Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times recently hailed Spider-Man 2 as one of the best superhero movies of all time, unable to withhold his enthusiasm regarding the immense improvement in several areas from the web-slinger’s first cinematic outing (well, technically there were some really bad ones decades ago, but I hear Marvel ordered all the copies of those movies incinerated). Similar praise has already been heaped upon the latest interactive incarnation of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man; not only is it immense improvements in every aspect of game design and execution, it also happens to be the single best superhero videogame of all time.

Story and Atmosphere

Spider-Man 2 follows the plot of the recently released blockbuster fairly closely. Those who have already seen the movie will recognize most of the major plot points - most of them fight sequences - as they arise throughout the game. However, unlike the movie, which allowed audiences to see and know certain things that the Spiderman character didn’t (‘fly on the wall’ narration), the plot of the game follows the actions of Spiderman exclusively. Any events which Spiderman was not actually present for at least a portion of are revealed to players when information actually reaches Peter Parker; very rarely will players be treated to a cinematic regarding events happening outside the web-slinger’s realm of knowledge. An example of this occurs rather early in the game; Spiderman wasn’t around when Doctor Octopus broke out of the hospital, and thus the player isn’t privileged with that information. The utilization of this first-person narrative technique gives the game’s plotline a unique feel in comparison to the movie.

The developers have also opted to introduce additional enemies into the game via subplots that interrupt the fundamental storyline. The subplots are well written and quite entertaining – specifically the one that regards Mysterio, which is just downright hilarious in a deadpan humor sort of way (there’s also a point where the game just flat out tricks the player – in a good way – but I wont spoil it). The subplot featuring The Shocker as the antagonist of the hour is actually used as a means of replacing the hiatus Peter takes from being Spiderman. Rather than coming to grips with the sacrifices that must be made in order to be a hero by attempting to lead a life devoid of web-slinging, Peter re-evaluates his responsibilities and lifestyle choices through interaction with the impulsive, carefree Black Cat character. The scenario of several supervillains committing disconnected crimes during he same general time period lends itself nicely to creating a feeling of chaos within the city and recreating the frantic life of our friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

Gameplay

The open-ended nature of the GTA gameplay formula changed the direction of games in almost every genre, making it one of the most important games to be released in the last decade, and certainly the most influential of the current hardware generation. Since the advent of that revolutionary title in the winter of 2001, many developers have played copy cat with the crime drama theme, while others have taken the high road and attempted to infuse the grand concepts into new, original games. Treyarch is one of the latter, as they have skillfully integrated the open-ended concept into the gameplay of Spider-Man 2, providing players with the entire island of Manhattan – rendered accurately to scale – to explore. While not as large as the entirety of Vice City in terms of sheer acreage, the virtual playground that Treyarch has provided is no less impressive; the major difference between the two environments is that while players were relegated to transportation at sea level or, at best, lower altitudes [via the helicopter] in Vice City, Spider-Man 2 gives players the ability to ascend and descend hundreds of feet at any moment, anywhere within the confines of the city. While this may seem like a small thing, when the primary mode of transportation takes place above street level, being able to change altitude on a whim makes navigating the environment infinitely more enjoyable, and provides a far greater sense of freedom.

The game’s level design can’t really be evaluated in terms of creativity or facilitation of gameplay flow for two obvious reasons, the first of which is the fact that the city is accurately modeled after a pre-existing location [right down to street layout] so the developers essentially had no control over the layout. Secondly, the city is so wide open that players aren’t likely to ever use the same route twice, so any alterations made in hopes of increasing game flow for one route, could have very well impeded another route, or been bypassed altogether. That being said, the few instances where players have to venture indoors yield far less impressive locales; while its true that its difficult to make the layout of an area such as a bank or a department store interesting, these environments gave the level designers an opportunity to flex their creative muscle in terms of layout, and the overwhelmingly bland nature of the various locations is borderline depressing. Exceptions to this general rule of boring interior decorating come in the form of the venues for boss battles. The burning opera-house where players tangle with Mysterio for the first time, as well as the Oscorpe power station for the final battle against Shocker are standouts. Nitpicking aside, less than 10% of the game takes place indoors and the slight shortcomings in the design of these areas take nothing away from the brilliance of the massive outdoor environment that serves as the venue for the vast majority of the action.