It’s so much fun to simply spin webs and fly around New York City in Spider-Man 2 that you may never bother to finish the game. It trumps its impressive predecessor with one word: Freedom!
Not that any of Activision’s earlier Spidey games have been slouches, but in Spider-Man 2, you really will feel the thrill (and hectic pace) of being Peter Parker. The plot traces that of the film and its villain, Dr Octopus, but the game expands to include appearances by Mysterio, Black Cat, Rhino and other Marvel folks.
Developer Treyarch has built a half-scale model of New York City with no loading times and no boundaries. Want to swing from Harlem to Ellis Island? Would you prefer to run through the streets on foot? Or maybe hitch a ride atop one of the hundreds of moving cars? With tons of mini-missions and goals strewn about the city, and various icons to collect, Manhattan is yours to explore — anywhere, any time, all the time.
Doing so becomes a joy thanks to the locomotion system. Web-swinging takes a little practice, but in short order, you’ll feel massively powerful, shooting webs that visibly auto-attach to buildings and trees, zooming around corners, pulling 360-degree loops, even grabbing onto a helicopter and getting an aerial tour of the city. The city looks great; the pedestrian models could be higher res, but it’s a sweet Big Apple with cool day/night effects and detailed textures. Spidey seems a little small on the screen, but that facilitates a better view of the terrain during swings.
The street missions do get repetitive — stop an armoured-car robbery, get ambushed by some thugs, chase down a carjacker, um…deliver some pizza, save a child’s balloon (!?), then stop
another armoured-car robbery with the same script as the first one — but the combat is never the same twice. There are so many ways to take down the bad guys, in terms of combos, unlockable
special attacks and aerial juggles, that the framework for the conflict doesn’t really have to be stunningly original; it’s the actual beat-downs that contain all the flavour. And they’re quite tasty.
It’s a strangely silent game without much music, but you will hear pedestrian chatter as you pass —everything from ‘Spidey, you da man!’ to ‘Menace!’ They could be less repetitive and cheesy,
though. Actor Tobey Maguire delivers Peter Parker’s trademark sarcastic wit smoothly; Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina and Bruce Campbell provide voices as well.
It sounds like hype, but it’s fact: This is indeed the best Spider-Man game yet made. From the rich combat system to the simple, inexhaustible joys of swinging through the city, Spider-Man 2 delivers the experience web-slinger fans have been begging for since time immortal.
Spiderman 2
Requirements: PlayStation 2 console
Rating: 95%
Contact: GameStop 01-813 5350
04/10/04
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers