GTA with Spidey, to a lesser extent...
Not Recommend: People who HATED the Spider-Man movies, people who HATE comics, and people who can't stand a bunch of bugs and glitches, as well as bad camera angles
Spider-Man 2 for the GameCube, for me at least, was a really fun game. I am a huge fan of comics and Spider-Man is one of my favorite heroes, even though the movies were ok. But because this game goes beyond the movie and into things from the comics, it made me very happy. First of all, let me sum up the story of this game. It's split into various chapters, all part of a greater story. It mostly follows the storyline of the movie, but in each chapter there are some missions that have nothing to do with the movie. Also, there are a bunch of side quests to do that go into the comics universe instead of the movie. So in the end, you will be fighting Doc Ock, just like in the movie, but along the way new things will surprise you, such as fighting Rhino and a climatic battle with Mysterio on top of the Statue of Liberty (which was my favorite part of the game). Gameplay wise, this is how it works. In each chapter as I mentioned above, there are various missions. You have to complete a certain number of them to move onto the next chapter, but there are some that you don't need to do, hence the side quest factor of it. You have all of New York city at your disposal, and you can swing from building to building to get to where you want to go. Just like Grand Theft Auto and games that copied off of it, the world is like a sandbox, but to a lesser extent. Not everything is interactable, but swinging around in a huge open world was a huge highlight in this game. Combat is a major part of the gameplay, and it is VERY fun. You start off with a few moves to use, but as you progress through the game, you unlock more and get upgrades. Some upgrades aren't even for combat. You can get upgrades to how you swing, including one that lets Spiderman blast off from a web sling that he creates from two lampposts. So all in all, the gameplay is very fun. The only downside to it is that there are a TON of glitches and bad camera angles. I know that harsh reviewers usually think that stuff like this deserves to bring a game score down a few points, but every game has some sort of problem. You just learn to deal with it and it really doesn't bother you all too much. Besides this, the only other negative thing I can say is that some of the boss battles are really hard. In fact, I still haven't beaten Doc Ock at the end of the game yet, and it's been 2 years that I've had this game. It's SOOOOO hard. But like I said, in the end it's fun and worth it. So now that gameplay and story are covered, the only other things I can talk about are the graphics, music, and replayability. The graphics aren't too great, but decent for the time this game came out. People's faces and mouths don't even move when people talk, but who cares. The music is what you would expect in a superhero game. It's that classic superhero epic music that you all know and love, and it adds a lot to this game when you're playing it. As for replay value, this game has A LOT of it. Even if you beat the game, you can still redo missions. Just swinging around the city is fun, and sometimes I turn the game on just to do that nonstop.
Overall: This game is really good for fans of Spidey, his movies, his comics, and just superheroes/comics in general. People who love just doing what they want will find that they will be able to in this game because of it's freeform gameplay. However, if you are just a normal gamer who doesn't think much of the franchise behind this game, you will probably be the one who thinks this game is only ok or even mediocre, especially when they face the problems the glitches and camera angles present. Even the difficulty level can be challenging. So all in all, it's up to you and you should try this game. My review score is biased based on my love for Spidey and the comics, so people like me will probably agree with my score. If you're not like me, though, then take it for what it is and see for yourself.