Amazing Spiderman
Such questions are never answered in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. But the question of forgiveness stayed with me throughout the adventure, and not just in regard to Spidey's questionable acts, either. You see, to enjoy the game, you have to forgive it for its many problems. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is as flawed as its sure-headed protagonist, equal parts enjoyable and aggravating, which made my feelings waver as I smacked down evil-minded foes in the well-realized Manhattan that Peter Parker calls home.
Set as an epilogue to the movie with the same name, The Amazing Spider-Man game will begin ruining plot points for the unreleased film pretty much as soon as you start it up. You find out which main characters lived and died, and a tale centered around the virus that made Curt Connors the Lizard getting released in New York takes off.Traversal is much-improved from 2012’s Amazing Spider-Man game. Your web lines have to actually attach to a nearby building or structure, so you're encouraged to swing close to the ground where taxis and other vehicles honk as you narrowly miss them. It’s much more fun than flying high above them on webs apparently attached to clouds. Having the left and right triggers (or mouse buttons) mapped to swinging with their respective arms is a nice addition, too; the ability to alternate adds a tad more authenticity to Spidey's wild and fast swinging, as does cutting around a corner by using the inside arm. The first time I made a crazy dive from a skyscraper and attached a web to a building right before hitting the ground, I could finally relate to the common scene that’s played out in just about every Spider-Man movie over the last dozen years. I never wanted to stop moving in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Adding to that feeling is that things aren't much fun once you slow down. Like the last movie tie-in, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 attempts to be Arkham-lite when it comes to combat, and fails due to its repetitive nature. While Spidey's range for stealth attacks has been increased, that benefit is negated by the guesswork involved in discovering said range, since there is no indicator like in The Amazing Spider-Man.
When you're inevitably discovered, there's usually not much to winning fights: just button-mash the attack button until your Spidey-sense tingles, then dodge or counter. If you need to slow an enemy down, spam them with webbing. It lacks the options that make Batman’s combat interesting.
Spider-Man is at his best when he's soaring above the congested streets of New York. Firing webbing at skyscrapers creates an incredible sense of locomotion in part because of how well it represents the way I imagine it would feel to be in Spider-Man's tights. By independently shooting webs out of each hand, you guide yourself around buildings with speed and precision, and once you're accustomed to the rhythm of movement, you can deftly scoot around corners without breaking a sweat. When there aren't any buildings, you fall to the ground, which is a little restrictive, but made me choose my path smartly. I didn't want to be stuck walking like a sucker. Still, movement only has that freeing rush when you're not acting with a purpose. When I would stop to collect a floating comic book, or try to wall-run up the side of a skyscraper, I would often clip through surfaces as the camera jittered and shook. Such problems broke my immersion in a snap.
In The Amazing Spider-Man, the webslinger dispenses quick wit almost as fast as he dispenses justice. More importantly, he gets room to show off his high-flying acrobatics with a freedom his last two outings were lacking. This time, Spidey has the whole of Manhattan as his playground. As you fling yourself above the city, swinging past skyscrapers and vaulting from towers, you get a dizzying sense of what it would be like to slip into the famous red and blue costume.
Activision has released seven free-roaming Spider-Man games since 2004, each criticized for one particular flaw. Activision has released seven free-roaming Spider-Man games since 2004, each criticized for one particular flaw. Activision has released seven free-roaming Spider-Man games since 2004, each criticized for one particular flaw. What, doing the same thing over and over again isn't making this review any better? Weird.
When Activision released the Treyarch-developed Spider-Man 2 in 2004, it was everything fans of Marvel Comics' most popular superhero could have asked for. Swinging between buildings in a massive model of New York City, battling iconic foes from Spidey's rogues gallery — it was exhilarating. So much so that the game's most glaring flaw, repetitive side missions, was given a pass.
It's a joy when The Amazing Spider-Man thrusts you into this wide-open world. By holding down a single trigger, you propel webbing from your wrists, swinging in whichever direction you choose. Expectedly, you don't necessarily see the webbing attach to anything nearby, which is fine: the joyous locomotion is all in the name of fun. Yet the game does a great job of providing the illusion that the laws of physics still vaguely apply. When you swish through a park that isn't near tall buildings, you stay near the ground, practically brushing the grass underneath you. When surrounded by stately superstructures, you rise toward the heavens, from where you can look upon the entire city and admire its vibrancy.
Out here in the concrete wilds, The Amazing Spider-Man is at its best, simply because moving around is so much fun. Hundreds of collectible comic pages twinkle on rooftops and flutter in the air. They are simple but nice rewards for the act of locomotion. Come near a page, and you hear and see its telltale glimmer, and note the button prompt inviting you to fling toward it. These signs are enough to have you scanning the screen, searching for the elusive paper. But there's more to the game than webswinging, of course: most of the story-based missions take you off the streets and send you into the sewers and other such interiors. Out in Manhattan, most tasks are optional and involve picking up asylum escapees and returning them to their institution, beating up muggers, and so forth.
Missions in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are significantly shorter than its predecessor’s, but the running time is roughly the same seven hours due to undesirable padding. The combat lead-up to a boss battle is actually pretty short – more often than not, you have to clear a single (albeit large) room of enemies before progressing to the supervillan. It takes about 15 minutes to beat one, but you’ll have spent another 15 during that mission slowly walking around taking photos and searching for items as Peter Parker. The biggest affront in this added time is the “interactive” dialogue sequences. These are consequence-free choices that just determine the order in which questions are asked.
Through more than 20 missions involving Rhino and the Iguana, you web and wail on bad guys. The movie's actors didn't lend their voices to this game, but the cast that is here is solid and actually delivers some cool moments for fans. Sadly, most of the plot points are ho-hum -- with the exception of a truly fascinating run-in with Felicia Hardy -- and it's all about the action, which rewards you with XP for spider-upgrades.
Much like the Arkham series of Batman games, Spidey can confront enemies head on or attack from the shadows. Engaging in some acrobatic fisticuffs raises your combo meter, and when the spider-sense goes off around Spider-Man's noggin, you know to tap the reversal button and stylishly take out the attacker.
The formula makes it easy to look like a superhero and take out a roomful of baddies with webs and signature moves for flair. If you're more inclined to crawl on the ceiling unnoticed, Spider-Man can execute stealth takedowns where he puts villains in web cocoons and brings them back to the ceiling (theoretically to leave there until they starve or the web dissolves and they plummet back to the floor breaking all their bones).
Granted, such simplicity exists in boss fights as well, but those battles do demonstrate how interesting this system can be when the challenge is ratcheted up. Squaring off against the lightning-fast Black Cat, who hides in the shadows and then strikes with sadistic glee, tested my reflexes and my hunting ability. And then there's the markedly different showdown against Kingpin, who's so fat he was arrested for having 10 pounds of crack...butt crack (at least according to Spider-Man). This was a fight of endurance as I had to withstand the attacks of his henchmen while avoiding his rumbling charges. As I punched Kingpin, he would ask questions that made me even more leery of my actions. Why does Spider-Man spend so much time fighting petty thieves when there are real villains out there?
Villainy is one of the major framing devices in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The city views you as either a hero or a villain based on how much crime exists, so you must stop the many evildoers to keep everyone happy. To do so, you complete side missions, such as rescuing people from burning buildings, stopping high-speed chases, and fighting street toughs. Measuring how much the city trusts you is a good idea, and does compel you to keep the streets clean, but in practice, it feels artificial and pointless.
With a couple of exceptions, most of these tasks don't evolve in any way, and they become stale if you focus on them for too long. One minigame has you hovering a circle over Spidey as he flies through the air automatically; you're meant to keep him in view of the video camera that follows him. It isn't very challenging or fun, and in fact, on medium (Hero) difficulty, The Amazing Spider-Man is rarely challenging. Other tasks--rescuing sickly citizens and rushing them to a nearby makeshift hospital--are more enjoyable, in part because of the banter between Spider-Man and his poor passengers. ("No drooling on the suit, please!") But eventually, the voice samples repeat, and playing paramedic loses some of its appeal. Nevertheless, there are enough things to do that you'll be thrilled to have the chance to zoom through the air at top speed.
The missions that lead you through the story aren't as delightful as the open-world hijinks, though the story itself is as wonderfully absurd as any Spidey tale to come before it. The game begins (apparently) after the events of the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man film, with a tour of the Oscorp facility, where the corporation is winding down some unusual experiments. Well, not everything is on the up-and-up, and soon a viral outbreak has the city in turmoil. Peter/Spider-Man's response? Break out an asylum inmate who holds the key to a cure. With so many variables, it's no wonder that Spidey's plans don't follow their intended script, though he stays pretty upbeat throughout. Spider-Man is as funny here as he's ever been, cracking wise in even the most stressful situations. The dialogue is a good mix of seriousness and ridiculousness, making it easy to stick with the plot even when it goes so far over the top it spills into bizarre territory.
Or maybe not. 2012's movie-based The Amazing Spider-Man took us back to the streets of New York City, land of the same handful of side popping up all over town. It was annoying, but fans were so overjoyed to be swinging through the skies again we cut the game some slack.
Two years later and here we are again. Another open world Spider-Man game with repetitive side missions, and I've got absolutely no slack left to give. Activision's Spider-Man games have been receiving the same complaint for ten years now, and no seems to be able to address it. Maybe it's impossible to make a free-swinging Spider-Man video game without boring players to death with the same handful of staged fights, car chases, civilian rescues and races. Maybe Activision should stop trying until someone figures it out.
At first, I did complete every side mission, because I am a completionist. It didn't take long for me to stop. The side missions aren't remotely fun, so spending hours doing the same few tasks over and over sounded like a penance I didn't deserve. Squaring off against ordinary toughs in optional fights when I have to do so much of that in story missions just isn't appealing. And navigating smoke-filled buildings highlights how clumsy Spider-Man is in enclosed spaces. But the thing that made me turn my back completely on side missions is how the story plays out. No matter how much good you bring to the city, you're invariably painted as a villain, so it wasn't worth pleasing people to begin with. If the people of New York can't appreciate me, then they can deal with their own problems.
There are definitely issues that go deeper than mere annoyance. But there are still enough bright spots that I enjoyed my time with the game. Spider-Man is well developed, carrying his trademark snark like a torch, and I laughed frequently at his many jokes. Yeah, listening to the same few phrases repeated over and over again got a little much, but I appreciated the happy vibe of the game. Plus, there are tons of goodies to examine. I don't read comics in real life, but I did flip through one here, and it was nice finding out a little more about Uncle Ben before he cooked his last pot of rice. And there are figures to gaze at in the comic book stores complete with biographies about the characters. Immersing myself in all things Spider-Man for a few days made me smile, and the game does a great job of bringing the characters to life.
The biggest failing of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is how familiar it feels. In fact, there have been other open-world games starring Spider-Man that walk a remarkably similar path. So there weren't many surprises, nothing that jumped out and made me take notice. Still, being able to spend time with Spider-Man was enough for me to stomach the various problems, just because he's a fun character to listen to.
The similarities to that other superhero game are obvious in sections that encourage stealth. You can hover above an enemy or slink from behind and perform a sneak attack. Dropping from a beam, tapping a guard's shoulder, and then wrapping him up and sticking him to the ceiling is a hoot. The AI is mechanical, and not too keen--it's usually simple to zip out of danger and resume your predation.
The guards aren't imbeciles, though, and shine their flashlights about when they are aware of your presence, potentially giving you away if a beam lands on you. Another great touch: you aren't limited to roosting in predetermined areas. Though you can't necessarily stick to every surface, you can usually flit to the wall right over your target's head and wrap him up from there. It's a nice, flexible system.
there's a major motion picture in theaters, so let's crank out another Spider-Man game. Throw in a number of nostalgia-tickling unlockable costumes, give gamers a taste of the style of web-slinging they've been wanting to see return since 2004's Spider-Man 2, and maybe they'll overlook the glaring problem one more time.
The suits are rather nice though, each featuring its own set of enhanced stats that increase as the suit gains experience levels. As I streamed the game live earlier this week, several Twitch commenters said they were considering purchasing the game based on the costumes alone. I can't say I blame them — they're a fine addition to the established formula.
The return of the fabled two-handed web-swinging caused quite a stir as well, though it's not quite a return to the series' finest moment. Spidey can cast a web to the left or right with the corresponding trigger button, but hitting both only controls acceleration. A complicated slingshot move can be unlocked, but it's practically useless in light of the return of the previous game's Web Rush mode, a much easier method of traversing NYC's skyline than simple swinging.
These gameplay basics are fine, but the interior missions are much less compelling than events that occur in the open city. A lengthy section toward the end of the game is even more limiting than many of the missions that come before, losing most of the fun in favor of providing narrative tension. But even before this, avoiding alarm lasers and acid puddles isn't as enjoyable as most aboveground missions, and there are few opportunities to swing with abandon. While the combat is entertaining enough to watch, it is entirely too easy most of the time. There's a simple upgrade system in place in which you spend experience points on new moves and other improvements. But there's no real sense that you are getting more powerful. Battles are easy from beginning to end, and never feel radically different or require more finesse just because you level up your skills.
That's even true of most of the boss fights, which rarely require more than a single attempt. Fighting half-man, half-beast abominations isn't that compelling due to the ease of combat. Robot battles in the streets of Manhattan, on the other hand, make up for their lack of challenge with an incredible sense of speed and the illusion of public danger. Imagine any given scene in a superhero movie in which the superstar faces a menacing rival in the midst of a bustling metropolis. The Amazing Spider-Man deftly re-creates that brand of visual rush when you race after marauding machines and glide about gigantic automatons. The skill required often comes down to hitting the right button when prompted, but when the excellent movement mechanics collide with the urgency of a boss battle, the game is explosive.
Spidey must also make sure his webs have something to attach to — climb to high, and he'll take a dive, quipping "News flash: webs need something to attach to" or "web fail" or any of a handful of similar snippets. I found it obnoxious, as if the game were bragging about the mechanic. The fact that certain portions of the game revert to the old auto-swinging model only make it more annoying.
Such moments are the exception rather than the rule in The Amazing Spider-Man. The game spends too much time in drab drains and boring science facilities, where its best assets are sidelined in favor of easy combat scenarios. But when developer Beenox gives Spidey room to soar, you get caught up in the pure elation of swinging through a spirited city, where helicopters hover overhead and well-wishers call out to you in the streets. And that elation is the best reason to don the suit once more and remind yourself that with great power comes good fun.
While we're on the subject of annoying quips, Spider-Man really needs to learn when to shut the hell up. Nothing makes trying to forget about the game's many flaws more difficult than having the character repeat a reminder about his next mission every five minutes. I've not forgotten about Kraven or Harry or whatever — I'm just trying to find some enjoyment in an overwhelmingly average experience.
It's not easy. It seems like every time I started to really have fun, Beenox would throw some sort of obstacle in my path.
Take the game's story. It's essentially a "What If?" tale based on the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 film, mirroring some plot elements (Harry Osborn's plight, Electro's transformation) while weaving in fresh content (Kraven the Hunter's mentoring, the Kingpin's plot to take control of the city with Osborn's help). Gwen Stacy and Peter aren't together in the game, and not a single mention is made of Parker's stupid parents — in fact the game opens with a flashback to the shooting of Uncle Ben, a pivotal moment in Spider-Man's career.
