Title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Format: PS4(reviewed), PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U
Release Date: April 29th, 2014
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Beenox
Price: $59.99
ESRB Rating: T
The Amazing Spider-man 2 is the direct sequel, which was actually a pretty good game, but sadly the sequel takes too many swings back in the wrong direction.
Story and Presentation:I have not seen the latest Spider-man film as of yet, but the devs have stated that they loosely follow the movie's narrative. It pretty much gave the devs an excuse to pit Spidey against a number of the series' iconic villains. The concept seems cool for a video game, but the problem that comes along with bringing in too many villains, is that it can lack some depth. The plot ends up being predictable, and the characters all lack in the reality department. The character models themselves are average, and that's putting it lightly. Spider-Man himself looks good, but everyone else look comparatively worse than his. Peter Parker himself doesn't look good, and the rinse and repeat bad guys all look the same. Overall, most of the characters are poorly voiced, and give off a robotic vibe. There have been a number of Spider-Man games come out, and with it comes some fatigue of the same environments. New York still looks good, and swinging over Times Square still looks and feels great. There's even a cool blur effect if when you gain enough momentum that really gives you a sense of speed. The writing in the game is okay, Spidey still spouts off endless quips as you take down enemies, but it will repeat. It got a little annoying listening to him say the same lines over and over, but fortunately he doesn't bombard you with quick witted jabs. The soundtrack is solid, it offers you similar soundtracks found in previous games, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. The presentation in Amazing Spider-Man 2 is pretty spotty, which is a shame seeing as how the devs have some new hardware to play with.
Core Gameplay:The Amazing Spider-Man undoubtedly resembles the Arkham City games, with the highlight being the freeform style combat. You punch and you dodge, but taking remembering that this is a Spider-Man game, you can use your web powers for a number of things. Disarming enemies that carry guns is important during the bigger missions, but outside of gun toting bad guys, the game is fairly easy. I played on normal, and I breezed right through it. The boss battles themselves are cool, but I found them way too easy. There's also these encounters which sets you in an closed environment with enemies that have guns, and you must use stealthy attacks to take them out quietly. It's very reminiscent of the Arkham games, but it's nowhere near as refined. The inverted takedowns and stealth attacks are a bit clumsy at times, but they still get the job done. Still, putting Spider-Man in a closed environment will always be awkward. Also, the camera constantly goes out of focus, and can completely throw off your movements. The main campaign is pretty short, and you can blow through it if you choose. Side missions are always available for you to complete if you choose to do so, which nets you some extra experience points. The problem is, the side missions are incredibly repetitive. Saving lifeless NPCs from burning buildings, stopping an escaping vehicle, or stopping thugs from stealing a car gets pretty boring too quickly. Peter Parker plays a role here, but all of his missions are dull that involve you taking pictures, or eavesdropping on random NPCs. The swinging mechanics are solid, and require buildings for webbings, which can make getting around in some areas a hassle. Once you get the hang of mechanics though, you'll be zipping through the city with speed and precision.
Final Thoughts:The Amazing Spider-Man isn't as good as it's predecessor, and that's disappointing seeing as how solid the first game was. The presentation is lacking, even with arrival of next gen, the game still looks like a current gen title. Combat is fun, but missions lack variety and become tedious far too quickly. If you were waiting for a good Spider-Man this year, you'll have to wait a bit longer.
+Fun Combat
-Bland Visuals
-Tedious Mission Structure
-Spidey's ground movements feel imprecise
S&S Rating: 6/10 @whatsPlay
