It confirms that the Insomniac Peter Parker—the one we’re playing as—is the same one who had a cameo in the movie. It’s a brief moment, but it makes the world feel massive. It suggests that while you’re worried about Kraven or Venom, there’s a whole multiversal war happening just out of sight.
The Problem With Collectibles in 2026
Gaming has a "bloat" problem. We see it in almost every open-world title. Do we really need 100 feathers or 50 hidden packages? Usually, the answer is no. But the Spider-Man 2 spider bots work because they are tied to the identity of the franchise. They celebrate the history of the character.
However, it’s fair to argue that the gameplay loop of "find the glowy thing" is getting a bit tired. Insomniac balanced this by making the web-wing traversal so fast that the "grind" doesn't actually feel like a grind. You can cross the entire map in about 90 seconds. Finding all 42 bots usually takes a couple of hours if you're focused. Compared to the hundreds of hours required for some RPGs, it’s a drop in the bucket.
Essential Tips for Completing Your Collection
If you're currently stuck at 41/42, don't throw your controller. It's almost always the one in the Financial District or the one hidden on the side of a random building in Downtown Brooklyn.
- Listen for the audio cue. The pulse makes a specific "pinging" sound that gets louder as you approach. Use headphones. It's a game-changer.
- Check the heights. Some bots are at street level on the side of a bus stop, but most are near the top of skyscrapers. If you're swinging low, you'll miss the pulses on the penthouse floors.
- The "All-Seeing" Tech is mandatory. Don't even bother hunting the final ten without this suit upgrade. It places a small purple icon on your mini-map once you're within a block of the bot.
- Look for the color contrast. The pink/purple ripple stands out best at night. If you’ve finished the story, you can change the time of day in the settings. Nighttime makes these things glow like neon signs.
Actionable Next Steps
To wrap this up and get that 100% completion, here is exactly what you should do right now:
✨ Don't miss: Worlds25 GO Day 2 TR: Why the London Meta Just Shifted
- Open your Suit Tech menu and navigate to Traversal. Ensure All-Seeing is unlocked. If not, go do a couple of crimes to get the tokens you need.
- Change your in-game time to Night. The visual "ripple" of the Spider-Man 2 spider bots is significantly easier to spot against a dark sky than during the bright afternoon.
- Fast travel to the center of a district where you're missing bots. Don't swing aimlessly; do a "grid search" by flying in straight lines north to south.
- Once you hit 42, immediately head to the side mission marker in the Financial District. Do not skip the cutscene. It’s the only time you’ll see that specific multiversal interaction, and it sets the stage for where the series might go next.
Completing the collection isn't just about the "Funky Wireless Protocols" trophy. It's about seeing the full picture Insomniac painted. It’s a small, weird, glitchy piece of the puzzle that proves Peter and Miles are part of something much bigger than just New York City.