It is fair to say that most video game adaptations of Superhero movies or otherwise do not tend to do that well generally for various reasons. The Amazing Spider-man game from Activision is the latest offering but it’s not a direct adaptation of the movie in this case. How does it fare in an area which is usually more miss than hit?
The Amazing Spider-man is a single player action/adventure based on events which take place after the Amazing Spider-man movie. In which case if haven’t seen the movie and you’re concerned about spoilers, you may be better off waiting until you had before playing the game as it may give away a lot of the plot from the movie. Fear not though, this review does not include any potential spoilers.
The first thing that strikes you about the game is the vast web-slinging, free-roaming environment which allows players to explore Manhattan as they please. The web sling ability is one of the coolest and most used in the game as it allows you to shoot a web into the sky and swing high over the streets of Manhattan. Spiderman also has a Web-Rush ability which allows hiimto slow down time and to pinpoint a destination which he can travel to with the click of a button. This can be used to land on buildings, vehicles or even target enemies. The Web-Rush can also be used in an impressive move to swoop down from above, cocoon enemiesand hang them from the ceiling.
Without giving anything away the main storyline consists of missions which are take place above and below the city in underground labs and sewers. As well as the main storyline there are numerous side missions to keep you busy. Side missions include rescuing civilians from street thugs, transporting virus-infected civilians to hospitals or collecting comic book pages scattered around the environments for perks.
It wouldn’t be a superhero game without a variety of bosses to take on and Spider-man has his fair share in this. The bosses themselves are not challenging enough in my opinion and it just feels like you’ve been there before when you fight each one. The same tactics arre used to defeat each of them i.e. web rush, bash the attack button, dodge, rinse and repeat.
As for presentation the graphics themselves are aren’t great, the animation could have been better and on occasion camera angles were poor especially when Spider-man was on turning around on the ceiling or wall.
Although the web sling ability was one of the most fun parts about the game it could have been much better. Unlike the Spider-man we all know, the webbed hero in this game does not shoot webs from his wrists onto buildings on either side to enable him to swing, he uses what seems like invisible hooks in the sky to propel him forward. This is not how I would expect Spiderman to swing.
Overall despite its faults, The Amazing Spider-man is a decent game with a huge fun factor.
Score: 7/10