Spider-Man 2 review

For all the controversy surrounding the badly-bugged (and stupidly-sp3lt) DRIV3R and its failure to snatch Vice City’s crown from atop its head, it’s nice to see another worthy contender slipping in unexpectedly to try and snatch away its glory. And while it doesn’t quite make it, for all its faults Spider-Man 2 is an initially exhilarating experience, wholeheartedly capturing each thwip and thwack of the web-spinner’s daily routine both in and out the movie.

In terms of impressive features, the cityscape itself stands high on the list: with its stylishly realised version of New York replete with towering skyscrapers, tenements, parks, wharfs and warehouses where action and opportunity are only a swing away. Free from mission requirements, Spider-Man is given carte blanche to swing through the city without a care in the world. Remarkably there are no pauses or load screens in this free-form mode, with the city spread out below you with only the smallest of waiting times needed to boot up the missions that you can accept anytime. And while the map may seem less outstanding than it looks, the many nooks and crannies and avenues and alleyways of Manhattan always provide somewhere interesting to explore.

Crawl or Nothing

Nevertheless, this free-form nature is part of a problem that becomes a common theme for the entire game: namely, a gradual feeling of repetition. Standard missions come in the form of citizens that appear randomly on the streets waving our hero down with green icons above their heads. Talk to these people and they’ll give you missions ranging from police shoot-outs, ambushes, boat rescues and getting people to hospital. Then there are the other automatically activated random incidents such as muggings, gang brawls and the retrieval of children’s balloons from on-high. Oh, and there’s also the missions to deliver pizza without the ability to jump or swing, the buildings that need photographing from all angles by the Daily Bugle and the late-to-meet Mary Jane races. Not to mention the time trials scattered liberally around the landscape. Phew!

Quite a packed agenda, eh? The main story is bolstered dramatically by the aforementioned freeform nature of the game, in which you can go off and do your own thing as the game allows. Indeed, you’re positively encouraged, even ordered, to as some of the chapters of the main plot won’t advance until you’ve earned a certain number of points off on your own. On the other hand, it’s a relatively short story. Expanding, and even changing where necessary the plot of the film to take in other Spider-Man perennials such as Rhino, Black Cat and Mysterio doesn’t stop it zipping by all too soon. (film fans will be pleased to know that it retains that authenticity of not really having Dr Octopus around for much of the game, either.) Enjoyable as it is, then, you’re soon left with nothing but the aforementioned missions and, to get back to the point about repetition, it’s a depreciation of enjoyment as things gradually come back on themselves. In fact, it took less than a day before I found myself called away to do exactly the same tasks again.

Boys Keep Swinging

The lack of content is also evident in the way they’ve tried to out GTA the competition, by hiding around four times as many hidden tokens around the city as GTA had hidden packages. It’s one thing to go hunting for fun, but only the most aggressively completist gamer is going to do so without tedium setting in. Still, while it’s commendable in that it allows you to explore the city more, in its dedication to the layout of New York it loses out on the variety that GTA’s Liberty City or Vice City’s Miami offered. It can be hard to tell one section of buildings from the other sometimes and it’s easy to get lost or disoriented and checking the fiddly map for key locations can often become a necessary chore.

Then again, what’s not to like? It’s silly to over criticise such a cracking game for getting boring later on when there’s at least a good week’s worth of play in it. Lest we forget, it’s best to look at the real reason why being Spider-Man is such an attractive proposition in the first place and this game, more than any of its console predecessors, truly is remarkable in this respect: namely the moves. Like any decent control system it takes a short while to get used to things, but once that’s done the fine tuning’s remarkable in what can be done to get around the city. From running up walls, swinging on lampposts and leaping over tall buildings (yes, in a single bound), it’s remarkable that a standard set of moves can produce such amazing results once you get to grips with it. Think Prince of Persia if you will. Surely this is the game’s biggest strength and the one that makes the whole experience one to endure with a grin for as long as can be tolerated.

Tingling

Speaking of action, the fight scenes aren’t too shabby, either. A combination of attacks and dodges with both fists and webs does nicely, while slow-motion and spider-sense makes short work of multiple enemies. Truth be told though, like the rest of the package, you may get sick of the same old fights again and again, but a variety of moves does contribute to the longevity.

Spider-Man 2 is a game that truly does burn brightest at the beginning. After that, if the thought of not collecting all the rewards is too much to bear, it’s best to dip in and out every now and again before it gets too tedious. It can’t possibly sustain its ardour, but nevertheless, purely for reasons of bringing Spider-Man to life in the best way possible, this is a spectacular experience. Sure, by attempting to outdo GTA it may have overshot the mark but it’s the best attempt yet since Tony Hawk’s Underground tried it and, like that game, the fact that it’s not all stealing cars and shooting guns makes it wholly refreshing.