The storyline of The Amazing Spider-Man is set after the events of the movie despite being released a week before the Summer blockbuster. In a terrible series of events, a deadly virus has infected Peter Parker's love interest Gwen Stacy and is rapidly spreading throughout all of Manhattan. If that wasn't bad enough, monsters have escaped their facilities and are wrecking havoc in the city as is mad man Alistair Smythe's robotic army. Luckily, it's nothing your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man can't handle, as he tangles with classic Spider-Man villains such as The Iguana and Scorpion and saves the day again, again and again with a little help from his friends Whitney Chang and Curt Connors also known as The Lizard.
Navigating the open-world of Manhattan is a blast in The Amazing Spider-Man. Web-swinging is as easy as holding a shoulder button and aiming in the direction you want Spider-Man to go, but the PlayStation 3 version also includes PlayStation Move support that allows you to swing with the special controller as well as make more accurate and simplistic web shots and Web Rush movements. Web Rush is a special mechanic introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man that allows Spider-Man to quickly and automatically zip through the skies of Manhattan to a predetermined location using a fancy display of on-screen acrobatics. Web Rush is a welcome addition to the game and one of the coolest ways to travel in any video game ever created.
When you're not swinging around the beautiful open-world of Manhattan, you'll be completing main story missions that often make Spider-Man go out of his natural environment into the much smaller interiors of sewers, warehouses and other facilities. It's here where you'll have to solve puzzles and kick a little enemy butt to progress through certain areas. You can approach battles in The Amazing Spider-Man with stealth tactics, hiding high in shadows and dropping down on unsuspecting foes for a quick knockout or to quickly ambush them and attach them to the ceiling without alerting nearby guards. When a more offensive strategy is required, you'll find a tight, responsive battle system that requires you to land melee attacks or special techniques while dodging enemy attacks and landing counterattacks of your own. Your spider-sense will go off to alert you when these counterattack opportunities are available. You'll then earn experience points by completing missions and defeating enemies that can be transferred into additional moves, statistical upgrades and other useful and entertaining unlockables.
The Amazing Spider-Man has a fantastic presentation that would make many other games envious. Not only does Spider-Man look great even while performing more complex animations, but his suit even manages to take damage to show how much you've been getting hit. You'll also quickly notice the attention to detail in Spider-Man's environment from the enormous skyscrapers to the trees in the park, and Manhattan is a busy city with random events always occurring. Sometimes you'll notice a peaceful day, then you may encounter a robbery, a group of diehard Spider-Man fans walking the street or a high-speed pursuit that needs to be stopped. Of course, The Amazing Spider-Man's control scheme is easily the best ever featured in a Spider-Man game, and they work wonderfully with PlayStation Move as well. Massive boss battles offer fantastic change of pace from fighting thugs and armed guards, and expert design work went into crafting these enemy encounters as well. Sound design remains fantastic here featuring a soundtrack that seems as though is was lifted straight from the feature film, a fantastic voiceover full of video game voice acting veterans and great Spider-Man sound effects that bring the whole package together.
The Amazing Spider-Man is hands-down the greatest Spider-Man game ever created. From the engaging storyline to the well crafted presentation, you'll find lots to love about the game and very little to dislike. Mix this addictive gameplay with plenty of side quests and collectibles to find including the 700 comic book pages that allow you to read real comics in the game, and you'll have plenty of reasons to keep coming back to the game to experience everything The Amazing Spider-Man has to offer. Whether you're a fan of Spidey or not, The Amazing Spider-Man is a fun game and a wild ride from start to finish. Don't miss out on one of the best games of 2012!
Game Features:
Game Information:
Developer: Beenox
Publisher: Activision
Rating: T for Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes & Violence
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (reviewed), Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS & Nintendo DS
Release Date: June 26, 2012
