Mobile Watch: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Attempting to capture the distinct feel of an open-world Spidey game is an ambitious task, especially on mobile devices. However, Gameloft did just that with The Amazing Spider-Man back in 2012. Abandoning the linear, boxed-in design Spider-Man games had started to adopt, the movie tie-in was a throwback to how things used to be.

Though not as deftly crafted as some open worlds, Gameloft’s Manhattan was a sprawling metropolis could leisurely swing through. Compared to its home console counterpart, however, some elements were lacking. Combat, though functional, didn’t have quite the impact, with missions and optional content providing little excuse for players to keep returning.

In some ways, it’s the exact same story for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Using the recent motion picture as a backdrop for its setting and characters, the game starts out promisingly though quickly loses its edge. To progress, players will explore Manhattan, picking up a variety of campaign and side missions, the latter consisting of anything from petty crime and autograph signing to full-on ambushes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_wi1Thmcgo

The annoying thing, however, is the gap between Spidey 2’s story missions. You can’t simply do one and move directly onto the next; no, instead you’ll have to beat enough of the aforementioned secondary quests to meet a quota. Perhaps it wouldn’t feel like such a labour if the side missions were different every time. Yes, there may be 100 of them, but here there’s an argument for quality over quantity.

Though exhausting, the pay-off is occasionally worth the wait. I actually found myself liking several of the boss battles, featuring six iconic villains from the Marvel Archives. Combat outside of these scenarios mirrors the previous game, however, failing to bring anything new or substantial to the table. It’s a simple button-mashing system that throws in the occasional telegraphed counter-attack. It’s a shame really, considering how, in the recent films, fight scenes exhibit intuitive use of Peter Parker’s web shooters.

Navigation has been left largely untouched as well. Using one button to jump/swing and a virtual joystick, Spider-Man’s movements feel mostly organic and carry momentum. The only real problem here comes down to the hardware as opposed to Gameloft’s design. Though hardly extraneous, having to extend another finger while jumping and directing Spider-Man is one step away from a Twister-esque mini game.

One thing the games does rather well is presentation. Menus are clean and quick to navigate, character models bear a modern aesthetic and voice work is, at time, much better than the higher-budget console versions – Electro and Spider-Man being particular stand outs. This attention to detail is hindered by performance issues, it has to be said. Though an update is no doubt on its way, I couldn’t go for more than fifteen minutes without crashing. Equally annoying is how The Amazing Spider-Man 2 can only be played with an internet connection.

It may allow for a series of meta objectives to be rolled into the game but otherwise feels completely out of place. So do some of the micro-transaction options available. Aside from bagging points to be spent on upgrades, the game also tries to nudge you into buying power-ups and health boosts. Temporarily enhancing your skills and being able to locate collectibles is the kind of quasi pay-to-win fluff we can tolerate. However, having to pay to recover health is a cheap move, not to mention nonsensical. Even if players die, they can always restart from a reasonably-place checkpoint.

Still, in terms of overall value, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 packs a lot for its £2.99 price tag. It may not be the smoothest or most in-depth open world action game yet has done enough to please its target audience, as evidenced by its chart-topping performance.