The Amazing Spider-Man Game (NOM) Review

*Disclaimers:

1. I work at a game company, I will refrain from reviewing games from that company due to bias.
2. This review is my opinion ONLY. It does not represent those of anyone else or any game company.
3. This is just my attempt at an objective review or one that is as close to objective as possible*

THE SEARCH FOR AN OBJECTIVE REVIEW:

Is it possible to have a truly objective review? The short answer is No, but the slightly longer answer is maybe there is a way to have a more objective review than those we're seeing right now.

 My personal opinion is that games are art, and as such, games are open to interpretation by the individual. Each person has gaming preferences and these preferences may not, and most likely will not, match perfectly with the reviewer. I will attempt to create a system that removes the reviewers preference and in turn matches it more to the reader. Some simple math will be involved. 

THE PROCESS

As I write this review, I am working out a point system made specifically for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game. I’ve decided, after a full playthrough, that this single player focused game should be weighted 3 points – Gameplay, 2 points – Art/Visuals, 2 points – Audio/SFX, 2 points Story/ Presentation, 1 point – replayability. After the review, I will re-examine my personal bias and tastes and account for them so you, the reader, can come up with your own score (customized to your tastes). I think I will call it the NOM review (Nearly Objective Mathematical). 

This should hopefully make more sense as you read the review.

Without further ado….

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 GAME (NOM) REVIEW - by Yuichi Haga

First off, I must disclaim that I am a HUGE Spider-man fan and a fan of open world games. It may be that I am overly critical of this game because I often fantasize about directing the development of a Spider-man game. I am trying to be as objective as possible in this review. Secondly, I have worked in the game industry for over 10 years and have an eye like a hawk for bad design choices or bugs which have slipped through the first party submission process. Please keep this in mind as you read this review…

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game swings into a low depressing arc in this latest release. The large quantity of noticeable B (major) level bugs in this game is the most “amazing” thing about it. I have swung myself into buildings to be stuck or have had enemies run quickly into objects only to become untouchable numerous times in this game. There were so many bugs in this game, that I could not complete many of the side missions consistently. I often had to avoid certain mission types to keep my hero level high.

Speaking of the hero/menace dichotomy, this feature absolutely didn’t make any sense and was not balanced for players to enjoy the side missions. Becoming a menace only brings about negative side-effects, yet maintaining a hero status in the game is so difficult later in the story it is near impossible. Eventually, I felt apathetic towards helping anyone and just let myself become a menace. THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT SPIDER-MAN STANDS FOR!

As for the side missions, you have your typical ones represented: fight enemies, sneak around enemies, take object or person from point A to point B and lastly search for person/car and save victim/hostage. Interesting at first, but very repetitive and boring after the 3^rd or 4^th time. Where are my dynamic emergent side missions? Being late to a bank robbery leads to a car chase, which in turn, leads to hit and run. Do I continue to follow the car or take injured man to the hospital? Would I have been able to prevent this, if I had gotten here sooner and taken the robbers at the bank? But that would mean I would’ve had to ignore Aunt May’s request for a family dinner…

Swinging is much improved but can be improved further. Spider-man can still web the clouds in certain parts of the game and webzip his way into cloud swinging. (Just look at the sky and webzip). Oftentimes, the camera is too close to Spider-man to give players a fluid experience. As for moves, I am still looking for loop-de-loops and being able to connect swings without jumping off the web. It's not all bad as we FINALLY got left and right swinging back as well as slingshots and boosting. It is not super accurate at the moment, but it is a step in the right direction.

As improved as webswinging is, any points it earns are immediately taken away with the terribly repetitive one-liners Spider-man yells out. Spider-man is a witty character that uses his mind and wit to his advantage. In this game, however, he is the terrible comedian that rehashes the same 5 jokes over and over again ad nauseum. Spider-man becomes annoying and unfunny. Just keep him mute next time.

At least the repetitive audio is consistent with the disjointed storyline and bad line delivery. The story is somewhat interesting, but could stand to have much more connective tissue. Act 3 seemed like a jumbled mess of boss battles that did not connect in any logical manner. The Peter Parker moments were interesting as well but there really wasn’t a dialogue tree as promised and there was nothing I did that could’ve just been a cutscene.

Speaking of cutscenes, the animation director for this game should be fired. Characters don’t consistently open and close their mouths when they talk. Peter Parker does this in the first 5 minutes of the game when he yells for help. Also, Spider-man moves like he is on drugs. He jitters and emotes WAY more than anyone should. He ends up looking like a junkie looking to get his next fix.

The post-story gameplay is lacking. There are still side missions available and players can replay any story mission. These will be stale by the time you reach this point in the game. Different suits can be upgraded and comics and posters can be collected, but other than that, there really isn't much else. All I really would like to do is just swing around the city without a care in the world. However, in my playthrough, there are soldiers everywhere looking to kill Spider-man which makes a leisurely swing impossible.

OVERALL SCORE:

My personal score for this game is 6 (OK). This game just barely straddles the line between a bad and ok game. If you don’t like Spider-man, definitely do not get this game. This game is marred with terrible bugs and glitches. The highest score a person can get on this NOM review is an 8/10, because bugs this numerous and visible cannot be avoided when playing. Controls are not intuitive and Spider-man looks like he is on drugs during the cutscenes. Actually, it may also be a good idea to stay away if you are a fan of Spider-man. This game may taint the way you look at other Spider-man games.

In order to align my review with your personal tastes please answer the following questions.
Pick only one answer per question then add or subtract the result from my score to get your new score

         I love open worlds  = +0,
         I dislike Open world Sandbox games = -1

          I don't mind repetition = +.25
          Meh = +0
          I don’t like to do the same thing over and over = -.25

          I do mind and want the weather to change randomly over time. = -.25
          I don’t care either way = +0
          The developer should choose the time of day for me = +.25
 

           Yes = +0
           I fully expect my open world games to have repetitive dialogue = +.25
 

         The voice acting is important = -.25
         I don’t care about the delivery = +0
         The cheesier the delivery of the lines, the better = +.25

8.    Do graphics matter to you?

         Yes, I am a stickler for visuals = -.25

         Eh, It’s ok as long I can tell what is going on in the game =+0

        No, I don’t care about graphics at all = +.25
 

9.     Do you care to have multiplayer or have lots of replayability?

         No, this is a single player game where I can swing around doing random things = +.25
         Yes, I would like to play more than just the story = +0
         There isn’t any multiplayer?! What a wasted opportunity! = -.25

What is your new customized score?

BREAKDOWN:
Here are my notes while I was thinking of the review so you can see my logic in the questions above.

3 points – Gameplay
-Open World action adventure game with terrible gameplay +1/2
-Repetitive side quests +.25/.5
-Play as Spider-Man +.5/.5

2 points – Art/Visuals
-Decent representation of New York’s Manhattan +.75/1
-Time does not change dynamically +.25/.5
-Spider-man is on crack!  +.25/.5

2 points – Audio/SFX
-Sound effects are good +.5/.5
-Music is good +.5/.5
-Dialogue voice acting is not very good +.25/.5
-NPC’s and Spider-man are very repetitive +0/.5

2 points – Story/Presentation
-Story is choppy and not connected +1/1.5
-About Spider-man’s rogue gallery +.5/.5

1 point – replayability +.25/1
-Side missions and collectables
 

Let me know what you think of my review. If you played The Amazing Spider-man 2 Game, did the scores change appropriately for you? Did your customized review score give you a better idea of the game? Please send me any feedback/criticisms. I am very interested to hear if you like/dislike this type of review.