Web-slinging fun through the streets of New York
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an action-packed web-slinging game starring everyone’s favorite arachnid superhero.
Your friendly neighborhood mobile game
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, based on the movie of the same name, is an open-world adventure which improves upon the gameplay of the
The action in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is essentially based around whizzing above the city on your webs, then splashing down to kick some butt or help out someone in need.
There are side missions which allow you to earn credits to purchase items or unlock new skills. Although it’s a paid game, you may find yourself having to make payments – or at least ‘grind’ by repetitively playing side missions – in order to defeat certain opponents to progress through the story.
Many of the famous bad guys from the comics and movies feature in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, including Electro, Venom, and the Green Goblin. The stories in each chapter are nicely woven around the dastardly antics of a particular villain, making the story mode a joy to play. Side missions are fun at first, but they soon become repetitive and a bit dull, which is frustrating when you need to play through them to earn coins.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 features an ‘Arena‘ mode which is a fun free-for-all romp in which you must defeat as many baddies as you can before you die. Your performance is measured against others’ online with game currency up for grabs.
Taking control of Spidey
The controls in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are simple to master, especially if you played the first installment of the game. The left of the screen acts as joystick, allowing you to move Spidey in every direction, whereas the right side is used for looking around.
The jump button doubles-up as a web-slinging control, the mechanism by which you can fly atop the skyscrapers in the game, which is the easiest way to get around. It’s great fun when you pull it off, but riding webs can take some getting used to, and changing direction while you’re flying is particularly fiddly.
Fighting in The Amazing-Spider-Man 2 is based around three action buttons. You can use these to throw together combos to deadly effect, and new moves are constantly added as you power-up Spider-Man’s skills.
Just like the movies
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is beautifully presented and has the feel of a classic console superhero title. Spider-Man himself is beautifully drawn and animated, whether he’s soaring through the skies or socking it to bad guys.
Although not nearly as detailed on the ground as the Grand Theft Auto games, the version of New York in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is spectacular in its scale and variety.
The cinematic musical score fits perfectly with the action, and the voice acting is a big improvement on the previous game. Spidey’s off-the-cuff quips are very true to the quick-witted nature of the superhero, but his comments soon repeat to frequently and what was amusing quickly becomes annoying.
Performance in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn’t perfect. The frame rate lapses at times, and the game can be laggy when a lot of characters are on screen at once. Also, it’s a game that will place a real strain on your battery.
The Amazing-Spider-Man 2 requires you to be connected to the internet at all times, which is increasingly common in modern mobile games. Unfortunately, during my tests, I experienced several connection issues with the game, which left it game hanging or prevented it from loading. This seems a common complaint from users and hopefully it’s an issue that will be addressed by Gameloft in the near future.
One for Marvel fans
Despite its quirks, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will delight fans of the Spider-Man comic books and movies. However, some people will understandably balk at having to pay for in-app purchases to unlock items and progress in a paid game.
