This is yet another game that will be added to the list of many Spider-man games that have come out over the years, but how does it compare to the others? The Amazing Spider-man is a third person adventure video game that is based on the movie of the same name. However, the game takes place after the events of the movie and for the most part serves as an epilogue to the film.

The plot of the game is very interesting, which is to be expected since the game was written and scripted by Seamus Kevin Fahey of Battlestar Galactica. The plot of the game is that Alistair Smythe, the new Oscorp executive, decides to continue Dr. Connor’s research and create more cross-species (a human and animal hybrid), but they soon escape into Manhattan. To fight against the cross-species, which unfortunately includes Spider-man as well, Smythe creates robots to take them out.

The robots soon begin to make everything worse, and Spider-man is forced to fight against both cross-species and robots if he wants to save the city. The characters are great and memorable. Even though they didn’t get any of the actors from the movie, they did get great and accomplished voice actors such as Steve Blum, Sam Riegel, Claudia Black, and even Bruce Campbell. The characters you have are, of course, the cheesy-joke spewing Spidey, the deeply troubled Dr. Connors, the brave and determined Whitney Chang and even more interesting characters.

One thing that must be said before you play this game is that if you have not seen “The Amazing Spider-man” then this game will contain heavy spoilers, and in the first few levels, too. This would be fine if the game came out on the same day as the movie, but it came out June 26^th and the movie came out July 3^rd. While annoying (especially if you haven’t seen the movie) it won’t ruin the game for you, though, especially when it comes to the graphics.

The graphics look great especially when you are in the city it can look quite beautiful. What’s more important is that the gameplay feels great. Web-swinging, wall-crawling, and combat are all very simple to learn and soon you’ll feel like you’re Spider-man himself! One of the most useful gameplay mechanics the game has employed is the “Web Rush” system, which helps you easily pinpoint an area you want to get to.

By using the “Web Rush” mode you go into a viewpoint where time is stopped and you can pick which area you want to web-swing to or which enemy you want to attack. This gives you time to plot your strategy and figure out where you have the ability to web-swing to. Despite the fact that you have the ability to stop time, it does not make this game a walk in the park because of it. In fact, if you are in the “Web Rush” mode too long, time will return to normal.

The enemies you face will range from regular human enemies, to mutated humans, and robots. The combat is very smooth and there are two different ways you can take on enemies; you can either just attack all of them at once or you can take the stealth route and take out each of them one at a time. In regular combat you will be punching and kicking a whole group of people and if someone is about to attack, your Spider Sense will go off and you will be able to dodge their attack. Once you figure this out, the regular combat becomes simple and you will be able to get through ten enemies without taking any damage.

However, when your enemies are heavily armed, this sort of approach does not work, mainly because even Spider-man can’t easily dodge multiple bullets flying at his head. In this sort of situation it is better to sneak around and take them out one at a time. Even this isn’t easy, because once your enemies find out you have taken out one of their comrades they start searching for you!

They don’t just yell threats at you either; instead they start actively searching for you with flashlights and not just on the ground or in front of themselves, but on the ceiling and in the air vents. If you don’t keep moving they will find you and kill you! Then there are the boss battles which include giant robots, Rhino, Vermin, Iguana, Black Cat, Iguana, Scorpion, and the Lizard.

They all have their own way of attacking and fighting and you will have to employ different strategies to beat each of them. One example is when you are fighting Rhino; you can’t just attack him head on because his armor protects him. In order to beat him, you have to stand in front of a large van and wait for Rhino to charge at you and at the last second leap out of the way and he will be lodged in the van and you can then attack him.

However, there are critiques I have to make about this game and one of them is that the game is pretty easy when you get a handle of the controls. Even though you can increase the difficulty on the game, it doesn’t get that much harder, and besides maybe the bosses, you’ll find yourself breezing past your enemies. Another problem is that many of the side missions are very repetitive, basically all being the same except for a few exceptions.

Overall, this is a fun and enjoyable game and you will feel like Spider-man playing it, which is ultimately the most important expectation out of a Spider-man game. If you like Spider-man the character, the other Spider-man games, or if you just like feeling like a superhero you should take a look at it.

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Continuing our list, here are Issues #1-5 that can be brought up with Marc Webb’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’. Major spoilers ahead so please proceed with caution.

5. The pacing felt rather slow. The story is not stilted at all, but it took a while to get Peter into the suit and started on his crime fighting. The first act takes a lot of time establishing Peter’s lifestyle and relationships, which is good from a writing standpoint, but his life is not terribly interesting so I became impatient to see him web-slinging and making sarcastic comments at crooks.

Once the second act begins, things feel smoother, but then the third act hits and the story seems to hit a plateau. It does not build as well as other superhero films and even though the stakes are high, the Lizard’s ultimate plot to turn everyone into monstrous reptiles like him is a bit silly.

4. The mythos is too self-contained. To my knowledge, there are not any references to other heroes nor to comic books in general. Perhaps we were spoiled by the Marvel universe with ‘The Avengers’ (2012) and its awesome intertwined continuity, but the simple fact that Peter Parker does not pick up a single comic book while designing his suit nor does he read up on how fictional characters handle their responsibilities makes it feel as if the writers of this film did not bother to pick up a Spider-Man comic book themselves.

This is not to say that Spidey needed to borrow things from other heroes or have numerous shout outs to other films, but the only thing he references in his own mythos is the Daily Bugle and Norman Osborn. A re-watch may be needed to spot any other mythology gags related to other Spider-Man stories, but the initial viewing left us empty handed.

3. The plot is rather predictable. The numerous trailers to ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ clue you in to the general events, but seasoned moviegoers will be able to guess nearly all of the events without prior knowledge of the Spider-Man mythos. Connors’ evil plan is predictable, Connors figuring out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man is predictable, and even Captain Stacy’s death is predictable. This may be why the pacing felt slow, because the plotpoints were obvious several minutes before they happened. It is not a deal breaker, but it did dampen the tension and fun that the movie went for.

2. Changes to the origin story. One of the largest changes the film makes is how Uncle Ben dies. This is well done and realistic, however, I did not favor the exclusion of Harry Osborn and Peter’s relationship with Gwen Stacy. One of the best adaptations of Gwen Stacy is in ‘Spectacular Spider-Man’ (2008) where the two are best friends and a romance eventually blossoms between them.

This would have been a good angle to adopt for the film to deepen the relationship between them. For instance, Gwen would start noticing changes in Peter’s behavior and would feel frustrated that he would not let her in. In the film, she is just a crush and a classmate whom Peter does not interact with very often, so the romance does not have the same weight as it would if they were already friends.

In terms of Harry’s exclusion, this is at least understandable, as Marc Webb probably wanted to distance himself from the inevitable comparisons to the Raimi films, but it does leave a huge question of if Harry exists at all in this particular universe. The movie makes no reference to Harry and so we are left to assume he does not exist. It would have been a good idea to at least establish whether or not Harry is present in these stories.

1. No one says, “With great power comes great responsibility.” There are only two lines that are considered mandatory for Spider-Man stories, no matter what the medium: “Who are you?” “I’m Spider-Man,” and “With great power comes great responsibility.” Uncle Ben does not say this. Aunt May does not say this. No one in the entire movie utters these words. As a Spider-Man fan of the comics, cartoons, and movies, I consider this to be sacrilege. This line is what motivated Peter Parker to put aside his selfish desire for revenge and become a true hero.

The fact that it went unsaid irritated me beyond belief. Even if Marc Webb wants to distance himself from the Raimi films, it is still unacceptable to ditch such a powerful line that has layers of meaning for the character of Peter Parker. The film tries to replace the line with a voicemail of Uncle Ben expressing his love and faith in Peter, but his speech is riddled with clichés and does not carry the same weight as the classic line. It is a classic for a reason and should not have been excluded as it creates an air of familiarity with the audience and serves as one of the most recognizable aspects of the Spider-Man universe.

Once again, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is not a bad film, but this reviewer’s particular tastes left me less amused than expected. We still encourage moviegoers, young and old, nerdy and non-nerdy, to check it out and form their own thoughts on its quality.

Image Courtesy of   The Amazing Spider-Man

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Marc Webb’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ hit theaters July 3, 2012, hoping to reboot the smart-mouthed web-slinger in more modern times. It features a shiny, slick new type of hero and takes a darker perspective on Peter Parker’s life. While the film certainly is not bad by any stretch, there are some issues with the directions it decided to take. Here are the most pressing issues we noted in no particular order. Massive spoilers ahead for the movie so please proceed with caution.

10. Spider-Man’s jokes were not very good. One of the biggest complaints about Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’, mostly from comic book nerds, is that he was not very funny. Spidey is known for cracking jokes and being really good at one liners. It is one of his most distinct character traits because, while Peter Parker is a mild-mannered guy, Spider-Man is sarcastic and mocks his adversaries.

Marc Webb’s Spider-Man attempted to replicate this behavior, but the humor did not live up to promise. Many of the jokes were ruined because they were shown in the trailers, and the others fell flat due to long, awkward pauses. He offers a few zingers to the Lizard throughout the course of their fights, but most are easily forgotten.

9. Difficulty connecting with the characters on a personal level. Parker’s origin story is a compelling one and it is also wrapped in mystery, which the movie emphasizes to a large degree. The mysterious disappearance of Peter’s parents torments him for much of his life and, while it is easy to sympathize with him, you never get a chance to root for him. This is due to Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of the character. He plays Parker as very awkward, which makes sense, but he tends to overdo it with that lopsided grin and stammering dialogue.

It got to the point where I mentally reenacting a running gag from the RiffTrax of the ‘Twilight’ films, where Kevin, Mike, and Bill would say, “Line?” whenever there was a huge awkward pause between Bella and Edward. Peter’s painful awkwardness and angst left me feeling distant rather than connected to him.

8. Illogical decisions from normally intelligent people. There are several moments where characters do something stupid to increase the drama. For instance, Peter notices that the Daily Bugle is offering a reward for photos of the Lizard, so he decides to patrol the sewers and straps his camera to a wall.

This is pretty smart. What is not smart is that Peter does not remove his name from the back of the camera while masquerading as a masked vigilante that the police want to apprehend. Why in blue blazes didn’t he scratch his name off of a camera he was using while fighting crime? That is inexcusably stupid and as predicted, the Lizard finds the camera and figures out his secret.

7. The end credits scene. The attentive eye will have recognized the bad guy teased at the end of ‘The Avengers’ (2012). But this end credits scene was infuriating because it was impossible to see Dr. Connors’ visitor. Nothing. No face, no distinctive clothing, no distinctive voice, and no lead up to help piece together who he was or who he was working for. We assume the intention was to get the audience frothing with theories about who he could be, but I felt ripped off because there was no buildup to this mystery man and there were no clues. The scene added nothing to set up a sequel and that is the most disappointing thing of all.

6. Peter Parker’s lack of concern for his mother. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to ‘the Amazing Spider-Man’. There are a lot of male heroes who tend to focus on the loss of their fathers instead of both parents. This is understandable because boys tend to look up to their fathers, but it was still annoying that Peter did not mention anything about his mother. It felt like she did not matter, despite the fact that she was probably just as loving and nurturing as his father. It would have been nice to see him appreciate her even though she did not work with Dr. Connors.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Image Courtesy of   The Amazing Spider-Man

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