Wind brushes past you as you shoot head-first towards the busy street. The asphalt getting closer by the second, cars changing from small coloured dots to full sized vehicles in the blink of an eye… and just when it seems that you’re about to meet your maker… You whip your arm, shoot another web up to a building and swing for the sky! A well-placed “WOOHOO!” follows as the adrenaline shoots through your body…
It has been a long while since us gamers (and us comicbook fans alike) had experienced that adrenaline filled joyride through the city of New York, but with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man (which is a reboot of the Spider-Man story) and the subsequent release of the movie game, we can finally experience it once more!
Now, I know what most of you are thinking. “Movie game?! Please, I wouldn’t spend a dollar/euro on that *insert derogatory term here*” and that’s a normal reaction if you see what movie games gave us the past few years… Iron Man 2, I’m looking at you. Only 1 movie game in that bunch was actually a hit, and that was the X-Men Origins: Wolverine game, which was even better than the movie it was based upon!
I can safely say that The Amazing Spider-Man can be classified in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine department. While I enjoyed the movie, the game was a lot better. Why? Well, it wouldn’t be a review if I didn’t tell you right? So lets begin shall we?
(Jumping as high as a helicopter? No problem!)
The game picks up a few months after the movie. Curt Connors is in jail, his position is taken over by Alastair Smythe and Spidey is a hero to the whole city for saving them from turning into a scaly monster. Peter is still good friends with Gwen and all seems to be just perfect… That is, until Gwen discovers something within Oscorp. Thinking that they have continued Connors’ Cross-species Genetics experiments, Gwen takes Peter with her to see if her hunch was right. And whaddaya know? She was!
As you walk through the Oscorp Building, you see several experiments gone wrong and it’s then that the chocolate pudding hits the fan. All of a sudden it goes south quicker than a bird trying to dodge the winter cold and it’s up to Spider-Man to save the day!
As for the plot, it’s just that basic. Things go wrong, and it’s up to Spider-Man (and an unexpected ally) to save New York before all hell breaks loose. And it’s just that good. While basic, it stays true to Spider-Man and gives you a sense of urgency.
As you walk through the Oscorp Building, you see several experiments gone wrong and it’s then that the chocolate pudding hits the fan.
Now, a game with free-roam isn’t complete without side-missions and boy are there a lot of those! They can be divided in 4 types: Police Missions, Civilian Missions, Daily Bugle Missions and Xtreme Sports missions.
The Police Missions go from stopping muggers to stopping a shoot out (this adds to the variation these missions. Some you can rely on brawn alone, but sometimes… it’s better to use your brain instead), Civilian Missions are more like glorified escort missions, Xtreme Sports Missions are Race type of missions but the most fun ones (for me) are the Daily Bugle Missions, just because it references so much Spider-Man characters. In these missions, you’re sent to take pictures of events. Some have to do with the main story, while others are just because of the bizarre nature of the event that has transpired. Keep a look out for references to the characters, it can be rather subtle! I only got the references after my second mission.
A game with a rather large overworld is nothing without… Collectables. As an Achievement Hunter, this I usually hate this the most about a game. Assassin’s Creed made me cringe with all of its Flags, Arkham City annoyed me with its Riddler Trophies and The Amazing Spider-Man… Doesn’t really annoy me that much actually.
Sure, there is a metric *curse word*-ton of collectables, but they DO something other than annoy you when collecting them. First up, the biggest of them all: Comic Book Pages. According to an achievement, there are 700 of these pages scattered across NYC… 700. Now let me tell you… That is a lot… If I had to collect them just to 100% my game I would have cursed those who thought it’d be funny to put it in but… It actually unlocks very exciting stuff. It unlocks comic books. Readable comic books. This is why I don’t bother swinging through New York chasing down pages. I you find all of them it unlocks 10 comic books, for your reading pleasure and it’s not just some random comics, nope! It’s actually quite relevant to the story! The very first comic Spidey appeared in, the first appearance of The Lizard and a bunch more!
Another type of collectables I’m crazy about is the suits. You can swing through New York looking for the “Spider-Emblems” that are spraypainted on walls. While small and rather hard to find, the pay-off for finding one (and taking a picture of it) is great. You can change costumes and have Spidey look like he does in the comics (while the original suit isn’t included, it does have some of Spidey’s greatest hits, such as the Black Suit, Stealth Suit and Future Foundation Suit). The suits don’t have any special abilities, but hey, it still adds to the fun!
(Fighting with one of the enemies.)
Now, other collectables expand the story itself. These collectables are hidden within the indoor levels of the game and are rather generic. Oscorp Manuals, Magazines, Audio Evidence, parts you can use to upgrade Spidey, pictures you have to take of certain things, you know… Generic. While it does expand the story, it doesn’t really excite me too much. Not as much as the comics or the suits.
As for gameplay, I can say it’s rather smooth. Especially the fighting controls. As opposed to Arkham City, where you have to mash the buttons on your controller with the speed of a Duracell Bunny amped up on speed, crack and caffeine just to bust out a pretty awesome decent move, not to mention you had to memorise the precise button combos to actually DO the move, this game offers a very simplistic combo method. Pressing X (on the 360) does the normal punching and kicking, A makes you jump up, B shoots webs and Y is to dodge when your Spider-Sense activates. While you’re pressing X and your combo-meter goes up, you can activate your “Signature Moves” by pressing B. These moves usually consist of Spidey doing something we’ve all seen in the movie, comics or TV-Shows and webbing his enemies to the ground, floor or wall.
Just like Arkham City, there even is a Stealth Takedown option, which is recommended in most cases. You can get overwhelmed by enemies pretty quickly if you’re not careful. Spider-Man isn’t bulletproof you know.
Webslinging itself is simple and fun to do. Just pull the RT to websling, simple as that! They added a new thing called Web Rush, which is basically a “Stop time for a moment” mechanic which allows you to look through Spider-Man’s eyes and websling fully automatic to a place of your choosing. Very handy when getting overwhelmed by enemies.
The health system is very straightforward. Just like in Call of Duty and a lot of other games, you don’t have a health bar, your screen just turns redder and redder the more damage you take until you’re knocked out. To restore health you have to slip back into the shadows and stay off the radar for a while.
I find it funny that there isn’t a “Web Meter” like in the previous movie games since this game is based on a movie where Spider-Man has webshooters and actually HAS to replenish his webs from time to time, while Spider-Man had unlimited webbing in the previous movie franchise, but not in the games. While it makes you more or less the ultimate fighter, they have incorporated a movement Spider-Man makes when he changes his Web Cartridges. While purely cosmetic, it adds a nice touch to the game.
(Enjoying the freedom of the game.)
While I am a big fan of the game and really like it, there are some parts that make me go “Meh…” as well. For instance, I played this game on Hard or “Super Hero” difficulty from the get go, just because… Well, I AM a super hero and well… I just wanted the 3 Difficulty Based Achievements in one move. It’s safe to say, I wasn’t amazed by how hard “Super Hero” difficulty was… If you compare it to something like Halo’s Legendary… it falls rather short. It’s more like Heroïc (pun intended). Okay, I know that Legendary is supposed to be “SUPER HARD” but it has kind of spoiled me in terms of how I like my games in terms of challenges.
Another gripe is the AI detection radius. Sometimes I can stand next to an enemy and do a stealth takedown while it’s rather obvious I was standing next to him, while at other times, I’m crawling on the ceiling, not making a move and staying in the shadows but suddenly the whole damn room knows I’m up there and I get shot down.
A big problem however, is the camera. While in the previous games the camera sort of went through the ceiling so you could see Spider-Man crawling and the ground/enemies below him, this camera gets stuck against the ceiling, making it rather awkward to look around. I’ve had my fair share of moments where I noticed I was going in the wrong direction because my camera had flipped out.
Pros:
- Free Roam Webslinging
- Engaging story that is a “sequel” to the movie.
- Smooth controls.
- Collectables that actually unlocks stuff.
- Great voice acting.
- Spider-Man Universe Easter Egg Mania.
Cons:
- Camera can be quite a pain in enclosed spaces.
- Free Roam Missions can get slightly repetitive.
- AI area of detection is a bit inconsistent.
All in all, this game is highly amusing and fun to play. Good storyline, good controls and smooth gameplay makes this one of the best movie based games out there. It has a few minor annoyances, which pale if you put them next to the good points of this game. I’d give it a solid
8/10
Tested on PlayStation 3
nice now i wants it 🙂