“Boo hoo. I'm Spider-Man. I can sprint up skyscrapers, lift cars above my head, I have a nice girlfriend, look great in spandex, live in in an affluent part of New York city with my loving aunt, study at a prestigious university and take pictures for a nationally syndicated newspaper.” Spider-Man doesn’t get to complain about his problems. Beenox, the developers of his latest game, do.
Just how do you make a fresh Spider-Man game? It requires better ideas than this, and a much bigger investment of time and money. You can’t take him out of New York because that’s like making Captain America German. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions tried it and misfired. You can’t copy Rocksteady’s Arkham template because its deliberate pace and weighty character movement is purposefully designed for Batman. The Amazing Spider-Man tried its room-clearing, counter-based combat approach and failed. So Beenox do what they did last time. They recycle moves, missions and collectibles and slap them in their bland, cereal box New York.
Timed to coincide with the film but set mostly apart from the antics of Messrs Electro, Rhino and Green Goblin, the game sees Peter track his uncle’s killer. It’s a nicely grounded premise that teases an end to the silliness we’ve seen in the past from giant red-eyed spider bots and SWAT goons on hoverbikes. Indeed, the opening minute spins the glamour convincingly.
I’m plain clothes Peter walking down a bustling New York street. Keyword: walking. Car headlights shine through vent smoke and flocks of pigeons peck at birdseed on the pavement. On my right two people stand before crumpled bonnets swapping insurance details. Could this be the most vibrant world of any Spider-Man game? Nope! When the scripted sequence ends and the game begins, what do you know, it’s just like the last one.
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