Web-head takes Manhattan once more in this highly anticipated sequel!
Getting there is half the fun in Activision's giddy adventure.
Features
-
Roam freely through huge map of Manhattan
-
Open-ended chapters
-
Hundreds of optional missions, challenges and mega challenges
-
Scour the city for hundreds of hints and tokens
-
Classic Spider-Man characters including J. Jonah Jameson, Black Cat
and Doc Ock
-
Bruce Campbell lends his vocal talents to the tutorial
-
Scour the city for hundreds of hints and tokens
The swing mechanism has been greatly enhanced from the first Spider-Man
game. Shoot out a web by pressing R. If you press the jump button -- A
-- at the top of the arc, you'll fly through the air until you press R
to swing again. The manual swing option doesn't take long to learn and
will prove immensely more fun and helpful than the easy swinging option.
Spidey can also crawl up a building by pressing X and run up the side of
a building by pressing L and X.
Probably the simplest pleasure of Spider-Man 2 is just exploring the
massive map of Manhattan. Even though Spider-Man can move very quickly,
the island never feels cramped. Partly that's because you're exploring
vertically, climbing to the tops of all those skyscrapers. It's also
because the waters surrounding Manhattan feel like such a natural
boundary, you don't notice that whenever he takes an accidental dip, the
game resets him back on Manhattan.
Activision consistently chooses fun playability over realism. For
example, Spider-Man never takes damage from falling or running into a
wall. He instantly clings to a wall, even when he smacks into it at a
high speed. The very brief tutorial is helped immensely by wise-guy
Bruce Campbell's jokey delivery. You're then invited to explore
Manhattan at your leisure, getting the hang of jumping and web-slinging.
Throughout the game, you'll gradually learn Spider-Man's astonishing
variety of moves at 200-plus Hint Markers scattered around town. When
you come across these, press your B Button for a brief word of advice.
The larger-than-life Campbell is so entertaining, he comes to feel like
the second-most important character in the game.
I'll Take Manhattan
Spider-Man 2 has an open-ended mission structure in which you're invited
to explore Manhattan at your own pace. Each chapter has only one or two
mandatory missions, but since you're also tasked with garnering tons of
Hero Points, you'll find yourself offering your services to citizens in
need.
When you see a flashing icon at the side of the screen, head in that
direction and offer your services. White and blue icons show mandatory
objectives, but you won't get enough Hero Points unless you successfully
complete many green and purple optional events, which include halting
gangs, rescuing construction workers clinging to the sides of buildings,
ferrying injured persons to a hospital, saving people from sinking boats
and -- toughest of all -- retrieving runaway toy balloons.
You can spend Hero Points at your friendly neighborhood Spidey Store,
buying upgraded moves and attacks. To find a Spidey Store and just about
anything else (except hidden items), check out your map.
Developer Treyarch has bulked out the game by throwing in a bunch of
unusual challenges. Peter Parker makes ends meet by snapping pix for the
Daily Bugle and delivering pizzas. You'll also gain Hero Points by
discovering all the Hint Markers, defeating all the game's timed
challenges and getting "mega times" in all these challenges. Finally you
can collect all the buoy tokens (pretty hard, given Spider-Man's
aversion to water), secret tokens and skyscraper tokens. Impromptu
challenges from familiar enemies include chasing Black Cat over rooftops
or battling Rhino.
Sonically, Spider-Man 2 is a pleasure. Those opinionated New Yawkers
must be the toughest audience ever for a superhero, as passers-by carp
about Spidey's show-offiness. Orchestral music cues major showdowns.
Bottom Line
Spider-Man 2 greatly improves on the original with wondrous swinging
mechanics. The mandatory challenges can be very tough, so take your time
practicing all of Spidey's amazing moves.
Contributed by Evil Ryu (31577) on Aug 25, 2005.
