The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Reviews
Maybe we've simply done everything there is to do with Spider-Man in a video game and all that's left is diminishing returns. And that kills me. It really does. Even in the worst of recent Spidey games there was always that fragment - that little sputtering flame of childlike excitement - that could kick in once you swan-dived off a skyscraper, clad in iconic red and blue. It's gone. Sullied by lacklustre gameplay and trampled by technical shoddiness, this time Spidey hasn't been done in by the Sinister Six, but reduced to a Terrible Two.
It's super-fun to swing around New York City in The Amazing Spider-Man 2! Everything else, on the other hand...
After some of the forward progress made by Beenox themselves, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 feels like a step backwards for the franchise and for the viability of open-world superhero games in general. It's not really a game that's broken, and at times, it's quite beautiful, but it's also far too happy with itself being so astoundingly average. Those who absolutely need their web-swinging fix may find themselves with just enough web-fluid to see it through. But for everyone else, they may find themselves walking away from a Spidey-suit-filled trashcan, whispering, "I'm Spider-Man… no more."
Not necessarily a bad superhero game, just one we've seen countless times before. The web-swinging, goon-bashing, crime-fighting fundamentals simply aren't fun.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes in a next-gen wrapper, but feels like a last-gen experience. There's plenty of fun to be had thanks to some fun battles, an entertaining story, and scads of collectibles. Just be prepared for an experience that looks and feels extremely familiar.
Swing between the skyscrapers of New York, stop petty crimes, punch the Green Goblin in the face – you've already played this game
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is as fun as it is flawed, capturing the snarky joy of the webbed crusader amid the repetition of combat and tedious side quests.
There have been many worse Spider-Man games than this. But I can't recall one that's swung so conceptually close to greatness only to let poor execution drag it back to Earth.
The tried and tested Spider-Man formula is beginning to wear thing.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not only a well above average movie licensed game, but a solid superhero game in its own right. The combat, while entirely unoriginal, is quite enjoyable and features a good sense of variety between its group encounters, stealth sequences, and boss fights.
This is a dull, drab, uninspired commercial of a game for a wreck of a film; as one of the most iconic pop-culture figures of the past 50+ years, Spidey deserves better.
Let me put it to you this way. I actually stopped playing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to do some other work. I'd play a mission, decide I couldn't take any more and go do something else instead, just to get away from it. Quite frankly, that's the opposite of what a game should be.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 continues to swing with energy, but you can see some of the strain peeking out of his suit. Between the glitches from rushed development and some unnecessary gameplay segments (go…away…Peter!), it's not nearly as good as Beenox's other efforts. Here's to hoping that for the next game, Activision lets this team run wild on something inventive and new. Certainly couldn't hurt this web-slinger's chances.
An unlikely mix of the bland, the predictable, and the surprisingly excellent – which only makes the mediocre end result all the more frustrating.
Most of the time, the game works, and some of it can be amusing if not nourishing. It's just stupid. Very, very stupid.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't a complete disaster, and I can easily see fans of Spidey enjoying it at a deep discount. It's just a shame that Beenox somehow got worse at making Spider-Man games over time, and that the powers that be insist on rushing them as movie tie-ins. Somehow, someway -- we will get our Arkham of Spider-Man games again. Until then, you can just pick up a used copy of 2004's Spider-Man 2.
After four years with the license, Beenox has yet to deliver a truly ground-breaking Spider-Man experience. Yet, despite not having that "Arkham" effect, this latest movie tie-in is still worth a punt. It may be a little rough around the edges and could have done with more substance, but it's still fun for a good few hours and ideal for younger gamers.
You don't need to be the clairvoyant Madame Webb, who first appearance was Amazing Spider-Man 210, to know that Amazing is anything but. The various game crashes, audio glitches, and unceasing loading make up an additional catalog of do-not-want, but it's really just how diminished Spider-Man is that hurts. The anemic plot and the oft-repeated zingers give us a pencil sketch of the great Spider-Man, when he deserves to be inked and colored.
My biggest disappointment in Spider-Man 2 is not inherently within its flaws or even that it is a licensed game. The problem is that a great game can be seen swimming just beneath the surface of the game that we ultimately got, but a severe lack of polish with the need to rush this out to match the film's release left what could have been a good game buried under mounds of flaws, issues, and sheer drudgery. While there were aspects of this game that really could have been something special or even passable, I would have to say that the overall package of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't really all that amazing.