The Amazing Spider-Man Xbox 360
User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 160 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 126 out of 160
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 160
  3. Negative: 20 out of 160

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  1. Chris913
    Jul 3, 2012
    3
    Allow me to give a wholesome review for the Amazing Spiderman game. You have to split this game into two different aspects of play: the free roam web swinging and the awful mission-based campaign. The web swinging is as good as its ever been, especially because of the addition of the new web rush mechanic, which allows players to slow down time and direct Spidey to very specific locations in the city. It works well and is one of the few features of the game that actually makes you feel you're playing Spiderman. There's also a ton of collectibles in the city (an astounding 700 comic book pages!), as well as hidden Spiderman logos that unlock new costumes for Spidey. There are some questionable issues with swinging around Manhattan, such as swinging over a park when you know your web is supported by nothing, but most of these are minor.

    Unfortunately, that's where this game's fun factor is cut short, because The Amazing Spiderman has one of the worst campaigns I've played this year. I'll get to the technical issues later, but biggest issue with the campaign is that instead of swinging around pulling off web-based combos that fans of Spidey games know and love, I found myself being forced to stick to the shadows in order to make it out alive in a way reminiscent of Batman Arkham Asylum gameplay, especially on hard mode. This game makes Spiderman, a superhuman with super strength and an iconic ability to detect and react to danger, seem powerless to anyone holding a gun. Instead of dodging bullets and web-slinging the gun out of the foe's hands, you'll be forced to retreat to the far side of room until you break the line of sight so that you can perform more stealth takedowns. As much as you want him to be, Spiderman isn't Batman, Beenox.

    Once you thin out the number of armed thugs in a room, you'll might actually be able to drop from the ceiling and really get into a fight. Sadly, the game falls short here as well. Once again you'll see a system ripped from recent Batman titles, using one button to throw out basic attacks and another to counter your opponents' moves. The decision to copy the Bat's combat system sounds great, but it plays terribly in the Amazing Spiderman. The combos strings aren't fluid and are repetitive. Sometimes you'll see Spiderman awkwardly perform the same attack animation multiple times in a row before changing up. The counter system works well (as long as the the obnoxious red low-health indicator isn't clogging the screen and blocking your counter cue), but out of all the times I used a counter, I saw maybe three or four different kinds of counter animations. Boss battles indoors are also a bore, requiring a strategy almost identical to any of the lower enemy types. The best boss battles happen outdoors, where Spiderman can swing freely and you actually feel like you're utilizing his superhuman agility. I found the sequences when you are being chased by hunter robots in the city streets and must use the web rush mode in combination with your web shooters in order to gain the upper hand to be the campaigns's greatest moments.

    Another issue with this game was its story. It's pretty lame. It takes place after the events of the movie, with the Lizard already defeated and behind bars. Basically, Oscorp's cross species experimentation goes wrong, the test subjects are released, all breaks loose and it's up to Spidey to save the day. Missions involve beating up corrupt Oscorp guards trying to cover their tracks and deny the company's involvement and smashing through waves of infected to get to the next uninspired cross species boss. Iconic Spiderman villains Rhino and Scorpion make appearances, but in this alternate universe their origin stories are retold and they don't act like the Rhino and Scorpion fans know and love. Beenox tries to make a compelling storyline but it ultimately falls flat. By its end, players will just be happy to finally see their trophy/achievement pop up on their screens.

    Ultimately, this game falls short and this is NOT the Spiderman game fans were clamoring for since Spidey 2. The indoor environments are bland and empty, and although I said the web-swinging in this game is fun, the city doesn't have much to offer in terms of graphics either. I bought this game because I love Spiderman, and because of the E3 demo (which was only free roam gameplay might I add), I thought Beenox nailed it this time. I was sadly mistaken. I probably can't talk you Spiderman fans who have yet to buy this game out of it, but please, put that 60 dollars to use somewhere else this summer    … Expand
  2. StarlessBB
    Jul 5, 2012
    2
    Potentially the worst Spider-Man game ever made.
    The camera reminded me of Cloverfield and The Bourne Ultimatum and I almost threw up at some points. It's nothing like the Spectacular (heh) Spider-Man 2 or Ultimate Spiderman.
    Instead of having the swinging mechanic popularized by 2 where the web actually ATTACHES to something and you swing from that point, Spider-Man opts this time to sw    ing from the goddamn moon or something. Not that you'll care because due to the camera, swinging will be nigh impossible anyways.
    Combat would be passable (maybe even cool and good)... if YET AGAIN the camera didn't screw you at every opportunity and shake every second of the game. This is seriously the worst camera for any video game I have ever played, period. At least in other games with bad cameras it'll just get stuck on objects or something, in this one it just shakes around everywhere and most of the time (especially apparent during web-swinging) Spider-Man himself takes up half the screen because the camera is too close.

    Just as insulting to the Spider-Man video game franchise as the movie is to Sam Raimi's incredible Spider-Man 1&2. Just look up gameplay footage and tell me THAT'S the game you want to play before you go and buy it, because the camera is an abomination that makes what could have been a decent game unplayable    … Expand
  3. phixionalninja
    Jul 3, 2012
    4
    I desperately wanted to like this game. Unfortunately, eight years after Spider-Man 2, I'm still waiting for another game to match the web swinging physics of that game. I don't want an automatic "hold this button and point a direction" for swinging, I want to feel like I'm directly responsible for where I go, and I want the game to let me screw up and smack into a building. Web rush is fun, but it just felt like auto mode on top of another auto mode. I found the game's missions incredibly boring, but that complaint is secondary compared to my disappointment in the swinging mechanics.

    After a few hours, I returned this game to Redbox, and went and spent $8 on a used copy of Spider-Man 2. It might not be as pretty, but at least it's fun.    … Expand
  4. venom90
    Jun 30, 2012
    0
    i was psyched for a wonderful game since i heard about it, however it really didn't last. I'm not talking story or graphics or even design here, those where perfect, rather the combat. all you saw where the same moves over and over. same with takedowns, no cool combos or anything, even the stealth, i was the same three ways all the time. and the swinging was too simple and he ran too slowly. and about the costumes: i think you could have added better, more fan-favorites. like the cross-species, i myself only used it like at lest three sort times. i think it would've been better to use the man-spider fromthe 1990's as well as the classic black suit . and speaking of the black suit, why didn't you make regenerate? I've never seen it ripped without self-repairing before. and the things that you could throw (should've been more} where poorly done. meaning most of them should be an instant ko's or blind them temporarily in some cases, which is another thing, like coke machines for example, they were all empty. i should've seen cans and spilled soda at lest. not to mention you really couldn't hold it and throw it when ready. and i was kinda hoping for hideouts and stuff and i also think the rhino challenge could have been more fun and why not be able to play hero as the lizard? and also think it would have been better with a replay option where you could replay the game with all the stuff you already unlock. and finally, i think that free roam would've been better if the crimes and such. because after you get 100% what's left to do? another plus side though was the acting, it was perfect.… Expand
  5. Criticalkev1169
    Jul 4, 2012
    0
    So I honestly think that most critics are harsh on this game. For one thing the graphics are not that bad, in fact the graphics are amazing. The combat system is amazing and very simple, it kind of reminds me of Batman: Arkham Asylum/City which im sure we all agree are two very amazing games in themselves. I'll admit the story is dragged a little bit, but being able to swing through Manhattan freely and with every perch and flag pole to your disposal, it more than makes up for the story line. I love spider comics, merch, and movies. Now, im not trying to put anyone down but I think that a lot of people are harsh on a game that was originally made for smaller children but was still adapted for young adults and older.… Collapse
  6. Omniscientfailu
    Jul 10, 2012
    1
    Alright so I'll be honest I don't find the game to be worth the $60.00 I payed for it. The combat system was rather lazy, you repeated the same attacks multiple times until it changed up, and unlike other reviewers I was not a fan of the swinging and web rush system. The whole purpose of my purchase of the game was because I was a huge fan of the Spider-Man 2 movie game's web swinging. Just so we don't get confused with the Playstation 1 Spider-Man games which we're incredible nonetheless. However, despite the web swinging being rather fluid(I suppose), I didn't feel as if there was enough control over the swinging. You just held down the swing button and used the analog stick to go in whatever direction you please. You couldn't accelerate the velocity of your swing as you could in Spider-Man 2, or Web of Shadows, and the web rush system seemed useless because of it freezing time. I appreciate that you could web rush onto the side of a building and run across it using Spider's webs to help you move across it, and at times the visuals of the city looked amazing, however the movement in Spider-Man 2 seemed almost flawless to me. If you'll allow me to reminisce you swung from building to building and ran across the walls leaping, twirling and swinging which you had complete control over. Again the swinging in Amazing Spider-Man you hold down the swing button and control where he goes with the analog as he does a spin or falls through the sky until his next swing. Another big bother for me was when I was high up in the air at times and high above all the building only to find out that I was just swinging from thing air. The controls got a little annoying as well, sometimes I was trying to get onto a small platform and would get caught on a guardrail I would have to jump off only to get caught on the rail again. The storyline was okay at best for what I think could have been really interesting but I could not get into the game to the point to give this a good review.… Expand
  7. Smaloner
    Apr 12, 2013
    0
    This game is so incredibly bad, I don't understand why all the reviews are good, it has taken me this long to play this game in short spurts in hopes of just completing it. The combat is such a horrible knockoff of the Batman Arkham series, webslinging is basically one button, that was the most enjoyable part of Spiderman 2. The missions are so very very very bad, they are just annoying, it must be 4 year olds playing this game to think that it has polish and give it good reviews, as a long time Spiderman fan, please give the rights to Rocksteady because Beenox should not be allowed to make another game, PLEASE!!… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 52 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 52
  3. Negative: 3 out of 52
  1. Armchair Empire
    Dec 18, 2012
    75
    As much of a cool mixture of '90s nostalgia and modern gaming, it doesn't mean that the game is all the memorable. Having the entirety of Manhattan to swing around between inside missions is a technological feat, but it might have done Beenox better to make a smaller, more densely populated environment to explore and experience different story beats.
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  2. Hyper Magazine
    Sep 18, 2012
    60
    The initial few hours are exciting and thrilling, swinging through the city, stopping crimes and collecting comic book pages. But it soon feels padded out and derivative. [Oct 2012, p.58]
  3. Hardcore Gamer Magazine
    Aug 24, 2012
    80
    The web swinging is better, and the combat system is much more effective (not to mention some awesome Signature Moves).
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