> Spider-man 2: Written by: Michael
Anthony
Publisher: Activision Price: 49.99 Genre: Action/Adventure T for Teen
Videogame developers are always trying to make movie-based games
that offer a great gameplay experience, but yet stay true to the movie while doing so. However, a common statistic that gamers
face today, is that movie-based games pretty much... well, suck. I’m sure that we all remember Atari’s incarnation
of “The Matrix.” Although the idea was good, the game was released unfinished, and had poor collision-detection,
which would lead to you sporadically getting stuck in walls. Fortunately, Activision has perfected the game/movie hybrid.
When Spider-man was released for the
first time on GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, gamers were thrilled to know that the game had a solid storyline (that remained
true to the movie), along with great gameplay mechanics. Since the first Spider-man movie [and game] was such a success, we
now get the chance to witness another adventure through the eyes of Peter Parker.
The first Spider-man
game was a great movie-game, and had perfect difficulty settings. However it felt simply too linear. Spider-man seemed like
a perfect exploration game, but there were just too many limits, and not enough scenery to go round‘. Now Activision
has corrected all problems that the first game was responsible for. Dull graphics are now updated, along with the incredibly
huge New York City (which you can now explore on land and pretty much anywhere you wish to go).
Throughout Spider-man 2’s many improvements, it’s easy to notice that web swinging is by far the most improved
antic that the game boasts. When I was young, I always wondered what it would feel like to be Spider-man, and now I finally
get the chance to experience life as a superhero. Web swinging may take time to learn, but once you learn the basics, you’ll
focus on everything but the game itself. Missions in the game seem pointless when you have the ability to experience so much
freedom. In fact, I’d say that web swinging is more fun then the game’s actual mission objectives.
Spider-man 2’s game storyline best resembles Tony Hawk’s THUG style chapter goals.
You must complete the set number of goals in order to move on to the next chapter. The chapter goals will usually require
you to complete 1/30 [in fractions] of the game’s storyline, while you must defend New York City in the meantime to
earn Hero Points.
The side missions usually require you to fetch a young child’s
balloon, or stop an angry mob of thugs menacing the city. However, this is something that’s required in every chapter
of the game, and when it all adds up, you’re basically doing the same side-game over and over again. The most common
is the car chase. Although it’s a blast to jump on someone’s moving vehicle and pound the light out of it, after
a while it begins to get repetitive. Dealing with the irritating sub-missions are very frustrating and repetitive. The only
difference is that more thugs will ambush you each time, which will make the experience even longer.
The game does have plenty of hidden treasures,
like mini games i.e. races or time trials that you must complete in order to earn extra goodies. However, the difficulty is
just too hard for the mini-games. It seems more coherent to not even bother, because the reward isn’t much, and the
mini-games are just plain lackluster.
Although there are
plenty of attack combo’s and upgrades that you can purchase (with ‘Hero points’), attacks just end up in
a complete mess. It’s pointless to buy fighting upgrades because you’re always going to be unsure of what button
you’ve pressed during battle. To make a long story short, this game is a “button masher” when it comes down
to attacking and battles. With this game’s button mashing abilities, boss battles tend to be difficult, and lackluster.
You
may have been discouraged by my ongoing rants toward this game, but I highly encourage you not to be. Cut-scenes brilliantly
mimic the actual movie down to nearly every detail (even though the voice acting is bland). It’s hard to believe that
the movie’s story was marvelously crafted so well into this game. Plus, don’t be sad that the game’s fighting
system isn’t up to par, because your spidey abilities are always there to help. You’ll now be able to rope up,
and fling your enemies high in to the air, which is actually quite entertaining. You’ll soon find that flinging and
tying your enemies up will be your complete fighting method. Also, battles aren’t as tedious due to the all-new-and-improved
Spidey-sense. The Spidey-sense alerts you of any danger about to happen. You can respond quickly by pressing the correct button.
The spidey-sense not only helps you to dodge enemies, but it also creates a “Viewtiful Joe style”, which ups the
reaction time you have.
Graphically enhanced? Yes! The game’s graphics have improved upon its predecessor. Beautiful and crisp
visuals add to the games overall beauty. However, I do have one complaint about the skyscraper building scales... they just
seem, unfinished. The buildings look relatively bland. Of course it’s hard to match such a large city, there should
have been more decoration throughout the game.
Sadly, there’s really no music throughout the game. Of course there’s some Background music in action sequences,
but overall, you’re mostly listening to traffic, and the rants and raves of pedestrians yelling at Spider-man. The movie
sports an awesome soundtrack. With Dashboard Confessional’s “Vindicated” it’s hard to believe that
Activision didn’t add the movie’s soundtrack... to the game. Even Danny Elfman’s Spider-man intro could
have definitely filled in the spot of lackluster traffic sounds. However, it’s a feature that certainly lacks in this
game.
It’s hard to balance out control in this game. Although the Web-swinging control scheme was well perfected, battles
and fighting turn this game into a button masher. However, the controls aren’t unforgivable enough to prevent you from
playing. It’s really not that bad actually. Sure of course it’s proper to learn all of the move combos, but when
you press all of them at once, sadly... it gets the job done.
As for playing the game again, I can find little reason to come back except for swinging. It’s hard to explain how
fun this is. The game’s auto-targeting system really makes you feel like you’re Spider-man. New York is a big
city to explore, so it will take you time to finish doing so.
If you enjoyed the last Spider-man game, then you will not be disappointed. Even fans of the movie that haven’t played
the game can easily fall into it‘s charm. It’s simply a “good” game. So pick it up if you’re
a true fan of Marvel comics and/or games. Give this game a try, it’s a solid rental or possible buy.
Graphics: 8.5 | Sound: 2.7 | Control: 7.5
| Replay: 6.3 | Overall Game Score: 7.3/10
