With Great Power...
The whole spectrum of superhero games will be turned upside down by Spider-man 2. You see, Spider-man 2 isn't your normal, totally linear superhero experience - rather, Spider-man 2 will let players take the Webhead on a free roam through a large recreation of Manhattan. It's a similar structure to Grand Theft Auto III, where you can roam around and do whatever you want, but you will have to complete certain missions in order to progress further into the game.
Obviously the best thing about having a wide open city is the fact that you will be given unprecedented control over Spider-man's abilities - so you'll be able to swing around the streets of Manhattan at extremely fast speeds. Treyarch has given Spidey a lot more to work with when it comes to webbing - due to the much more advanced physics engine, players will have to calculate the precise time when they want to change direction, and send out a new webline accordingly. Of course, Spidey can now send out multiple weblines for swinging purpose, and use the trusty old zipline if he needs to stick to a certain place.
Of course, not all of the action takes place in the air. Spider-man can now go down to the ground level, and interact with the people and traffic. Being on the ground means encountering various thugs, which means you'll need to be able to fight. Treyarch have implemented a fairly deep combo system for Spider-man 2. On top of the hand to hand combos, Spidey can send multiple weblines at his enemies, and swing them around his head like a cowboy. You can even launch an enemy up into the air with one webline, unleash an aerial combo, and then slam him into the ground with another webline.
Treyarch are also adding in a new Spider Sense system. While it's not a faithful recreation of the Spider Sense, it's still quite a useful system. When a threat comes close to Spider-man, a giant energy ring will appear on the screen, and begin to contract, until the threat closes in on you. In this time, you'll hit a context sensitive counter button which will execute the move the situation calls for.
Spider-man 2 is fairly pleasing in the graphical department, faithfully recreating the Manhattan landscape. The game features fairly well detailed characters, and runs at a blistering pace. The only problem we've got with what we've been shown is the fact that the city is quite empty at ground level when compared to other city based, free-roaming games. Hopefully this can be corrected before the game is released in July.
...Comes Great Responsibility
Spider-man 2 is shaping up to be one of the more solid action titles of this year. It has the potential to redefine the way superhero games are made, but could use a bit of a spit and polish before it could be considered to be one of the big contenders of 2004. Keep an eye out for Spider-man 2 this July, launching around the same time as the movie of the same name. PALGN will have more on Spider-man 2 as it comes to light.
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