The Amazing Spider-Man is what I?ve grown to expect from a Beenox developed, Activision published Spider-Man title over the past few years. Meaning this is a middle of the road experience that?s not quite awful, but isn?t too great either. Granted, this is definitely a step up from Spider-Man: Edge of Time, but The Amazing Spider-Man definitely feels like it?s time for someone else to take a shot at the Spidey universe.
This entry already has two strikes going against it. One is that it?s based off of a film, which means that it?s already a little hamstrung in how its world and villains can be portrayed. While Beenox does give it some effort, by trying to use some really basic forms of Spider-Man foes like the Rhino, Scorpion, and Vermin, there?s not a lot that they?re able to do while sticking to the cornerstone built by the recent reboot of the film franchise.
The other strike comes from the fact that Spider-Man: Edge of Time, the Beenox Spider-Man title that preceded this one, was just released in October of 2011, meaning that there?s been literally 10 months in between that and The Amazing Spider-Man. And while I can appreciate the business need to put out a movie-licensed video game within the time span that the actual movie comes out, it?s really taking the excitement of playing a new Spider-Man game and ratcheting that down quite a bit. And it certainly can?t be that good for the actual development of the product, which after just a few hours of gameplay certainly shows here.
Another boost to Amazing Spider-Man comes from the Web Rush ability, which is a more refined concept found in previous Beenox developed Spidey games. Web Rush allows you to line up a constant on-screen reticule with just about any object at a distance, and instantly zip Spider-Man across the screen to that spot. The game will helpfully give you an indication of where Spider-Man will land with glowing ghost figures of Spider-Man at the intended destination, and will often highlight these spots if they?re necessary to advance through a level. You can also hold down the button in order to temporarily slow down time, allowing you some opportunity to line up the Web Rush, which really helps when navigating the interior stages that make up the bulk of Amazing Spider-Man?s gameplay.
And while the web-swinging through town mechanic is certainly nice to have back, it does little to mask the fact that the optional side missions you can tackle in New York?s streets are pretty damn repetitious and boring. You?ll collect sick residents and drop them off at shelters, stop police car chases by apprehending the criminals, race around town by collecting markers, and take snap shots of highly telegraphed objects for a Daily Bugle reporter. There are a few more activities, but once you?ve encountered and finished a task, all that?s left is doing more of that task over and over again in between missions. The results only lead to a paltry serving of experience points, and hardly seem worth the time and boredom involved.
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