As a longtime fan of all video games Spider-Man, I was eager to play this title right away. The previous movie-based installments in the franchise like Spider-Man 2 and 3 were pretty well done, and I enjoyed the new movie this game is based on. I was especially excited to hear that free-roaming around the city was back as it was missing from other recent Spidey titles.
The story caught my interest right away. I particularly liked how, instead of a loose interpretation of the film, it was a direct sequel, taking place right after the movie's end. I couldn't wait to extend the storyline and see what happened next. That being said, the story itself in this game was never really immersive, suspenseful or climactic. There is zero character development, and hardly any story beyond, "Oscorp hybrids have escaped and Spidey recaptures a few."
While the voice acting itself wasn't bad, I was still disappointed not to hear Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone reprise their roles. This is only a small hang-up that didn't make or break the game or anything. They were noticeably missed, though, especially since Tobey Maguire voiced Spidey in previous games.
The action takes a few notes from the Arkham games with a very similar combat style and emphasis on stealth. I found it to be more forgiving with not breaking your combo chain in between strikes, and I could get 40-50 hit combos without much problem. It was fun for a little while but didn't add much challenge, especially since you can "web- retreat" at any time to safely sling to the ceiling out of harm's way. I found it more entertaining to stealth-KO all enemies as the fights themselves became tedious.
The selection of enemies for you to fight was pretty weak. I would have liked to see more villains than the very few they had as the boss fights were generally uninteresting. Of course, I do understand that it is probably because it is a sequel to the film and they are saving the better bad guys for the movies first. Still, for a Spider-Man game, their absence was felt.
Side missions were sprinkled all over the map, however they were mostly repetitive and redundant. There were blimp races, muggings in progress and getaway cars to stop. Unfortunately, they were incredibly easy and literally the exact same mission each time. There were also "infected" humans you can pick up and take to quarantine areas, but this was even more repetitious than the other side quests. Being the perfectionist I am, though, I still did them all. I did really enjoy the bank robbery side mission, though, but it was the only kind of it's type.
I guess that brings me to my favorite part about the game which is the web-slinging. There is something so incredibly fun about pretending to be Spider-Man and just flinging your away across Manhattan. You can find comic book pages on rooftops to unlock real Spidey comics you can read in-game (admittedly a very cool feature). Sometimes you can have difficult times with your landings, but this can be aided with the ability to momentarily stop time and choose your exact destination. This mechanic did help a lot with navigation, but sometimes it got a little annoying to have to break up your fast-paced gameplay to do it.
All in all, it did keep my interest until the end, but I am also a big fan of the Amazing one. Spidey aside, this game plays a lot like a budget title with some fun elements, but a lack of polishing which was probably due to a rushed release date to coincide with the movie. I would not recommend paying $60 for this game, but rather give it a rental, or at least wait for it to drop in price.
The story caught my interest right away. I particularly liked how, instead of a loose interpretation of the film, it was a direct sequel, taking place right after the movie's end. I couldn't wait to extend the storyline and see what happened next. That being said, the story itself in this game was never really immersive, suspenseful or climactic. There is zero character development, and hardly any story beyond, "Oscorp hybrids have escaped and Spidey recaptures a few."
While the voice acting itself wasn't bad, I was still disappointed not to hear Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone reprise their roles. This is only a small hang-up that didn't make or break the game or anything. They were noticeably missed, though, especially since Tobey Maguire voiced Spidey in previous games.
The action takes a few notes from the Arkham games with a very similar combat style and emphasis on stealth. I found it to be more forgiving with not breaking your combo chain in between strikes, and I could get 40-50 hit combos without much problem. It was fun for a little while but didn't add much challenge, especially since you can "web- retreat" at any time to safely sling to the ceiling out of harm's way. I found it more entertaining to stealth-KO all enemies as the fights themselves became tedious.
The selection of enemies for you to fight was pretty weak. I would have liked to see more villains than the very few they had as the boss fights were generally uninteresting. Of course, I do understand that it is probably because it is a sequel to the film and they are saving the better bad guys for the movies first. Still, for a Spider-Man game, their absence was felt.
Side missions were sprinkled all over the map, however they were mostly repetitive and redundant. There were blimp races, muggings in progress and getaway cars to stop. Unfortunately, they were incredibly easy and literally the exact same mission each time. There were also "infected" humans you can pick up and take to quarantine areas, but this was even more repetitious than the other side quests. Being the perfectionist I am, though, I still did them all. I did really enjoy the bank robbery side mission, though, but it was the only kind of it's type.
I guess that brings me to my favorite part about the game which is the web-slinging. There is something so incredibly fun about pretending to be Spider-Man and just flinging your away across Manhattan. You can find comic book pages on rooftops to unlock real Spidey comics you can read in-game (admittedly a very cool feature). Sometimes you can have difficult times with your landings, but this can be aided with the ability to momentarily stop time and choose your exact destination. This mechanic did help a lot with navigation, but sometimes it got a little annoying to have to break up your fast-paced gameplay to do it.
All in all, it did keep my interest until the end, but I am also a big fan of the Amazing one. Spidey aside, this game plays a lot like a budget title with some fun elements, but a lack of polishing which was probably due to a rushed release date to coincide with the movie. I would not recommend paying $60 for this game, but rather give it a rental, or at least wait for it to drop in price.