[E3 2012] The Amazing Spider-Man

Psykoboy2 · 06-15-2012, 11:30 AM

Some say we haven’t had a great Spider-Man game since Spider-Man 2 all the way back in 2004. I agree with that, although I make the exception with 2008’s Web Of Shadows. It was a fun to play game if a little lacking in the story. Both games had an open world with great web swinging mechanics and it was fun just to move around the giant city more than anything else.

It seems none of the other Spider-Man games have ever gotten it right and Spidey fell into the Sonic curse. They kept making games while chasing after the love the public had with that golden title of Spider-Man 2, and to no avail. I can’t say Beenox’s Amazing Spider-Man game will break that curse, but it looks like it has the best chance Spidey’s ever had since 2008.

Click to enlarge

For starters, you’ve got an open world. A big one. And Beenox’s main goal has been to navigate the open world quickly and easily as Spider-Man. They’ve done this with two ways. The first is the obvious of web swinging. Works as it always has although the camera is more dynamic now while you’re doing that, but more on that aspect a little bit later. The second way to move around the city is with the Web Rush ability. This ability can be used two ways. It can slow time tremendously and allow you to pick your destination. Once decided on, the game takes over and gets you there in whatever way it finds possible, so you get a nice little animation of Spidey getting to whatever point you designated for him to go. The other way Web Rush is used is very quickly. While swinging or moving around the city you can quickly select where to go next and go there. It seems a bit like you’ll be in a zone when using the power this way as you’ll always be thinking of your next destination after just picking your most recent. A very one-step-ahead kind of maneuvering. I really like it, actually.

Indoor missions have returned with The Amazing Spider-Man and these missions are very stealth like. As Beenox explained it works more like Spider-Man Noir, but we never saw this aspect of the game. For our demo, it was web swinging and fighting.

Click to enlarge

Combat in the game involves combos of punching and web work as well as using the Web Rush technique. The combat in the game was inspired by lucha libre wrestling - a very acrobatic type of professional wrestling and one that fits Spider-Man quite well. It’s the first time I’ve ever made the connection but it does work. Fighting and pulling off moves during combat and web slinging will grant you XP and allow you to gain in level and upgrade your powers and abilities.

As you fight your suit will take damage and it’ll be noticeable. More so because this is the most detailed Spider-Man ever. The camera is much more closer to Spider-Man and you can see the texture of his costume. As your costume takes damage you’ll be able to return to Peter Parker’s apartment to change clothes and check out other aspects of the game like collectibles, alternate costumes and alternate characters (Stan Lee is playable in the game). Speaking of collectibles, Marvel has, for the first time, put full comic issues in the game, although you’ll have to collect the pages of them throughout the city. When you do, you can use to the built-in comic book reader to read the issue.

Click to enlarge

Another connection to Spider-Man 2 from 2004 is that Bruce Campbell is back in this game. Not yet sure of his roll as they didn’t go into it, but he’s in the game again.

The whole game looks great and the web swinging looks very fun. It seems I’ll be more concentrated on moving around the city and having fun there than anything else in the game, and that’s actually okay with me. But the combat looks just as fun. There’s no health bar and no HUD in the game whatsoever. The screen is completely clear of anything but the city itself. Nothing else gets in the way. With all the sidequests, collectibles, upgrades, and the story itself, Beenox expects you’ll get about 30 hours out of the game when it releases for the 360, PC, PS3, Wii, DS, and 3DS on June 26th.

Vandabo · 06-15-2012, 11:41 AM

Looks pretty sweet. Thanks for the write up!

Shjinta · 06-15-2012, 12:05 PM

Thank's for the excellent write up. I'm hoping this is as good as Spiderman 2 was.

crazyD · 06-15-2012, 08:01 PM

The webswinging "works like it always has"? Have you forgotten why Spider-Man 2 was so great, and the other games that followed it were not? From the gameplay footage I have seen, I've seen one cardinal mistake, webs sticking to nothing. I haven't seen double jump, which is a plus, but I've seen no signs of the awesome momentum based webswinging of Spider-Man 2. Looks like it plays like the rest.

SilentScreams · 06-16-2012, 03:37 AM

Looks like it plays great, but Spiderman himself looks ridiculous. He looks like a reject from a Nike commercial.

Widgetcraft · 06-18-2012, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyD

The webswinging "works like it always has"? Have you forgotten why Spider-Man 2 was so great, and the other games that followed it were not? From the gameplay footage I have seen, I've seen one cardinal mistake, webs sticking to nothing. I haven't seen double jump, which is a plus, but I've seen no signs of the awesome momentum based webswinging of Spider-Man 2. Looks like it plays like the rest.

Yeah... in the trailer at least, it looks like the webs are just going to some off-camera point in the sky instead of sticking to the buildings. That is what made Spider-man 2 so great: The web singing felt real. It was all based around physics instead of pre-scripted stuff.

Psykoboy2 · 06-18-2012, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyD

I've seen one cardinal mistake, webs sticking to nothing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Widgetcraft

That is what made Spider-man 2 so great: The web singing felt real. It was all based around physics instead of pre-scripted stuff.

Have either of you played Web Of Shadows? I ask only based specifically on the web swinging. That game had webs that stuck to nothing but still felt just as good as Spider-Man 2 in web swinging only. You could swing normally or pull your legs in to get greater speed on the down swing so you could have launch momentum with the up swing. It worked very well and didn't need the webs to stick to anything to do it.

crazyD · 06-18-2012, 12:54 PM

Can't say that I have played Web of Shadows, but the webswinging can't be anywhere near as good as Spider-Man 2 if the webs are sticking to nothing. That's a huge part of the strategy in webswinging in that game; making sure you are in a position where you actually can shoot a web. It's definitely a good thing to allow you to control the speed of your swings, but that's only part of the picture. I figure Amazing Spider-Man will be pretty fun, but it'll be difficult for it to not be disappointing overall due to them again fucking up the swinging.

Vandabo · 06-18-2012, 03:52 PM

Yeah, there was nothing like swinging around way up high and launching yourself into Central Park or Ground Zero or something and realizing there wasn't anything taller than 50 feet to latch onto. You eventually got the ability to launch the web horizontally and zip to whatever you hit, which you could use to save yourself sometimes at the last second, but it took good timing and some luck to pull it off.

06-15-2012, 11:30 AM	#1
Psykoboy2 Enigma Of The Mystical Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,499 Blog Entries: 1	[E3 2012] The Amazing Spider-Man Some say we haven’t had a great Spider-Man game since Spider-Man 2 all the way back in 2004. I agree with that, although I make the exception with 2008’s Web Of Shadows. It was a fun to play game if a little lacking in the story. Both games had an open world with great web swinging mechanics and it was fun just to move around the giant city more than anything else. It seems none of the other Spider-Man games have ever gotten it right and Spidey fell into the Sonic curse. They kept making games while chasing after the love the public had with that golden title of Spider-Man 2, and to no avail. I can’t say Beenox’s Amazing Spider-Man game will break that curse, but it looks like it has the best chance Spidey’s ever had since 2008. Click to enlarge For starters, you’ve got an open world. A big one. And Beenox’s main goal has been to navigate the open world quickly and easily as Spider-Man. They’ve done this with two ways. The first is the obvious of web swinging. Works as it always has although the camera is more dynamic now while you’re doing that, but more on that aspect a little bit later. The second way to move around the city is with the Web Rush ability. This ability can be used two ways. It can slow time tremendously and allow you to pick your destination. Once decided on, the game takes over and gets you there in whatever way it finds possible, so you get a nice little animation of Spidey getting to whatever point you designated for him to go. The other way Web Rush is used is very quickly. While swinging or moving around the city you can quickly select where to go next and go there. It seems a bit like you’ll be in a zone when using the power this way as you’ll always be thinking of your next destination after just picking your most recent. A very one-step-ahead kind of maneuvering. I really like it, actually. Indoor missions have returned with The Amazing Spider-Man and these missions are very stealth like. As Beenox explained it works more like Spider-Man Noir, but we never saw this aspect of the game. For our demo, it was web swinging and fighting. Click to enlarge Combat in the game involves combos of punching and web work as well as using the Web Rush technique. The combat in the game was inspired by lucha libre wrestling - a very acrobatic type of professional wrestling and one that fits Spider-Man quite well. It’s the first time I’ve ever made the connection but it does work. Fighting and pulling off moves during combat and web slinging will grant you XP and allow you to gain in level and upgrade your powers and abilities. As you fight your suit will take damage and it’ll be noticeable. More so because this is the most detailed Spider-Man ever. The camera is much more closer to Spider-Man and you can see the texture of his costume. As your costume takes damage you’ll be able to return to Peter Parker’s apartment to change clothes and check out other aspects of the game like collectibles, alternate costumes and alternate characters (Stan Lee is playable in the game). Speaking of collectibles, Marvel has, for the first time, put full comic issues in the game, although you’ll have to collect the pages of them throughout the city. When you do, you can use to the built-in comic book reader to read the issue. Click to enlarge Another connection to Spider-Man 2 from 2004 is that Bruce Campbell is back in this game. Not yet sure of his roll as they didn’t go into it, but he’s in the game again. The whole game looks great and the web swinging looks very fun. It seems I’ll be more concentrated on moving around the city and having fun there than anything else in the game, and that’s actually okay with me. But the combat looks just as fun. There’s no health bar and no HUD in the game whatsoever. The screen is completely clear of anything but the city itself. Nothing else gets in the way. With all the sidequests, collectibles, upgrades, and the story itself, Beenox expects you’ll get about 30 hours out of the game when it releases for the 360, PC, PS3, Wii, DS, and 3DS on June 26th.

06-15-2012, 12:05 PM	#3
Shjinta Old Picky Bastard Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Belleville, Ontario Posts: 1,940 Blog Entries: 2	Thank's for the excellent write up. I'm hoping this is as good as Spiderman 2 was. __________________ Currently Watching: Buffy The Vampire Slayer 2/7, Becker 1/3

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06-15-2012, 08:01 PM	#4
crazyD Nothing to see here Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 5,539	The webswinging "works like it always has"? Have you forgotten why Spider-Man 2 was so great, and the other games that followed it were not? From the gameplay footage I have seen, I've seen one cardinal mistake, webs sticking to nothing. I haven't seen double jump, which is a plus, but I've seen no signs of the awesome momentum based webswinging of Spider-Man 2. Looks like it plays like the rest.

06-16-2012, 03:37 AM	#5
SilentScreams Terran Republic For Life Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Huddersfield, UK Posts: 9,251	Looks like it plays great, but Spiderman himself looks ridiculous. He looks like a reject from a Nike commercial.

06-18-2012, 12:54 PM	#8
crazyD Nothing to see here Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 5,539	Can't say that I have played Web of Shadows, but the webswinging can't be anywhere near as good as Spider-Man 2 if the webs are sticking to nothing. That's a huge part of the strategy in webswinging in that game; making sure you are in a position where you actually can shoot a web. It's definitely a good thing to allow you to control the speed of your swings, but that's only part of the picture. I figure Amazing Spider-Man will be pretty fun, but it'll be difficult for it to not be disappointing overall due to them again fucking up the swinging.