Video Game Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Edge of Time Redux

In 2012, the release of the first "Amazing Spider-Man" film also lead to a video game based on it. However, unlike the previous Spider-Man movie games, rather than adapt the movie's story while adding in new things, Beenox decided to set the first game after the movie with a whole new story. That was one of the reasons I enjoyed the first game. It had a good story, emotional moments like one between Peter and Gwen, and did a good job at building a universe that I thought could have fit well within the new movie series canon. The facts that Sony gave them a list of certain villains they could use and they asked them to give Spider-Man a belt for his webbing also helped fuel that idea. Not only that, but the controls gave me what I felt was the ultimate Spider-Man experience than ever before. In short, I considered it the "Arkham" of Spider-Man games. When the game based on the second movie was announced, it was said that it would be its own story, and that the games were a separate timeline from the movies. So to clarify that, you have the first "Amazing Spider-Man" movie, then it branches into 2 directions: the movies and the games. It should have been expected though, since characters like Rhino and Smythe were going to be used in the second movie, and their character directions were very different from how they were used in the first game. Given how much I enjoyed the first game, I really looked forward to the second. Unfortunately, it just didn't "wow" me this time around.

First off, I applaud them for working on their own story, and they stuck with it for the most part. However, the one thing I didn't like was how they still decided to touch upon the actual movie plot. Since I played the game before seeing the movie, when it actually used some of the movie's plot, it left me totally confused. When I think about the original movie games, we would actually see moments from those films adapted into the games. In this game though, we only briefly meet Max Dillon, and then the next time we see him, he's already turned into Electro and there's no explanation given in the story. I'll give them that there are audio journals detailing what happened to Max and why he blames Spider-Man, but some people would like to finish the story before looking for collectibles. I think it would have been better if they really tried to keep the game story completely original, and stuck to characters like Kingpin, Kraven, and Carnage as the main villains, and left out Electro and the Goblin. I would have at least liked the allusion of the game being canon with the movies, either as a prequel to the film or a sequel. If they wanted to adapt the film's story, they should have went all out like they have in the past, then we could have gotten more out of the experience.

For the most part, the voice cast was pretty good, but there were two characters that just sounded weird: Kingpin and Green Goblin. Kingpin basically sounds like John Goodman. I'll admit, after seeing him as a drug dealer in "Hangover 3", I could believe him as Kingpin, but Kingpin shouldn't sound like a stereotypical fat guy. As for Green Goblin, based on his actual movie appearance, there was no reason he should have sounded the way he did in the game, when his transformation was more physical than anything else. He basically sounded like Garlic Jr. from "Dragon Ball Z", especially when he laughed. Pretty damn annoying.

Control wise, they didn't really introduce anything new, but at the very least, they overcomplicated things compared to the first game. For starters, the webswinging mechanic has been modified to actually attach to buildings. I'll admit, I liked that aspect, but it took some getting used to use both triggers on the controller when it's always just been the right trigger. Another thing is that whenever you would swing into the building, you had to press a button to actually stick to it. Shouldn't that just be automatic? Then there's the Web Rush system. It was pretty straight-forward in the first game, but in the second, they don't really give you any indication that you're locked on the target you're after, whether it be an enemy, an object you can interact with during battle, or a comic book collectible you can find in the city. It made it really hard to strategize and do what you wanted to actually do. Lastly, the Spider-Sense and dodging system was also complicated. In the first game, you had your basic "white warning", when you could just press the button to avoid being hit, and the "red warning" where you actually had to move to avoid the attack, usually with the Web Retreat button. In this game however, you actually have to move while using the dodge button for every kind of attack, and you have no retreat option. For stealth missions, it made it really hard when you were spotted to get away. I mean, at least in the "Arkham" games, you can zipline to a gargoyle and hide out for awhile. With Spidey's webs, you should be able to do the same. I also didn't like that while you would heal over time in the first game, you actually had to take time to heal yourself in the new one, even in the middle of a battle. There's a real learning curve, but you eventually get used to the updated mechanics, even if they didn't need to be changed in the first place.

Besides that though, it seems like this game has drawn on a lot of aspects used before in past Spider-Man games.

• With Black Cat, you get the same "Black Cat wants to be with Spider-Man, but not know who he is, but he rejects her because he has responsibilities" plot we've seen before in "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows." It gets old.
• The Goblin fights are part-glider and part-hand-to-hand like in the first movie game, but you can actually ram him into buildings like in the third. I'll admit it was fun to do that part, but it wasn't new.
• Kingpin has an army with special suits and some even have gliders, just like in "Web of Shadows." Again, nothing new.
• Like in "Spider-Man 2", you have perpetual crimes to deal with in the city. While it's been updated and features new things like fire rescues, just like "Spider-Man 2", it really gets repetitive, and you're essentially playing to unlock achievements and collectibles and earn enough points to acquire all the upgrades.

While the game continues to build a universe and plays well, the new mechanics and toe-dipping into the actual movie plot of what was billed as an original story doesn't leave the same impression that the first game did. It's fun, but you should just enjoy it for what it is and not expect too much.

RATING: 5.5/10