Gaming Features
Game Preview: The Amazing Spider-Man
By Bags Hooper May 2, 2012, 17:59 GMT
The upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man game, from Beenox and Activision, will expand on the revamped film franchise, starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.
The upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man game, from Beenox and Activision, will expand on the revamped film franchise, starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.
The story comes from Seamus Kevin Fahey, a story editor on Spartacus and staff writer on Battlestar Galactica.
In contrast to 2010’s Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and 2011’s Spider-man: The Edge of Time, this latest Spidey tale won’t feature multiple versions of Spider-Man. Instead, the game’s story serves as a follow up to the feature film, which actually comes out a week after the game.
It’s a smart move on the part of Beenox. The game’s story won’t be hampered by the confines of a 2-hour film story, but will also expand into the comic book mythos. Don’t be surprised, however, if nothing from the game ever makes its way into the next Spidey movie. Because you know there will be a sequel.
In The Amazing Spider-Man game, fans will be reintroduced to Gwen Stacey and the Lizard, characters from the film, as well as the Rhino and several other comic book villains. This game will serve as an origin of sorts for some of Spidey’s deadliest villains. So, comic lovers should expect some serious Sinister Six action.
Web slinging through New York is as seamless as it was in Beenox’s past two Spidey games. The developers have added in a new Web Rush mode that works as Spidey’s own version of bullet time. When gamers enter Web Rush, the city will be engulfed in a yellow silhouette so that Spidey can more easily sling his way through the city. The Web Rush mode highlights the best targets for Spidey to target when he’s jumping from building to building. You can chain several key targets together for a nice combination web slinging animation. However, there are no point multipliers for web slinging chains, but it offers players the better visual experience.
Web Rush comes in handy in various situations, such as helping the police chase a getaway car, or in general fights and Boss Battles. During the fight with Rhino, Web Rush mode made the battle feel more like a series of dodging with Quick Time actions. Spider-Man would set up a web wall to grab Rhino and electrocute him. Hopefully, the boss battles won’t all boil down to this same system of gameplay.
In order to give gamers a more cinematic feel to Spider-Man’s new adventure, the camera is often positioned close over the shoulder. It’s a similar vibe to that found in Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. Whenever your perched in a skyscraper over Central Park, you’ll see the city as Spidey sees it.
The developers have added in a touch of realism to the new gameplay. Spider-Man’s suit will deteriorate over time. Players will see blood and tearing on the suit. The sandbox game also gives you the freedom to go wherever you want in NYC. There is a GPS map on your HUD with key icons of interest and missions, similar to that found in Grand Theft Auto. Between missions, the game employs a pseudo-Twitter feed called NY City Thoughts. It serves as an active message feed, detailing Spidey’s exploits. There are also a few other pop-culture moments sprinkled throughout the game. If you stop a petty crime, the pedestrian you just saved will snap a photo of you instead of thanking you.
Similar to last year’s Captain America game from Sega, Beenox is trying to follow suit with the fight mechanics of Batman: Arkham City (and the original Batman: Arkham Asylum). Fighting is up-close-and-personal. You can also perform stealth takedowns. Gamers will build up multipliers to unleash signature moves. One such move lets Spider-Man web one of his enemies to the ceiling. By gaining more multipliers, players will be able to upgrade different skills. There will also be a secondary upgrade system for your web shooter, which is mechanical. Players will have to collect tech pieces in order to upgrade their web cartridges.
Throughout the game, players collect comic pages. The Beenox team remained silent as to what these pages unlock, but hinted at potentially giving gamers a variation on the Spidey suit or giving them a full comic book to read. The Beenox team also suggested there will be cheat codes in this game.
Spider Tracers will also be used in the game, but the Beenox team kept silent as to whether they will be an active mission tool or just something that comes up during cinematic sequences.
If you’re wondering if you’ll be able to play as Peter Parker, the developers stated that there will be one scene where you play as Peter. Unfortunately, there won’t be any outer-borough action. Peter is borrowing an apartment in the city.
The Amazing Spider-Man game hits Xbox 360 and PS3 on Jun 26, 2012. The film is set to release on July 3, 2012.
Contributing writer Bags Hooper is a Senior Editor at www.buzzfocus.com and covers films for the USA Network Character Approved Blog.
