Jump to content

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014 video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Stein256 (talk | contribs) at 23:23, 28 October 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Developer(s)Beenox
Gameloft (AND/IOS)
High Voltage Software (3DS)
Publisher(s)Activision
Director(s)Thomas Wilson
Producer(s)Eric Sherman
Writer(s)Christos Gage
Composer(s)Samuel Laflamme
SeriesThe Amazing Spider-Man
Platform(s)
ReleaseAndroid, iOS
  • WW: April 17, 2014
Windows, 3DS, PS3, PS4, Wii U, X360
  • NA: April 29, 2014
  • EU: May 2, 2014
  • AU: May 7, 2014
Xbox One
  • NA: May 12, 2014
  • EU: May 4, 2014
  • AU: May 7, 2014
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an open world action-adventure video game[1][2] based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, and is the sequel to 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man. It was developed by Beenox and published by Activision. It is loosely based on the 2014 film of the same name.

It was released on April 29 in North America and May 2 in Europe for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Xbox 360. The Xbox One version was released alongside the other platforms digitally while the release of physical copies was delayed by two weeks.[3] Gameloft also released a mobile version on April 17 for iOS and Android devices as a paid game. The game was also localized in Japan as a Sony-exclusive title. This is the final Spider-Man game published by Activision.

Gameplay

Morality is used in a system known as "Hero or Menace", where players will be rewarded for stopping crimes or punished for not consistently doing so or not responding. If the player responds to crimes and successfully stops them, their hero rating will go up, failing to do so will result in Spider Man's rating to decrease.[4] The player is able to upgrade Spider-Man's web shooters. During certain sections of the game, the player can control how it works.

Players have access to Peter Parker's home, and his room allows players to replay previous missions from the main storyline, purchase upgrades and equip the various costumes available.[5] Audio logs of many characters can be collected from around the city. Players can use the Metro to go back to Peter Parker's home.

Additionally, new enemy types have been introduced.[5] Armored guards can be taken down either with a stealth attack or by the Ionic Web upgrade, which allows players to break down armor, thus leaving the guard vulnerable to damage.

Furthermore, the city has been expanded to incorporate unique districts that allow for more open space to the player. The crimes from the first game have been expanded on, but it also includes new crimes such as arson and hostage situations. Unlike the previous game, there will be constant random side activities. Additionally, the use of the Web-Rush system returns and has been expanded on from the previous game, now allowing for critical strikes, dodges, and rolls. There are also new upgrades and abilities introduced into the game, some of which have been expanded on from the previous game.

The player can, as before, use their in-game smartphone to access the map, which provides the player with information of activities taking place in the area at the time.[5] Players can use the map to track current activities, main and side missions. Players will also use the in-game smartphone to manage in-game messages and upgrades for their suit and skills.

Missions have been altered to fit players' play style.[5] Rather than players navigating through a linear level, levels have been redesigned to be more open, allowing players to explore the map and providing them with different ways to approach the mission. Players can now choose between a stealth approach and a combative, open approach to engaging their enemies. Additionally, stealth-based attacks have been improved since the previous entry, players are now able to silently take down enemies from a distance. Players are able to silently take down enemies from any surface the player is on, whether it be the ceiling, the wall or the ground. Players are also able to repel from their webs and perform inverted takedowns on enemies.

Plot

After two years of crime fighting and acting as the protector of New York City, Peter Parker / Spider-Man is finally seen as a hero. However, he never forgot the reason he chose this path, to dedicate every day in his life to the neverending battle against crime, and thus he resumes his search for Dennis Carradine, the criminal who murdered his Uncle Ben two years ago, whose death inspired him to become a hero. During his search, Spider-Man runs into Herman Schultz, one of Carradine's contractors. After defeating Schultz, Spider-Man interrogates him for information on Carradine, as well as the Russian Mob, one of the main gangs in the city, heavily involved in gun trafficking, just like Schultz's gang. Schultz gives Spider-Man a tip on how to find Carradine and even reveals that his gang and the Russians are currently at war, but then tricks Spider-Man into letting his guard down and escapes.

The following day, Spider-Man resumes his everyday life of crime fighting, in the hope of finding more about Carradine's whereabouts. He eventually learns about a deal in which Carradine might be involved, so he goes to investigate. He chases Carradine, who drives away in a stolen car and takes a woman hostage, but Spidey manages to rescue the hostage, although this causes him to lose Carradine for a short while. When he finds him again, Spider-Man discovers that Carradine has been murdered by a serial killer known as the "Carnage Killer", who is murdering other criminals. With Carradine dead, Spider-Man decides that his main goal now is to catch the Carnage Killer and take him to the Ravencroft Institute, a maximum security prison for the criminally insane.

Peter returns home to talk to Aunt May about Carradine's death, only to see the news and learn that both Schultz's gang and the Russian Mob are attacking Oscorp and plan to steal the advanced technology and weapons there, which they could use to win the gang war. Feeling guilty for letting Schultz escape, Spider-Man goes to Oscorp to stop them. After saving some kidnapped employees, including an electric engineer named Max Dillon, Spider-Man defeats the mobsters from both gangs who are fighting over the weapons, and then fixes the building's overheated reactor, thus preventing the gangs from stealing anything or destroying the building. However, he once again encounters Schultz, who built himself a pair of sonic gauntlets and is now calling himself the "Shocker". Upon defeating Shocker, Spidey interrogates him again, about the gang war and then about the Carnage Killer as well, thus learning that every major gang in the city is now involved in the war, as well as that they are all afraid of the Killer, no one being aware of his real identity. After he's done with the interrogation, Spider-Man webs Shocker up and leaves him for the police, but not before taking some of the technology he used for the gauntlets to "upgrade" his web shooters.

Following the attack on Oscorp and the death of Norman Osborn, the head of Oscorp, CEO Harry Osborn (Norman's son and Peter's childhood friend) and billionaire Wilson Fisk announce that their companies will begin working together to fund the Enhanced Crime Task Force, a privatized police force meant to contain criminals, as well as vigilantes like Spider-Man. After Harry refuses his offer to take Oscorp off his hands, Fisk decides to wait until Harry dies from the same genetic disease that killed Norman and take over Oscorp. Meanwhile, with Task Force after him, Spider-Man tries to maintain his reputation as a hero by stopping various crimes around the city and soon meets a man named Kraven, who came to New York to hunt down Oscorp's failed cross-species experiments (which Spider-Man already fought two years ago), but is also a vigilante, helping Spidey take down some criminals. Kraven offers Spider-Man a chance to act as his protégé and, after he accepts, Kraven teaches him some of his hunting techniques to make him a better hero, while also working together to find the Carnage Killer.

Using a lead given by Kraven, Spider-Man finds and infiltrates a Russian hideout, where, after defeating all the mobsters, he discovers a map of all the places the Carnage Killer has attacked so far, as well as the Russians' plan to kill Wilson Fisk at the fund-raiser that will take place that night. Later that evening, Spider-Man goes to the fund-raiser as his alter-ego and successfully foils the Russians' plan, while also meeting and talking with Harry, whom he hasn't seen for 10 years, as well as Felicia Hardy, a bank robber he previously defeated 2 years ago and somehow managed to escape from prison. Before leaving, Peter also interviews Wilson Fisk, who unwillingly reveals that the Russians are smuggling weapons into the city. Spider-Man finds one of the Russians' trucks and follows it to the docks, where the Russians' main hideout is located. While there, Spider-Man recovers some stolen Oscorp weapons and rescues a man whom the Russians believe to be the Carnage Killer, who then gives Spidey a clear description of the killer. The next day, using the map and the description, Spider-Man and Kraven track down the killer, who reveals his real name to be Cletus Kasady and states that he and Spidey are very alike. Spider-Man manages to defeat Kasady but refuses to kill him after Kraven urges him to. Kasady is later apprehended by police and taken to Ravencroft, where he meets Harry's assistant Donald Menken and begins to be experimented on with a symbiotic red substance code-named "Venom", which was originally meant to cure Norman Osborn's disease.

Some time later, with the gang war over (due to both the Russian Mob and Shultz's gang taken out of the picture, and the Carnage Killer in prison, all thanks to Spider-Man), a mysterious crime lord known only as the "Kingpin" begins filling in the power vacuum, causing the crime rate to increase. At the same time, more people start viewing Spidey as a menace and thus more Task Force forces appear in the city to take care of criminals in his place and hunt him down. In an attempt to remake his reputation as a hero, Spider-Man escorts a police van and later arrives at a museum that is being robbed, only to discover it to be a trap set by Felicia Hardy, who somehow gained super-powers and is now calling herself "Black Cat". After taking care of the robbers, Spider-Man fights and defeats Black Cat, who then confirms his suspicions and reveals that the Kingpin is, in fact, Wilson Fisk, as well as that he is the one who got her out of Ravencroft. However, he made cross-species experiments on her that gave her super-powers and later ordered her to kill Spider-Man, but she never wanted to do any harm to him. Spidey offers to help her, but Black Cat refuses and runs away.

The following day, Peter visits Harry at his apartment to learn more about Fisk, only for Harry to reveal him that he is dying and ask Peter for Spider-Man's help, as he believes that his blood can help him find a cure. Peter later visits Harry as Spider-Man and tells him that he can't give him his blood out of fear that, without enough research, it could lead to another Lizard incident, but this only ends up angering Harry and determining him to look for a cure on his own.

Later that day, after Harry confirmed his suspicions that Kraven is working for Fisk, Spider-Man goes to confront him at his loft and discovers that Kraven was indeed hired to kill him. However, as he prepares to leave, Spidey is tranquilized by Kraven and then forced to fight him in Central Park, where Kraven reveals that he trained him only to make Spider-Man a worthy opponent. After defeating him, Spider-Man uses Kraven's honor code to coerce him into revealing how to get to Kingpin, before leaving him webbed up on a tree. Arriving at Fisk Tower, Spider-Man sneaks inside one of the trucks and rides it to Kingpin's hideout. There, Spider-Man proceeds to fight the Task Force soldiers and criminals defending Kingpin, before confronting Kingpin himself inside the hideout. Spider-Man manages to defeat Kingpin and begins hacking his computer for incriminating evidence, but the power in the entire city is suddenly cut down by Max Dillon (the Oscorp electric engineer Spidey saved earlier), who, after a freak accident, gained electric powers and was incarcerated at Ravencroft, but later managed to escape. Without any other choice, Spider-Man is forced to leave Fisk victorious for the moment as he couldn't get any evidence against him and goes to stop Dillon, who is now calling himself "Electro".

Spider-Man arrives in Time Square and tries to reason with Electro, who reveals that the doctors at Ravencroft had done experiments on him. Electro blames Spidey for not being there to save him, since they were "partners", and thus attacks him. Spider-Man manages to defeat Electro, but this unwillingly causes his body to explode, killing Electro. While the power returns to New York, Spidey feels sorry for Dillon because, in the end, he was only the victim of a misunderstanding and then realizes that Ravencroft must be doing similar experiments on all of their patients, so it's time for him to end them. Meanwhile, Harry discovers and injects himself with Richard Parker's spider venom (which gave Spider-Man his powers), hoping that it will cure him of his disease. However, the venom soon proves to be unstable and, after learning from one of his employees that the rumors about Fisk trying to take over Oscorp are true, Harry, angry and influenced by the venom, becomes insane, wreaking havoc in the Oscorp building. Spider-Man comes to investigate and finds the insane and grotesque Harry, who is now calling himself the "Green Goblin". After saving the civilians trapped inside the building and defusing the bombs Green Goblin has planted around Manhattan, Spider-Man is forced to chase and fight his former friend, eventually defeating him on a rooftop. However, in a final attempt to kill the hero, the Green Goblin accidentally stabs himself with his own glider and dies.

Spider-Man later goes to the Ravencroft Institute, after hearing of large riots having recently broken out. While there, Spider-Man defeats several patients infected by a mysterious red substance, as well as some Task Force officers sent to deal with the situation, and saves Donald Menken, who reveals him that the experiments on Kasady failed and allowed him to control the Venom he was injected with, now calling himself "Carnage". After taking Menken and the other staff to safety, Spidey makes his way through the facility, defeating some more Task Force officers and patients infected by Kasady, and eventually finds and confronts Kasady in a giant arena-like cell. He stops him from escaping and manages to defeat him, but Kasady and the symbiote fully bond, becoming "Carnage". Spidey defeats Carnage for the final time by using fire and burns the symbiote off Kasady, after learning from Menken about the symbiote's weaknesses. Kasady begs Spider-Man to let him die, but he refuses, saying that, in the end, they are completely different, and later takes him back to his cell, where the symbiote is completely removed.

Sometime later, Peter visits old family friend Stan at his comic book shop, who encourages him to be the man Uncle Ben would have wanted him to be. After this advice, Peter resumes his role as Spider-Man and prepares to save the day once again.

In a post-credits scene, Kingpin tells the mayor on the phone that he will continue to finance the Enhanced Crime Task Force without Harry, before the Chameleon walks in, having posed as Donald Menken all along. When he asks what their next plan is, Kingpin states that "now the real work begins".

Development and release

The game was announced at New York Comic Con October 2013 slated for a Spring 2014 release. It was announced that Beenox would be developing the game.

Motion capture performances were provided by Aaron Schoenke of Bat in the Sun Productions, as well as Sean T. Krishnan and Alina Andrei.[6]

A small teaser trailer was released at the New York Comic Con in 2013 to support the first announcement of the game. In January 2014, the first trailer for the game was released to the public. The release date for the console versions was announced in March 2014. The walk-through trailer was released on 27 March 2014. The launch trailer for the mobile version was released upon the release of the game.

Reception

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 received generally mixed reviews upon release, with most of the criticism aimed at the graphics, story, and glitches. On Metacritic, the iOS version of the game has a weighted aggregate rating of 58/100 based on 14 reviews,[7] the PlayStation 3 version of the game has 57/100 based on 4 reviews,[9] and the PlayStation 4 version of the game has 49/100 based on 44 reviews.[10]

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were reviewed as "inferior" to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, primarily due to the fact that the older console versions suffered from poor lighting, frame rate drops, and poorly detailed textures.[citation needed] The PS4 version of the game received a 5.4/10 from IGN.[18] The Xbox One version of the game received a 5.5/10 from Digital-Tutors stating the biggest issue was "...it just isn’t polished, and based on the many issues we found with the game it looks thrown together in a rush trying to get it out the door in time for the release of the movie." ABC's Good Game hated the game, both Bajo and Hex gave it a 4/10 with Hex saying; "This feels like a poor copy-paste job of The Amazing Spider-Man, with most of the good bits removed."

Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead scored the game a 2 out of 10, saying "It's like a part of me has died". Whitehead was very disappointed in the game because, as he is a big fan of Spider-Man, he felt that the game provided no significant fun for the player, whereas past Spider-Man games at least provided something. Whitehead stated: "Sullied by lacklustre gameplay and trampled by technical shoddiness, this time Spidey hasn't been done in by the Sinister Six, but reduced to a Terrible Two."[24]

Tom McShea from GameSpot scored the game a 5/10. McShea called the representation of Spider-Man "enjoyable", and liked the "satisfying" boss battles, but criticized the controls, side-missions, and combat. McShea summarized his review by saying: "The biggest failing of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is how familiar it feels. In fact, there have been other open-world games starring Spider-Man that walk a remarkably similar path. So there weren't many surprises, nothing that jumped out and made me take notice. Still, being able to spend time with Spider-Man was enough for me to stomach the various problems, just because he's a fun character to listen to. There's nothing majorly wrong with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, after all. There's just not a lot right with it, either."[15]

Richard Grisham of GamesRadar was more positive of the game, giving it a 3 out of 5. He called the combat "shallow" but "enjoyable", praised the collectibles, and liked the "entertaining, fun" story. He did feel as though the game was a dated experience, and disliked the controls and mission variety.[16]

In his review for Polygon, Justin McElroy scored the game a 6/10 and wrote: "I've accepted that there's probably never going to be a truly great Spider-Man game. If the dispiriting The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is any indication, Activision and Beenox may have reached the same conclusion. There have been many worse Spider-Man games than this. But I can't recall one that's swung so conceptually close to greatness only to let poor execution drag it back to Earth."[22]

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2016-09-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game Is Coming Out on Xbox One, After All". Kotaku. 29 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  4. ^ "How Is the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game". IGN. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Developer Walkthrough". PlayStation. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Timeline Photos". The Amazing Spider-Man Game Facebook Page. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  7. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  8. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  11. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  12. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Whitehead, Dan. (May 7, 2014). "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 review – A sticky situation" Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. Eurogamer. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-man 2 review". GameSpot. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  16. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-man 2 Review". GamesRader. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  17. ^ "The Amazing Spider-man 2 - review". GameTrailer. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  18. ^ a b Rudden, Dave (30 April 2014). "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  19. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 review: Who Am I?". Joystiq. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  20. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 review: Taking Manhattan by Storm Once Again?". Official Xbox Magazine. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  21. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review". PCGamer. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  22. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 review: Swing Low". Polygon. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  23. ^ Musgrave, Shaun (April 21, 2014). "'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' Review – That Old Parker Luck Strikes Again". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  24. ^ "The Amazing Spider-man 2 review: Not So Amazing". Destructoid. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Amazing_Spider-Man_2_(2014_video_game)&oldid=923501559"