The Amazing Spider-Man may not be amazing, but it is still an entertaining albeit short ride.
This game takes place months after the film. It starts with Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy sneaking into Oscorp thinking Curt Connors' cross-species experiments are still going on. They are stopped by Alistaire Smythe who assures them that they are. The cross-species all contain a deadly virus, so they are all being shipped out to a bio-lab for disposal. They immediately detect Peter's presence, because he is also a cross-species, infect the scientists, and escape into the city. The whole game is about going into the city, stopping the cross-species and working with Curt Connors to find the cure to the virus. There are a few side missions as well, such as foiling Black Cat's bank robbery and taking several pictures for a journalist to put in the Daily Bugle. The plot is rather weak and doesn't live up to the movie, but it does feel like Spider-Man, and it does remind me of the '90's Spider-Man animated series.
The game has an open world, much like in Spider-Man 2 and 3, meaning you can swing around and do whatever you want. There a hundreds of collectible comic pages littered around the city, these unlock full, readable comic books. The combat has a freeflow system similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum, meaning Spider-Man can zip back and forth punching and kicking all of the enemies around him quickly. The swinging is simpler than it was in the last games, for one, you just hold in the button and Spidey will continue to swing, and he doesn't attach his webs to any buildings, destroying so many laws of life. There's also this marvelous thing called the Web Rush, where you kind of slow down time and Spidey looks around and and rush to a certain area. You can this to get out of sticky situations. Instead of using a health bar, this game decided to use that regenerative health crap, and on the hard difficulty you can die very quickly, which doesn't make any sense. You're Spider-Man, but some random thug punches you to death, with two punches. This can get frustrating. Around the city that never sleeps are small petty crimes, whether it be a purse snatching or a mental patient on the loose, it's your responsibility to save the day. There are also stealth missions where Spidey infiltrates an Oscorp lab and gains information from computers while avoiding goons with guns. These parts are definitely not on par with the likes of Metal Gear Solid, but can be fun. Unfortunately, there are not many of these missions and they incredibly easy. The bosses, though, are kind of cool, they're huge and take up a lot of the screen. Sometimes, these bosses get cheap, with moves that can kill you with one hit. A lot of the time, the jump height is insufficient, meaning you'll want to jump to avoid a beam, but you either won't jump high enough, or you'll land right into it because you fall too quickly. There are problems with this game, but the tight combat, and the exhilarating feel of swinging around New York, make it enjoyable.
The graphics aren't too stunning. The models look kind of weak and undefined. The city, however, does look pretty good, and the selectable times of day spice things up when fighting crime. The music is decent, but sometimes just feels like a generic action score. During the load screens is this Twitter knock-off where the fictional citizens of New York City "tweet" about the chaos erupting around them.
All in all, this game does have it's fair share of problems, but can still be an enjoyable adventure.
The Good:
- Swinging around New York is fun
- Combat is satisfying
- Witty writing
The Bad:
- Too short
- Missions tend to get boring and repetitive
- Boss battles are frustrating