Really, the only issue with the core gameplay is the imprecision of the controls when you’re maneuvering around the city. You don’t need Spider-Sense to realize there may be some mild spoilers for the movie of the same name, but we won’t know for sure until May. Even the one at the end of the very first level is challenging, as you have to weaken Electro while dodging his attacks, follow him through the city without losing him and win a final confrontation atop a building. The boss battles have different mechanics, but the game always explains them ahead of time so you don’t get hung out to dry. Skills can be leveled up with coins earned during play, allowing for some tailoring of Spider-Man to your specific play style. It doesn’t take long to pull off some impressive combos, which the game encourages with a meter and increased rewards for long chains. You’ve got web and melee buttons, plus a reversal button that requires proper timing to use properly. When criminals try getting down and dirty, combat is like a simplified version of what Batman goes through in the Arkham console games. You’ll find yourself stopping robberies, taking injured police officers to the hospital by webline and simply signing the occasional autograph for starstruck citizens. Thanks to a gang war that is engulfing New York, there’s no shortage of random crimes to stop, and the random missions do a good job mixing things up.

Spidey’s objectives in each level are a mix of open world encounters and planned events that drive the narrative. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is unabashedly an action-adventure game, thrilling in the freedom that the web-spinner has at swinging through New York and showing off his acrobatic skills at every chance. One thing that sets this game apart from its Gameloft brethren is that there’s no genre confusion. Or amazing, if we want to keep the right adjectives with their respective franchises.

With slightly tighter controls, it could even be fantastic. So I went into The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fully prepared to be let down again, only to find that it’s really good. Like a girl who can’t help dating bad boys, I’ve had my heart broken by Gameloft super hero titles before.

The amazing spider man game gameloft