Though Spiderman 2 the movie has a very solid, witty, and well thought out story, Spiderman 2 the game does nothing to resemble it. The story loosely entwines Spiderman and Dr. Oc., but throws in many other older villains to try and keep the action going. From the Rhino, Shocker, and even Mysterio, it seems like this game tries to pull all the rabbits out of the hat rather than have a general focus. Along with many different villains you also have some sort of an accomplice to the web slinger: Black Cat. Since a lot of children will probably play this game, the vast cleavage shown by her skin-tight outfit might send a few parents running for the power button, but rest assured, this is the only part of the game that is remotely controversial.
After watching Spiderman 2 the movie you would really expect more from this game story wise, but that is not where this game shines. The innovation in this game is the total freedom to go anywhere and swing anywhere you want. From the Empire State building all the way to the Statue of Liberty, you will never feel like there is not a new place to go. I must applaud the graphic?s team on this game. Although all these buildings move by like a freight train when Spiderman is swinging, it still keeps up a very solid frame rate.
Fighting in Spiderman 2 is nothing more than a button mash fest. Yes you may have a dozen different moves that you can do, but the same old punch, punch, punch routine will kill any baddy no matter how hard they look. If it couldn?t get any easier, the game tells you by your ?spider sense? when you are going to be attacked so you can dodge and counter. As you upgrade Spiderman, through the use of hero points, you can achieve more moves, but the repetitive nature of the events to gain the hero points gets very old. In all, there are only about seven different events that can occur when you ask a person on the street if they need help. After say ten minutes, helping strangers gets far too old and will leave you looking for new things to do. If they would have added more to the event structure and further the possibilities of events that could happen, it would have been a lot more challenging, but due to the fact that this game is more geared towards kids I can understand the simplification. Even though Spiderman 2 was handed a teen rating, there is nothing to worry about other than Black Cat and her skimpy outfit.
Graphically speaking, there is not much to this game. Offered on Xbox, Gamecube, and Playstation 2 it seems a lot crisper on the Xbox due to a more powerful graphics card. The main characters have been refined so that their mouths move, but the people on the streets look no more complex than a stick figure. The buildings seem to be there but it doesn?t seem that they put much work into the textures.
Even if Black Cat is wearing something inappropriate, Spiderman 2 still shines in many categories where it could have left a bad taste for children. Swearing, blood, and sexual content are just not in this game. If you can call Black Cat walking seductively as a huge minus to this game than you?re misunderstanding what kids are experiencing in this game. My four year old nephew has a blast with Spiderman 2!
Even though the game is very short, it will keep you playing for hours to obtain the hero points needed to buy upgrades and with the added affect of a non-linear, go anywhere, do anything style, Spiderman 2 is sure to be a hit.
» By Plain Games, Plain Games. Published 10/22/2004 10:58:21 AM.
