Spider-Man 2

"Suprisingly, it's a good Movie Game."

I was quite shocked when one of my friends told me I should go out and buy Spider-man 2. Games based after movies just have a horrible history of being bad. They usually feature bad game play, horrible bugs, boring stories, and just ok graphics. This is because movie games are always rushed to coincide with the release date of the movie.

It turns out Spider-man 2 is one of those games where you can go anywhere, like in the Grand Theft Auto series.

GAMEPLAY (7/10)
The gameplay in this game isn't half bad. The way it works is that the game is divided up into chapters. And in order to advance onto the next chapter, you have to complete a list of objectives. Usually you have to go to a certain place, such as the daily bugle, and then you have to earn 3,000 or so hero points. The way you earn hero points is by helping random people. On your map you'll see a green dot; you walk up to the person and talk to them. Then they usually say a car's getting robbed, or someone's fixing to fall off a building. You help them out and then get some hero points.

At first helping out these people is fun, but after a while it's obvious this hero point requirement is used as a way of extending the game and making it last longer. Also there are only several scenarios that happen when you help them, and it gets old quick.

Whenever you're fighting someone you can use this thing called “Spider sense” which basically slows down time like in the Matrix. I believe they called it bullet time. Beating up people is always fun, but some of the bosses can become tedious. However, after you figure out the patterns they use, then there not as hard to beat.

You can also go anywhere on Manhattan Island. That sounds neat, but it gets boring. Swinging from building to building is fun, but I wish you could do more. I guess I'm just used to GTA, being able to just steal a car and go for a joyride. In this game you can't do any of that, not unless someone gets in trouble, but even then all you can do is beat up the bad guys. You can go into hideouts and beat up the bad guys.

STORY(6/10)
The story is pretty good. I guess it follows the movie Spider-Man 2, but I wouldn't know, haven't seen it yet. I have however seen the first Spider-Man and that kept me interested in this game. It seems like most of the story in this game is showing up late everywhere and saying you're sorry.

Peter Parker was doing some report on Dr. Octavious, and then somewhere things go bad, I'll leave the rest of the story for you to find out in the game.

FEATURES
There are also some extra things in this game to keep you playing it after you beat the story part. You can collect skyscraper tokens, that are from exploring. You can also bust gang hideouts. Also, you can buy new moves and tricks. You can deliver pizzas as well. Yeah, you pick up the pizzas, and then swing your way to where they go. And somehow, they arrive without having the toppings slide off of the pizzas.

GRAPHICS(7/10)
The graphics in this game are good. The entire city of Manhattan is in the game, with no load times between places, and it looks great. You can crawl up on the Empire State building and look at the entire city. The cars and people don't look as good. There mouths don't move when they talk. I don't know if they could have made the people look any better though since they already have the entire city there.

The full motion videos don't look that great. The people in them look kind of awkward.

SOUND(8/10)
The sound is good. They have some of the actors from the movie doing the voices of the characters in the game. I bet it was in their contract that they had to do this for the game.

The music is good too. You know why? Cause KMFDM did some of it. I was sitting there playing, and on one song I was thinking to myself “Man, this sure sounds like something KMFDM would write.”, and after I beat the game, sure enough, they were in the credits.

Most of the music is more like background music that plays when you're in a fight. When you're just swinging around the city I don't think there is much music, if any at all.

PLAY TIME
Single player – 10+ hours
I got bored of this game after playing it for around 10 hours. It is neat how you can go anywhere on the island, but don't be fooled. You can go anywhere, but you can't do anything. It is fun just swinging around New York. I guess the reason I played GTA more is that you can do more in it. And I prefer to drive around cities, not swing through them.

RENT OR BUY?
I'd rent it. I'm borrowing it from a friend right now, and I was done with it within 5 days. If you rent it and you can't get enough of the game, then go ahead and buy it.

RANTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Not really much to complain about. The game is pretty good. I kind of wished they would have added like a separate mode to be able to jack cars and drive them around. I do enjoy the entire city being in the game. I've always wanted to visit New York, and now I don't have to.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/04