Spider-Man 2 | DJcube

Take New York for a Spin

NA release: 29th June 2004
EU release: 9th July 2004
JP release: N/A
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
NGC Magazine: 84%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

Open world superhero games may seem super normal now, but it still hadn’t been done well by the time Spider-Man 2 came out. Some had tried – like Batman and Robin – but didn’t quite pull it off. So not only is Spider-Man 2 a good film tie-in, but also a good open world superhero game.

There are two key areas that make this work. The first is Spider-Man’s movement and web swinging. Instead of magically attaching to the sky, they can only latch onto objects. The swinging itself is also physical based, so Spider-Man will sway based on the angles of his web. It’s difficult to move around smoothly to begin with, but once you get used to it, it’s a lot of fun.

The game is also its own thing for the most part, with the film plot taking a backseat until the end of the game. The drama with MJ is a backdrop for missions with Black Cat, while Mysterio is brought in to try and discredit Spider-Man. This means that the missions can be more inventive rather than just trying to adapt the film. It’s also cool that some of the missions take place inside buildings that you enter from the open world with no loading screens.

Between missions you can complete random events by stopping crimes or saving people and balloons, take on challenges like races though the city and find an immense amount of hidden tokens. Because there aren’t a great deal of main missions, you’re forced to do this stuff in between every mission, and instead of something extra you can do at your own pace. It really messes with the pacing.

The combat does provide plenty of entertainment. The fighting system isn’t too deep, but the use of ragdoll is just extremely amusing. Both enemies and Spider-Man will flop around when hit hard and it’s just amusing. On top of that, you can continue to bash enemies around once defeated – it’s not exactly in the spirit of Spider-Man, but it’s still funny.

Spider-Man 2 showed everyone that open world superhero games could work, with the ability of speeding through a city at fast speeds and from a tall distance. It set a standard for superhero games in the future, with many trying to follow its footsteps.

Fun

More variety in the tasks on offer would have been ideal, but at the end of the day Spider-Man 2 succeeds in the one area that it really needs to – it makes you feel like Spider-Man.
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #96

Remake or remaster?

The newer Spider-Man games improve upon this.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Spider-Man 2 (this version).