"Do Whatever A Spider Can" - The Amazing Spider-Man (Video Game) Review

When it comes to movies and video games, there are two super hero franchises that stand above the rest. One is Batman, who has seen a remarkable comeback thanks to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and has changed how superhero games are made with the Rocksteady games Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. The other is Spider-Man who pretty much launched the long standing domination superhero films have over the box office thanks to Sam Raimi's films and is by far one of the most fun characters to play in a video game. Spider-Man 2, the movie tie in for Raimi's sequel, defined superhero games with an open world for players to swing in as the titular webhead. Every review you see for a Spider-Man game is almost guaranteed to mention the impact Spider-Man 2 had on Spider-Man games and other superhero games in general.

Since then, Activision, who has produced every Spider-Man game since the classic Playstation games in the late 90's, has continued to expand on that and make the next Spider-Man game even more innovative. This has had mixed results as most games just continued to use the Spider-Man 2 formula and just added their own plot to change things up (which isn't a bad thing, I have yet to run into a terrible Spider-Man game). However, every Spider-Man game has, at least, been entertaining to play.

If anything, it was Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows, that really perfected the structure of what a Spider-Man game should be like. It had everything, the sandbox city to swing in, numerous crimes to stop, and added a new combat system which utilized Spidey's powers and abilities to create a unique experience. You didn't just fight on the ground, you fought in the air and on walls and it was great and each style was unique in their own way. The best part about Web of Shadows was the introduction of the web-strike attack where Spidey could zip from enemy to enemy with his webs. It felt like how Spidey would really fight and it was satisfying to attack a string of unknowing bad guys in succession. If anything, Web of Shadows is by far the best Spider-Man game.

Then Beenox took over as the studio who developed Spider-Man Games. The result was Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time. While I, sadly, haven't played these games myself the reactions to these games were rather lukewarm. Unlike their predecessors these games didn't have you swinging through the city at your leisure, which was enough to put off many fans right then and there. So when the new Spider-Man movie was put into production Beenox was tasked with making the movie tie-in game and with it everyone was wondering if swinging would make a return. Thankfully it did.

 If anyone recalls my review of the film this game is based on some may expect this review to be a repeat of the same comments I made in that review. However, this isn't the case. In fact, The Amazing Spider-Man game is probably one of the few instances where the game is better than the movie it's based on. Story wise it is far more coherent and structured, though does suffer from some random occurrences but it doesn't detract from the story all that much, and manages to actually build a more interesting world than the movie did.

 Set after the events of the movie (which managed to spoil anyone who played it since it came out before the movie) we have Spider-Man faced with the aftermath of The Lizard's rampage through New York. There's a new CEO at Oscorp, Alistair Smythe, who is a leading researcher in robotics and nanotechnology. Smythe intends on removing all of Dr. Connor's research into cross-species genetics though it looks like Oscorp did some experimenting of their own with Connors' notes as there are more cross-species creatures including versions of Rhino and The Scorpion. Naturally, like with any evil corporation which takes pride in playing with genetics like a 10 year-old with photoshop, the beasties escape and Spider-Man has to deal with the resulting viral outbreak.

The game is pretty much a straightforward Spidey game from there on out. However, Beenox has managed to make the old gameplay mechanics seem new and fun. Taking some inspiration from Batman: Arkham City, this Spider-Man game features a similar camera set-up (with the camera tight behind Spidey's shoulder) and a similar combat mechanic. While some would say this game is merely knocking off what made Arkham City successful, I'd say this combat mechanic fits perfectly within the world of Spider-Man. In fact, combat is fairly entertaining as Spidey punches, kicks, and jumps around numerous enemies while dodging incoming attacks thanks to his spider-sense. If, anything, I'd say Arkham City's combat system seems to have been meant for a Spider-Man game in the first place.

Swinging through the city is back once again and the new camera set-up provides an exhilarating rush as you swing through the city. Though the mechanic has been tweaked somewhat, as in you're not truly bound to any of the buildings you swing on, this is meant to allow you to swing in a more visually satisfying manner and it pays off. Web-swinging has never been more fun.

Sadly, some elements from previous games haven't made their way into this one like wall crawling combat (though you never really have anyone to fight on the walls), but have now been replaced by another Arkham City inspired stealth system. Again, I personally feel that these gameplay aspects really fit perfectly into a Spider-Man game and don't see any problem in this (that's why I say "inspired" instead of "ripped-off"). In fact, it's actually more entertaining to see Spidey take out a mook with stealth tactics because he does so with that traditional Spider-Man wit. He will web down from the ceiling and playfully tap bad guys on the head with his foot before encasing them in a web cocoon and hauling up into the ceiling, and I laugh every time he does it.

However, Beenox has introduced a new mechanic that actually makes the game even more fun. It's called "web-rush." Web-rush takes you into a first person perspective, time slows to a crawl and you are free to scan the area for possible places for Spidey to zip to, collectibles such as comic books, and even enemies. It provides you with a new form of travel through New York that is even more visually pleasing than simple web-swinging. Web-rush also integrates Web of Shadows' web-strike attack system which is a relief because I loved that about WoS. 

While some will point out the similarities between this game and Arkham City, that shouldn't be a negative thing. After all, Arkham City was a brilliant game (one of the best superhero games I've ever played in fact) so having a Spider-Man game that is similar to it is actually a plus, in my opinion. Needless to say, it didn't disappoint me as much as it's film counterpart did.

I give The Amazing Spider-Man (The Video Game) 4 flying comic book pages out of 5. 

"Tangled In A Web" - The Amazing Spider-Man review

Spider-Man is one of the most pivotal cultural icons of the modern world. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't know who Spider-Man is. He's all over comic books, films, television shows, cereal boxes, music, and anything else imaginable. To say Spider-Man is one of the most important superheroes in history is an understatement.

It's safe to say that without Spider-Man we wouldn't have groundbreaking blockbusters like The Avengers and The Dark Knight. It was Sam Raimi's Spider-Man that began the reign of super-hero movies at the box office. Raimi's Spider-Man movies (sans the third one) are probably some of the best examples of superhero films. So, when Columbia Pictures decided to reboot the Spider-Man franchise there was no doubt that what would be produced had big shoes to fill, so to speak.

To reboot the Spider-Man movies, especially after the big successes of the previous films, was a tall (and ballsy) order. In a perfect world (one where I am supreme ruler of the universe), when faced with having to reboot Spider-Man, I wouldn't have redone the origin story. The reasoning behind this is the fact that EVERYBODY knows the origins of Spider-Man. Thus, there is no reason to return to the very beginning.

However, I was willing to give The Amazing Spider-Man the benefit of the doubt because they teased us with hints about the so called "secret" behind the origins of Spider-Man.  It offered something new besides the usual "power and responsibility" origins everyone is familiar with. Trailers hinted at the possibility that Peter Parker's parents, who left him with his aunt and uncle when he was young, were somehow linked to Peter becoming Spider-Man. However, trailers lie, and while there is plenty in The Amazing Spider-Man that does hint at an underlying connection between Peter's parents and how he became Spider-Man nothing truly comes of it. Which is something that truly disappoints me.

Instead, what is presented is pretty much what you saw with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, just without the oodles of trademark Raimi cheese and more polished effects. While I still have my hangups about how this reboot seems to have popped up too soon after the last Spider-Man movie, having watched the first two movies recently I can admit that they have definitely aged with time, and not in a good way. However, while The Amazing Spider-Man is definitely much more serious in tone it is more erratic in story telling than its predecessors. It may be much less campy and more "dark and gritty" but it still feels as carefree and light hearted as the first Spider-Man. The fact of the matter is that The Amazing Spider-Man is just that: a remake of the first Spider-Man movie, with different aspects built upon a painfully similar story.

That isn't to say this is a terrible movie, not by a long shot. There is a lot to like about this new Spider-Man such as the performances in the film. Andrew Garfield, the new Peter Parker, is fantastic and manages to convey not just the angsty teen side of Parker but the brilliant scientist, and the snarky superhero. I'd even go so far as to say he is better than Tobey Maguire. Emma Stone is adorable as Peter's first love Gwen Stacy. Her best scenes are with Garfield as the two really pull off the cutesy teen romance really well. You also have Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben who I think could've been utilized much better in this film (I just like the fact I could make Illusive Man jokes in the theater). Denis Leary stars as Captain Stacy, Gwen's father, and almost steals the show. He's got some of the best lines in the movie and kicks some major ass. Then you have Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curtis Connors/The Lizard. If anything Ifans does manage to pull off the mad scientist role, however, I never really felt sympathetic to the character which really is a let down because that sympathy is what made The Lizard an interesting character in the comics. Really, Ifans never managed to make me feel sorry for Connors.

Another positive aspect of this film is the fact that it does bring forth plenty of new and interesting ideas, however, these ideas don't coalesce well enough to fit into a streamlined story. How they characterized Peter's transformation and how he changed as spider DNA intermingled with his was rather interesting. Him catching a fly and licking his lips like he was about to eat it was interesting. Indeed, Garfield's portrayal does have a lot of spider-like mannerisms in it. It definitely would have been an interesting take on the character had it been explored more. It would make sense for some of the instincts, not just the abilities, to cross over into Peter.

Another positive aspect of this film is that there are some truly creative scenes. My favorite being a scene where Spider-Man is searching for The Lizard in the sewers. He sets up a network of webs throughout the tunnels and then sits and waits until he gets a vibration from one of them, just like a real spider catching its prey. It was also great to have Spidey reclining back on his web to play a game on his phone while he waited because, if spiders could, they'd pass the time doing the same thing.

However, for every fun and interesting idea this film has there are also very questionable ones. While I enjoyed Garfield's portrayal of Parker I didn't like how this film turned him into more of a punkish skater. While it makes sense that he shouldn't necessarily be a stereotypical nerd, as he was depicted initially in the comics, because in real life nerds come in all shapes and sizes like everything else. It just didn't feel right to have him skating around. While it's merely a nit-picky part on my end there are also more troubling decisions made in this film. The largest one being how Uncle Ben's death is executed in this film.

 To be clear here, Uncle Ben's death is the most pivotal moment in the Spider-Man lore. It is what made Peter Parker realize that with great power comes great responsibility and what drove him to become Spider-Man. This is something that is, regardless of how many retconns and deals with the devil Spidey makes, that remains a solid fact. However, in The Amazing Spider-Man, Uncle Ben's death is pretty much pointless here. Sure, it plays out fairly similarly here. Peter lets a criminal go despite having super powers and it results in the criminal killing Uncle Ben. However, this film drags out a portion of this story, the part where Peter goes on a path of revenge to find his uncle's killer, and it results in a string of vigilante attacks as Spidey tries to hunt the guy down. That's all he does for the first half of the movie as Spider-Man he tries to catch the guy responsible. He doesn't even decide to do some actual super-heroing until he saves a child from a burning car. And with that, the main crux of the Spider-Man lore is rent asunder. Because Uncle Ben's death doesn't teach Peter to become Spider-Man, a man who uses his power responsibly, some kid in a burning car does.

I know it may sound like I'm just nerd raging here, and I'll even admit that it may be the case, however this was a story told so many times that people who know about Spider-Man just in passing know about the importance of Uncle Ben and his death. So, I ask you, how is it you can screw up something literally EVERYBODY knows about? I'd love to know, because the writers of this film obviously managed to do so.

The films also likes to jump from set-piece to set-piece without little or not background or establishment in place. People were doing things in places and I didn't know why they were doing what they were doing or where they were doing it. The Lizard spontaneously attacks a street during the movie even though everything had been pointing out the fact that he was actually supposed to be heading to a destination. Why did he make a pit stop to gas a city block? Then, after being told that The Lizard has launched a biological attack on New York, Captain Stacey doesn't reassess his pursuit of Spider-Man--whose crimes so far have been vigilantism, resisting arrest, and making the sides of buildings sticky--and divert his forces to stop the Lizard. Instead, he continues hunting down Spider-Man. Why? Because having a scene where Stacey pulls Peter's mask off in front of a bunch of cops would be awesome and dramatic  Sure, it looked cool, but in the end it was just an empty action set-piece. That's why I call this movie an incoherent mess. It had a ton of cool ideas for scenes but didn't seem to have a story to stitch those ideas together.

Now, I may be making this movie look like crap but I assure you it isn't. It's just not a great movie. Maybe I expected too much from this movie, but damn it I did expect more than what I got. However, that doesn't make it a crappy movie (like the movie(s) that were shown in the trailers preceding it...*cough*). I wasn't mad or angry when I left the theater. I was disappointed, because I expected more than what I got from it. It's, at face value, a solid super-hero flick. Most will enjoy it, I will just shrug at it.

Do I recommend you see it? Sure, you can. Though if you're a die hard fan of Spidey or are interested in seeing the so called "secret origins" of Spider-Man, you will be disappointed.

I give, The Amazing Spider-Man, 3 webshooters out of 5.