The Amazing Spider Man Review
Developer: Beenox
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3, Wii, 3DS, DS, Android & iOS
Genre: Action/Adventure
Release Date: 29/06/2012
RRP: £39.99/$59.99
I’m going to get this out of the way straight away. I am a
massive Spidey fan. This undoubtedly makes me biased in this review but, let’s
be honest, if you aren’t a fan of the character then you are not likely to give this game even a second glance.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a movie tie-in game, but it has
its own original story. Set only a short time after the events of the film, the
plot sees Spidey accidentally become the cause of the release of a virus that
threatens to turn all of Manhattan into human/animal hybrids, like the Lizard.
Let’s be clear, the first hour gives away the majority of what happens in the
film. This isn’t a big deal if you know the comics fairly well, but if The
Amazing Spider-Man is your introduction to the Webhead, prepare to be spoilt on the fates of a number of characters. The plot is decent enough, it’s nothing
special, but gets the job done (some “twists” are extremely easy to see coming)
and provides you with plenty of situations to kick some ass.
The film’s cast did not lend their voices to their
respective roles, but their stand-ins do an excellent job. Each actor is solid,
and the writing does each character justice, with Spidey happily getting some
excellent one liners.
The developer, Beenox, knows him. This is their third title
with the character and they have him down to pat. Movement through the open
world of New York looks incredible. Spidey does flips, spins and performs
suitably acrobatic dives while web swinging through the city. But it’s the
addition of Web Rush that makes you truly Spider-Man. By pressing RB, the
player can select a point and Spidey will automatically move to it. He will run
along edges, catapult himself off flagpoles and bounce of the side of buildings
to reach the point, all of which looks amazing. Each animation is smooth and
elegant and the transitions between them are unnoticeable. This should be the
defining mechanic for a Spider-Man game, and I for one will be extremely
unhappy if it is removed in future titles.
Combat is almost as smooth as travel. The game borrows its
combat system from the Arkham series of Batman games, with players having
access to the X button for attacking, the Y button for a reversal when
Spidey-Sense goes off, and the B button doubling as a Web Shot, and allowing
you to perform a Signature Move when an enemy is stunned (which is essentially
a finisher). It works well enough, with Spider-Man moving fairly fluidly between
enemies, but sometimes suffers from its simplicity.
You can also choose to take out enemies from the shadows,
with Stealth Takedowns from the roof. These can get a little tricky when the
camera decides not to play ball with you however, and caused me to reveal
myself to enemies multiple times. This problem is especially prevalent in the
indoor sections of the game.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of indoor missions,
with each main story mission taking place inside. Most of Shattered Dimensions,
and all of Edge of Time (Beenox’s previous two Spider-Man titles), were set
inside, so it’s clear that Beenox knows how to deal with a confined Spider-Man.
It would just help if the camera worked a little better when you are on a roof.
When back outside in the city however, the camera works
perfectly. It sticks closely to Spidey, the screen blurs as you fly past
buildings, giving you a suitable sense of speed, and it is accurate enough to
allow you to leap from point to point without worrying about where you are
going to end up. This definitely helps for the collectibles, of which there are
a lot of. This will be a tough game for completionists as there are 700 comic
book pages scattered throughout the city. These pages become actual comic books
that you can read in the menu, which is an excellent addition, giving you the
first appearances of the game’s villains, as well as one more modern Lizard
story. Besides these pages however, are a number of other collectibles to be
found in each of the main missions (all of which are replayable). All in all,
there are around 900 collectibles to be found, so if you’re an OCD collectathon gamer, you have
a lot of work on your hands. By the end of my playthrough, I only had around
half of the collectibles, and I was actually looking for them.
There are also a number of alternate costumes to be unlocked
for fans of the character. Unfortunately, these are neither as numerous or as
interesting as in Shattered Dimensions or Edge of Time, but it is still a nice
touch. Each costume looks incredible however, and a huge amount of detail has
been put in each one, as they get more and more tattered as you take damage.
Coming out of a mission you found challenging looking like hell is an excellent
touch.
The game can get a little repetitive. Side missions like transporting
infected civilians to quarantine are filled with repeated dialogue and can get
a little tedious. Car chases always end in an awesome way, but it’s still the
same way. It’s repetitive, but still manages to end up being damn fun.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a game for Spider-Man fans. It’s
filled with memorable moments (battles with Hunters can literally span the
entire city) and subtle nods to potential future villains, and while there are
a few flaws, screw ‘em, I’m Spider-Man.
- Paul Brown
- Paul Brown
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