I don't know what possessed Activision at the time, but they decided that yet another version of Spider-man 2 was needed, but this time around, one for the kiddies. Yes, Spider-man 2 on the PC is a game for the little ones and as such, is probably one you'll want to avoid.
You know the drill already, movie tie-in games equals a game that follows the plot from the movie of the same game, and, once again, you should know the drill by now, since it's a Spider-man movie tie-in game, new villains made it into the plot, villains like Rhyno, Puma(So this is where the 3D model used in the GBA version originated from!) and Mysterio. This version's probably the one that took the most liberties with the plot, while other games kept the Doc Ock storyline separate from the other new subplots, this Doc Ock is conspiring with the other villains nearly from the get go. It's also got new scenes, like Puma stealing Mary Jane's car(What?) or Spidey actually failing to stop the train(The movie's best scene ruined!). The presentation is pretty horrible, by the end of the game the developers stopped caring and character models stopped walking during cutscenes, instead being thrusted to and fro one place to the next. And defeated enemies? They disappear in a digitized blue hologram-like fade out. What the f...
Spider-man 2 on the PSP was a throwback to previous, linear Spider-man games, while Spider-man 2 on home consoles gave us an open world. On PC, it's a sad mix of both. Some missions let you explore a tiny version of New York, and beating the game lets you explore at will. But you don't have nearly as much freedom as you do on the home console version. There're invisible walls galore, a ton of buildings you can't climb to the very top and you can only swing from a few, designated markers on certain buildings. It's pretty constricting, so the freedom to explore is pretty much an illusion. And why would you want to explore? Hidden goodies that grant you more points that do absolutely nothing! After I cleared a mission I was granted an upgraded life bar, but I don't even know why that happened.
I will grant it that they came up with a very ingenious(For a kids' game) control scheme. Left click shoots web, attacks, swings or web-zips towards a surface depending on where you aim. It's not perfect, mind you, you need to be precise if you want to shoot web towards turrets instead of zipping in front of them, but it works most of the time. WASD moves you around and right click jumps, while the space bar is used to dodge moves. It's a very simple, easy to grasp set-up that works really well most of the time, and kids will be able to handle it very easily. That said, the game is a bit boring. Combat is dull and repetitive, while the swinging is anything but satisfying, a sin on any Spider-man game.
There's an 'adrenaline meter' that fills as you hit enemies, and once filled you'll automatically start shining blue and be able to defeat enemies(any of the massive three different types!) in one blow, but it only lasts a little while. Bosses have to be defeated in various different ways... that are detailed before each fight, alongside images illustrating exactly what to do. Lame! They also managed to fit QTEs in here. QTEs are never fun, away with them!
Spider-man 2 on the PC is very, very boring. It can be a bit clunky, but nothing is broken and the game works as intended, plus, on modern PCs it should run pretty smoothly. The thing is, as boring and plain as it is... I'm pretty sure that, as a game for children, it's probably pretty good. But yeah, anyone older than 5 is better off with the PSP or PS2 versions, because there's nothing for them here.
3.5 out of 10
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