So I just wrote this article for my job but apparently it does not exist anymore. So while I find a new site to write for I suppose I should post this somewhere, so why not here?
Well here we go again, Activision completing the equivalent of having a baby just because the last five didn't have the color hair they wanted. Of course the fans are responsible too, screaming, pulling at their hair, and throwing fits because "Spider-Man swings from clouds!" You know there is a perfectly reasonable fix to this right? PC users download a mod, and console users?DON'T TRY TO BREAK THE GAME. Throwing a wrench through a window then crying about how the glass should have held up against it doesn't make much sense. So when you're above the highest buildings in the vicinity don't try to swing until you've fallen a bit. It's pretty easy.
Another complaint I've been hearing is that web slinging is too easy, you hold R2 and Spider-Bro does everything for you. I have about the same solution to this. Being brought up in the time of the games where you actually have to hold R2, release, hit X, then hold R2 again, it's embedded into my muscle memory. So I'll constantly find myself doing this even though it's not required, and it really adds to the lost immersion.
Now for my real, valid arguments for the game besides the fact Spidder-Boy doesn't have as many well prepared quips this time around. The story is pretty crap but most superhero stories have boiled down to specific formulas, and since this game was meant to be a movie tie-in anyway, I couldn't care less as long as they include some of the smaller characters into the side missions. That being said, most studios under the Big Labels don't much care about ripping off part of another game, however it works in this situation. While most main missions contain Spidey to the indoors, which while bad for web slinging around and camera positions, it does make the combat more fluid. Basically the fighting is Spider-Man: Manhattan Asylum. But Batman was never so nimbly-quick and he couldn't bounce off the walls like a kid in a cotton candy factory. So the combat is fun and enjoyable, despite the fact it's a bit too easy during most fights, and it closely resembles Batman's combat. The current gen consoles are getting old though, and either it's starting to show or this game was poorly optimized. There are a noticeable amount of lag spikes, and web rush mode sticks a bit. Not to mention the camera goes crazy if you web rush indoors a bunch.
The side missions are pretty varied and interesting besides the carry the infected civilian from A to B. There're missions where you have to destroy a robot while flying besides skyscrapers, webbing windshields of getaway cars, taking pictures with a mechanic similar to?.gosh I can't remember, but it's almost entirely the same. There are A LOT of the boring missions like breaking up muggings and taking injured people to the hospital, but there's a bigger challenge to drive the trophy hunters insane. Seven. Hundred. Comic pages. To collect. Throughout the city. Yeah.
Superficially I have a problem with the suit un-lockables. Actually, I have a few. The first being that the game tells you there are spider emblems around Manhattan and you should go and collect them to unlock cool new duds. What they fail to mention, is they're time released, so the emblems won't show up until months later, real-time. The next problem is a much smaller gripe, but they have about four black suits that look mostly the same. Why we couldn't get a few more colorful costumes is beyond me, after all there's the awesome Iron-Spider-Man, Carnage, and Six-Armed Spider-Monster. Sure I can understand Beenox not wanting to animate the other four arms, but they could have at least thrown in the Bombastic Bag-Man.
In the end you're either going to love this game or hate it. Let the annoying parts wash off you while swinging at high speeds around the city, or grow bored within two hours and return it. It's another attempt to recreate the infamous Spioder-Man 2, of which the diehard fans will accept nothing less than an HD remake, and the "Hey, yeah I think Spider-Man is cool" crowd will compare it to Ultimate Spudder-Dude, praising the good and ignoring the bad. My suggestion is to go out and try it.
Well here we go again, Activision completing the equivalent of having a baby just because the last five didn't have the color hair they wanted. Of course the fans are responsible too, screaming, pulling at their hair, and throwing fits because "Spider-Man swings from clouds!" You know there is a perfectly reasonable fix to this right? PC users download a mod, and console users?DON'T TRY TO BREAK THE GAME. Throwing a wrench through a window then crying about how the glass should have held up against it doesn't make much sense. So when you're above the highest buildings in the vicinity don't try to swing until you've fallen a bit. It's pretty easy.
Another complaint I've been hearing is that web slinging is too easy, you hold R2 and Spider-Bro does everything for you. I have about the same solution to this. Being brought up in the time of the games where you actually have to hold R2, release, hit X, then hold R2 again, it's embedded into my muscle memory. So I'll constantly find myself doing this even though it's not required, and it really adds to the lost immersion.
Now for my real, valid arguments for the game besides the fact Spidder-Boy doesn't have as many well prepared quips this time around. The story is pretty crap but most superhero stories have boiled down to specific formulas, and since this game was meant to be a movie tie-in anyway, I couldn't care less as long as they include some of the smaller characters into the side missions. That being said, most studios under the Big Labels don't much care about ripping off part of another game, however it works in this situation. While most main missions contain Spidey to the indoors, which while bad for web slinging around and camera positions, it does make the combat more fluid. Basically the fighting is Spider-Man: Manhattan Asylum. But Batman was never so nimbly-quick and he couldn't bounce off the walls like a kid in a cotton candy factory. So the combat is fun and enjoyable, despite the fact it's a bit too easy during most fights, and it closely resembles Batman's combat. The current gen consoles are getting old though, and either it's starting to show or this game was poorly optimized. There are a noticeable amount of lag spikes, and web rush mode sticks a bit. Not to mention the camera goes crazy if you web rush indoors a bunch.
The side missions are pretty varied and interesting besides the carry the infected civilian from A to B. There're missions where you have to destroy a robot while flying besides skyscrapers, webbing windshields of getaway cars, taking pictures with a mechanic similar to?.gosh I can't remember, but it's almost entirely the same. There are A LOT of the boring missions like breaking up muggings and taking injured people to the hospital, but there's a bigger challenge to drive the trophy hunters insane. Seven. Hundred. Comic pages. To collect. Throughout the city. Yeah.
Superficially I have a problem with the suit un-lockables. Actually, I have a few. The first being that the game tells you there are spider emblems around Manhattan and you should go and collect them to unlock cool new duds. What they fail to mention, is they're time released, so the emblems won't show up until months later, real-time. The next problem is a much smaller gripe, but they have about four black suits that look mostly the same. Why we couldn't get a few more colorful costumes is beyond me, after all there's the awesome Iron-Spider-Man, Carnage, and Six-Armed Spider-Monster. Sure I can understand Beenox not wanting to animate the other four arms, but they could have at least thrown in the Bombastic Bag-Man.
In the end you're either going to love this game or hate it. Let the annoying parts wash off you while swinging at high speeds around the city, or grow bored within two hours and return it. It's another attempt to recreate the infamous Spioder-Man 2, of which the diehard fans will accept nothing less than an HD remake, and the "Hey, yeah I think Spider-Man is cool" crowd will compare it to Ultimate Spudder-Dude, praising the good and ignoring the bad. My suggestion is to go out and try it.
