I forgive Beenox for Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
It's rather ironic that I enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man so
much, as it is a return to the thrilling open-world web-slinging of past games…
a formula that was growing stale when developer Beenox took the Spidey
franchise reins and delivered the wonderful change-of-pace Shattered
Dimensions.
A note of caution should be issued for those not wanting to
spoil the Amazing Spider-Man movie… this game takes place after the movie, and
is directly related to the ramifications of that plot. Some big spoilers are in
casually tossed about right away. If you're concerned about knowing such
things, this game really shouldn't be played until after you see the movie.
The game's story revolves around the outbreak of a cross-species
virus infecting New York City (again? NYC was already plagued in the recent
Prototype 2, as well as in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. That's apparently
Activision's go-to plot device). You fight off scores of thugs with your fists,
webs and super-fast reflexes, on the way to saving the city single-handedly
(cameos from other Marvel heroes are
sadly lacking). It's a solid enough excuse for a story, with not too much plot
padding.
The big selling feature is that Spider-Man is back to
swinging around in the wide open area of New York City… between story missions,
anyway. The structure of the main story is shockingly similar to Edge of Time.
A lot of corridors and almost entirely indoor locations. I do believe many of
the environments were just reskinned to use in this game. But they removed a
lot of the frustration by not having to jam on an action button to open every…
single… door, as it was in the previous game. And there's none of those long
"falling & dodging" sequences, though there were a couple places
that scared me into thinking they might happen… a nice wink to how annoying those
were.
In fact, if anything, the game may be too easy. They removed
the "Web of Challenges" from the past couple games, so you're no
longer required to pull off certain feats in certain areas in order to 100% the
game. "Web-Zip" is now "Web Rush" and it will momentarily
freeze time so you can line up a quick movement or attack. Attacking is mostly
a one-button affair, switching only if you need to use webs or dodge. Even the
web-slinging is simplified to just holding a trigger; No turbo boosting, no
extra aerial acrobatics. It's still the most satisfying way to travel, in my
opinion. I hunted down the hundreds of comic book page collectibles around the
city map simply because I enjoyed swinging on the web (In the Web of Shadows
game from a few years back, I collected all 2000+ items, even though I only
needed 2000 for the achievement. And I didn't even finish that game.
Web-slinging is fun, I tell ya!).
The biggest problem I encountered was the lack of responsiveness
with the controls. I'd often hold down the Web Rush button without it ever
activating. Same with the "Web Retreat" and "Web Cyclone"
and activating the camera. This always leads to being hit or a quick death. Even
jumping off the wall can be sluggish.
Load times between levels are pretty lengthy, even with the
game installed to the hard drive. They did include Twitter-esque dialog scrolls
from citizens to read, which is a nice touch. Wish they updated more than once
a chapter, though.
And the side missions lack depth. There are no
"side-stories". Nothing random or dynamic, either. They'll pop-up as
you progress through the main story, but after you've completed them all, don't
expect to deal with random muggings or car chases.
The graphics… are a mixed bag. The human character models
are pretty ugly and outdated, but the monsters looks good, the city looks great
(There's even a handful of different atmosphere conditions for the city
throughout the game, and post game roaming allows you to choose between them),
and Spidey's animations are pretty spectacular. The game starts off on a bad
foot, with an extended first-person perspective of Peter Parker walking around
the Oscorp facility. You get to see the ugly character models up close.
Reminded me of Batman: Arkham City, which started off with the ugliest graphics
in the game. They should have begun with some open-world web-slinging, to get
you excited rather than bore you with an extended walk-and-talk sequence.
All in all, despite the flaws, I really enjoyed myself all
the way through. It took me about 20 hours to get 94% completion, most of that
side missions or item collecting. Or just having fun swinging around the city.
Did I mention how much I enjoy that?
I just wish they had spent a little more time on the game,
tightening the control responsiveness, and integrating the side missions
dynamically (Most side quests, excluding simple muggings, "fade" out
to the mission, and the "fade" back to the map when you're done). But
it's a decent blend of standard beat-em-up fare and Spider-Man quick-web
goodness.
3 out of 4 stars.
Recommended for: Lovers of Spider-Man! It is a solid entry
in the series, and certainly a step up from last year's frustrating mess.
Franchise Fixes: Take some more time before the next entry.
Get everything polished up and seamlessly blend the open-world with the story
and the side missions. Also, take a cue from Batman: Arkham City and give the
side missions some story and depth of their own. And next time the game is tied
to a movie, how about make it a prequel so you're not spoiling the film's plot?
Achievements/In-Game Reward System: Not a big mix of
challenges, most achievements are given for story progression, difficulty
setting and task completion. A couple diversionary achievements don't do much
to make this list too exciting, although
it is an easy game to boost your score with. I wish they had more in-game
rewards, though. When I completed the storyline, I was at level 22… upgrades
stop coming at level 20. The game could really use additional unlocks, perhaps
making the costumes obtainable this way? Which reminds me… one redeeming
quality about Edge of Time was that it awarded players from Shattered
Dimensions with unlocked costumes. Sadly, the tradition did not continue here.
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