Spider-Man 2
review by Big McLargehuge

A sequel to the popular PS2 game based on the first Spiderman, Spiderman 2 adds a few new twists to familiar game play. Like the first title, you are charged with swinging through the city and foiling the evil plot of Spiderman 2 villain Dr. Octopus.

Aside from the different villains, Spiderman 2 adds a free-swinging component that allows access to any part of the city at almost any time. And, since it’s New York City, there are plenty of crimes taking place at all times. Spiderman 2 allows players to immerse themselves in Spiderman’s character and simply swing around New York and fight crime/rescue people.

There is a storyline too that mirrors the plot of the film, but following it isn’t mandatory.

I was a big fan of the first Spiderman game, the one for Sega Dreamcast, out a full year before the film, and Spiderman (the movie) and Spiderman 2 expound on the great aspects of that game.

Swinging is more creative in Spiderman 2, the game encourages players to create between web combos, purchase swinging upgrades, and learn new tricks to make the fastest time through the city. I literally did this swinging around for fun, for a few hours. The whole experience was really immersive.

There are some drawbacks to the game though, for one, the storyline is wicked short. I finished Spiderman 2 in less than five hours (not counting the hour I spent trying to get to Liberty Island and stop Mysterio… Man, that was friggin difficult!).

Spiderman 2 only has three big villains, Dr. Octopus, Mysterio, and Shocker, one of them is an ersatz villain too so the big confrontation with him is a one-punch affair. The Dr. Octopus segments are the best in the game and offer a puzzle solving approach to the affair, which in context I liked. Spiderman is a thinker too so it was nice to have to think my way through a few of the sequences rather than just mashing the attack button. Still, at only 5 hours of game play, it’s not enough.

Only one of Spiderman’s friends shows up in this title, Black Cat. She provides the counter balance to Spiderman’s duty. Most of her appearances are to tell Spiderman that he “doesn’t have to” make the city’s safety his personal business. You get to fight along side her a few times but she doesn’t appear to actually participate in the combat.

The very first Spiderman offered a few more friends than this, and like crossovers in the world of comics, they are always welcome. I kept hoping to see The Fantastic Four, or Thor, or someone, anyone else, but alas Black Cat is all.

The combat system has a few problems as well. Firstly, you can’t cycle through the enemies on the screen, so when Spiderman is jumped (it happens a lot actually) he has to fight the thugs in order, and when you’re locked on the guy with the monkey wrench but want to disarm the guy with the machine gun, you can’t. It sort of diminishes some of the fun of melee combat. You can change which enemies you fight but it requires jumping or swinging away from the fight, unlocking from one enemy, then locking on the closest one. Webs work great on human enemies, but the bosses (as few as there are) are completely unaffected by Spiderman’s signature threads.

Also, Spidey’s proportionate strength of a spider appears to have vanished too. There are no items to pick up and throw, no clubs to swing, nothing. It’s fists or nothing, and when you are fighting a bunch of guys in an alley it would be great to hoist up a dumpster and whomp the shit out of them. Alas, it’s impossible here.

The cut scenes are taken almost directly from the film. However, they vary in quality. The majority of them are very bland and inarticulate, but a few, seemingly spaced at random, are beautifully rendered. All of it screams, “get this title to market quick and damn the details” clearly to capitalize on the release of the film.

It’s a shame too, because another few months of development time could have produced a really deep and fun game, instead we get a shallow fun game that feels unfinished. The open-ended bits make up for it a little, but the street level missions are all the same and grow old pretty quickly.

There are lots of other little things that give you something more to do, challenges spaced throughout the city test your swinging speed or combo ability but these tend to yank you right out of the universe of the game. I stopped paying attention to them after the first hour or so.

The voice work is excellent with Toby McGuire, Alfred Molina, and Kirsten Dunst reprising their roles as Peter Parker/Spiderman, Doc Oc, and Mary Jane. Bruce Campbell provides the voice of the game, and offers all the hints and play tips scattered throughout the city. He also voices the first level tutorial. How cool is that? Wicked cool!

The control structure is excellent and even the thumb-clumsy will take to the default control layout within minutes. Since the title appears geared towards the younger demographic, it’s not surprising that the game offers a short learning curve.

So, what’s the verdict on Spiderman 2? Short but fun, engrossing but rushed.