The Amazing Spider-Man Review

So, another year and another Spider-Man game makes its way to stores. We all know that there have been heaps of Spider-Man games in the past. Personally though, I never really knew there were so many. Just look at the list. Man, that's a lot of Spidey games. Anyway, the task of making this one was give to development studio Beenox, a team that's certainly no stranger to the franchise. They also worked on Spider-Man: Edge of Time (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS) and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii).

The Amazing Spider-Man game takes place sometime after the movie (the one that's currently in theaters). Oscorp executive and nano-technology specialist Alistair Smythe conducts an experiment in an attempt to make a cross-species based on Dr. Curt Connors' research ('the Lizard' in other words). Naturally, this cross-species escapes and stars causing chaos in New York (Oh God, not there again!). To fight this dangerous abomination, Smythe constructs numerous robots, which were supposed to help contain the situation. That plan backfired and the robots are now also considered a threat. Spider-Man is now facing a huge challenge and has to deal with both of these threats. At this point, we should also mention that, apart from Lizard, other familiar villains make an appearance in this game, including Iguana, Felicia Hardy, Rhino, Scorpion and Vermin.

It's gonna be a long way down.

Hm, still early... where is everyone?

To recap, you are Spider-Man and you are battling monsters and robots. Not exactly a riveting set up, is it? Albeit, that's not exactly the issue here. You might also be discouraged by the game's general lack of appeal in the story department. The problem is in the writing itself and how bad and uninteresting the missions and characters are in this game. The humor is a bit disappointing as well. Some of it was probably inspired by the movie characters. However, what actors Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield have done in the movie feels a bit different and it works, unlike the stuff that was meant to be funny or appealing in this game. The geeky humor may appeal to some audiences, but it honestly did not tickle our fancy.

This, rather appreciatively, shifts the focus on the gameplay, which is mostly open-ended and the players may access the main character's high-tech cell phone to begin find their way around and begin various missions. Much to my surprise, the gameplay mechanics in The Amazing Spider-Man feel different from previous Spidey games and I do mean that in a good way. Starting with the controls which work extremely well and make all of Spider-Man's classic web maneuvers easy to pull off. The same thing can be said for the combat when things get hot and you're facing a lot of opponents at once. The thing about this game is that it's genuinely fun as soon as the combat gets going. Fair enough, it's not a spectacular and innovative combat system, but it is enjoyable, which is the main thing. There's a variety of moves available. More importantly, there's the new Web Rush power giving Spidey a chance to grab walls and other surfaces quite quickly. Of course, while you're playing and zipping from wall to wall, there's a good chance to may notice a similarity between The Amazing Spider-Man and Rocksteady's Batman: Akrham City. Nothing wrong with that. The mechanics are well-implemented and they keep the game different from other Spider-Man games.

The game's is sometimes too easy, which stands as its biggest issue and for most experienced gamers, a lot of the boss fights and similar challenges will be a walk in the park. On the other hand, the Web Rush power gives is a cool new twist and it adds a special element to the whole experience. You can complete missions relying on this power to take out enemies silently and, simultaneously, you can utilize Web Rush in mid combat to slow down time and to gain leverage.

Wow, can I touch your, err, never mind.

Weee...

To sum up, this isn't really a bad game. It looks pretty good, it sounds pretty good and once you dig into its combat, you're bound have fun. However, The Amazing Spider-Man suffers from a symptom that certainly isn't uncommon in games nowadays. One of the recent examples is Quantum Conundrum that had a chance to bring us into a new and exciting world. Only it didn't. And it's not different in this case. The demand is put on the developers, like Beenox or Airtight, to deliver a technically sound game and to work on polishing the gameplay as much as possible. The work that went into those aspects is commendable, but it still doesn't make the world more interesting. You are hurled into a tedious setting, one seen in movies and games way too many times before. No writing or humor present in this game to make you think otherwise.

We miss games with more flare, better characterization, cool missions, an interesting story, interesting new worlds and so on. It takes a lot of creativity to come up with such qualities, especially in a video game. Still folks, it is possible.