But none of that is about the Video Game, which itself is a big deal. Gaming is something I've loved since before I can remember, and unlike Spider-Man and comics which were harder to get into, it's something I've followed my whole life. And this is a major intersection point, because Spider-Man 2 is held up as a gamer's game. People that don't care about Spider-Man still played Spider-Man 2, because it was this new unique experience that was high quality and fun in a wayu previous games hadn't been.For Spider-Man games as well, this definitely also feels like a turning point. The last game, despite being the first movie game, felt in a lot of ways like Spider-Man 3...er...well, the third game in the series that started with the Playstation Spider-Man. Similar in structure and design, it built off of those previous two games. SM2 feels like a total break though. A completely new system with a new focus and a new way to play. Once again, this is a game I had played before but not since it came out, similar to the movie. But it's a notable game. Most licensed games are really only looked at by fans of the license, but S-M2 was a game that brokethrough and was played by nearly everyone. It hit right in the middle of the first open world boom, when GTA clones were all the rage, and it just made a lot of sense for Spider-Man. I certainly enjoyed some of the 2-D games, but before it felt like there were games with Spider-Man in them, and this feels like a Spider-Man game. Similar to how Batman Arkham Asylum felt for the Dark Knight years later.
And for the most part it holds up. Everything has been overhauled, from the basic structure of the world to your fighting system. You're down to one dedicated attack button, something Bruce Campbell notes and mocks complainers for, but in combos the webbing, dodge, and jump buttons can all be used for combos Yes that dedicated doge button is a godsend, letting you use your spider-sense to avoid incoming attacks and counter. It feels pretty good, but I've definitely been spoiled by the wall crawlers more recent entries. They actually made the basic thugs a little too competent. They can block your attacks, which means you have to web them up first, ok, but then they can also dodge your webbing. So you're stuck getting shot at (I could disarm enemies some times but not always) until the one you're looking at attacks and you can dodge and counter. Structurally the game is very much focused on the open world aspect. The game is broken up into chapters, usually consisting of some event or events, like going to the bugle or meeting Aunt May at the Bank or going to see MJ's show, but along with that there is usually a requirement to buy some upgrade with hero points, and a requirement to get a certain amount of hero points. Now that's just XP and you get it by beating bad guys and completing side quests, it's just somewhat funny that they basically force you into their open world shenanigans. I guess the most recent game did that as well every once in a while, but they're far more blatant here. The chapters will walk you through the story of the game, with a few additions and subtractions. Felicia appears here, for instance, and gives a condensed version of her deal from teh comics. LIve it up as Spider-Man, forget being a civilian, but while she's "tempting" there's no relationship to be had here, we're busy pining after our engaged MJ. Rhino makes a quick appearance for a boss fight, Shocker is back because Shocker is just a good villain to fight, and Myusterio makes a rather lengthy appearance that culminates in a gag fight. Mysterio and Rhino, along with Doc Ock, of course, are pretty good boss fights, but I didnt' like both Shocker ones. After you hit him for a bit he gets a shield and then blasts a huge area around him, so you're forced to chase him down, hit him a few times, then run away an repeat the process. The second fight adds an additional shield you have to deactive using environmental consoles. Not great. To get those necessary hero points, you can stop random crimes or rescues that pop up as purple on your minimap, mini missions that start at a green ? mark, or do some side missions. Robbie wants photos for the bugle, MJ wants to go places with you (you are always missing her and have to race to reach the location in time), and Aziz needs those pizzas delivered now. There are also random challenges hiddent rhoughout the city, but I'm on a schedule and skipped almost all of these. I did do several of the MJ and Pizza missions, and they were ok but very tough.
Web swinging in Spider-Man 2 is hard to judge at this point. IT's good enough. Except for when you're trying to get across manhattan in less than a minute to meet MJ at the park, the little errors and weird decisions Peter makes when deciding where to shoot a web dont' mean much. You do have a great deal of control, able to swing faster or high or use a web zip for a little extra direction. It's all there and it all basically works, even with some weird things like this emphasis on a Jump meter. But you can also tell now that this was new. It really can't hold a candle to the Insomniac games or even Amazing Spider-Man from 2012(ish). But it's ok, it's good enough, and it's definitely overall the best Spider-Man game so far. It's also the start of the modern era of Spidey...well...the then modern era. After this game's success it deefinitely became the gold standard for what a spider-Man game should be, and for whatever reason a lot of its sucessors were seen as not good enough. Having played a lot of them in the past I suspect this is largely nostalgia. It's not that those games didn't meet this game's standards, it's just that, for its time Spider-Man 2 felt like a real advancement of the genre, and what came afterwards was a lot less innovative, so it just didn't compare as well. But we'll see what I think.
Next up: Ultimate Spider-Man (18 to go....)