The Amazing Spider-Man 2 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Video Game Thread

[UltimateWebhead]

As for your last comment, I'd guess that's because Spider-Man isn't a very developer-friendly character to create games for, due to his powers and way of traveling. Take his web swinging for example. I think many of us agree that Spider-Man 2 had the best version of that. However, with that web swinging, you risk having Spidey look messy and awkward when trying to make a U-turn or land on a specific point on the ground etc. Also, it goes so fast that it'd be hard for the city skins to load in time. At the same time, if you lose the SM2 web swing, it becomes unrealistic and boring like in ASM. The combat needs to implement alot of stuff. The camera becomes hard to get right etc.

Well said Oz. Spidey imo must be a developer's nightmare lol. So much you can do with the character and so many ways to approach it makes choices very difficult.

His mobility, agility and speed make it difficult to render good graphics in an open world...the processors are working overtime for sure but hopefully we'll see some major jumps in quality with this next gen. I kinda think this is why NYC in ASM is smaller than what we're used to in Spidey games. It allows them to make for better graphics and smoother gameplay. Look at how huge the city is in SM3 for example but the streets are also devoid of any life. WoS was a bit better but the framerates were choppy as hell. Still though, as I've explained at other times, Spidey games will always be a step or two behind the top tier graphics because of his mobility.

I think Beenox did some cool stuff with the web swinging in ASM. The camera pulled in tight and how the camera 'dips and dives' with Spidey works really well. Plus you can control the camera at any time. Unfortunately, as you say, the swinging was mostly boring after a while cause there's only a few diff animations and there's absolutely no skill needed whatsoever. As much as I would love to have the webs attach to buildings it would almost not work with how they have the camera set up and can you imagine how frustrating those Hunter fights would be with SM2 swinging style? It's almost like there needs to be several diff swing styles incoroporated in the game to make everything work well. One for indoors (I thought ASM indoor swinging was the best so far), one SM2 style for free roam and then use ASM's outdoor swinging for air battles and whatnot. Talk about developer nightmare lol. But the web rush def needs to stay imo. It's such a great tool for Spidey but it could use some tweaking so that there's also a skill factor needed and maybe some more animations.

The combat in ASM was def the highlight for me. But again, there's no skill needed. When they said they were making it a free flow design I thought it would be more like Arkham...a system that's easy to use but requires skill to master. Of course this wasn't the case. I ended up liking the system a lot but there really isn't much to it...and def no real skill needed to pull off the various attacks. Some of the attacks that Spidey uses in ASM are easily some of the best we've seen and I love the web takedowns, but I wish you had more control over which takedown to use, etc. It's def difficult for a developer to make this happen, again, because of Spidey's unique mobility. It can be done but I'm sure it's difficult. I hope they really improve upon the 'deepness' for lack of a better word in regards to the combat.

 

[Oscorp]

Thanks alot Webhead and I agree to everything you just said!

I think it's almost similar to Superman, kinda. There are so many ways the hero should be able to handle a situation that there will always be some kind of inconsistency. At the same time, without this inconsistency the devs would barely be able to even make the game because it would be too messy. Take for example, like you said, if they'd go with the SM2 realistic web swinging in interior levels and have SM2 realistic web swinging outdoors. That's completely illogical because one moment you're breaking the law of physics and next you're not. But at the same time, there's almost no other way to handle the gameplay. Spidey should be able to one hit defeat "regular" opponents but then the game would become too easy or, like in Beenox's previous games, filled with weird creatures that don't feel "Spider-Man" at all.

Spidey should be able to do lots of cool things with his spider reflexes, spider sense and webs so when you can't do whatever your imagination wants, the game doesn't feel like a true Spidey experience. And a game can't realistically capture Spidey that much. At least not yet I think.

I agree that the Web Rush is a great new mechanic that should be polished and used in coming games. Thanks to that, you might be able to use the SM2 web swing because you can always use Web Rush when you need to be more precise.

I'd also love for a button to hold while you're swinging that triggers your spider reflexes and creates a "slow motion". That way, you can control Spidey much better like turning around etc. without making it look ridiculous. That way, you could also do awesome stuff like swinging, going into slow mo, web an enemy in mid swing and throw him into something, or pick him up mid swing, or cath a falling construction worker mid swing etc. Maybe also use it to avoid getting hit by things while swinging. That same "Spider reflexes" button could be used in ground brawls to dodge, do quick moves in slow motion etc. And no, that wouldn't be the same as the Spider Sense, since the Spider Sense is basically just the warning signals like in the Arkham games.

I'd also like to have more airial battles in the likes of those in Web of Shadows. That was the only good thing in that game if you ask me, but it sure was pretty awesome.

I agree about the combat! It could be difficult at times but for the wrong reasons (barely visible spider sense visual, bad response etc.), but most of the time it was way too easy since you could just press a button and let yourself heal with no one seeing you.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Am I correct in stating that the Unreal Gaming Engine is the best physics based engine at this point? If so, how come they aren't using this engine to create Spidey games?

I think if they plan on continuing down the path of attemtping to develop 'realistic' playing/looking games for Spider-man they should use the Unreal engine instead of the AFAIK (not sure if spelling is accurate) engine they are currently using. Otherwise if they stick with the AFAIK, Beenox or whoever should keep the SD type art style and make the game look and play out more like a comic book. I liked the graphics in ASM but at the same time it had a very washed-out look...it didn't come off looking real but more like a 'fake real' if that makes any sense (it's like they attempted to make the world look and feel real but fell short) and more importantly the gameplay physics were a bit off I think. IMO, again, the Unreal engine would be optimal.

 

[CashforStash]

Will be uploading a realistic swinging simulation that me and some of my bros down in LA have made. We've all had a great journey working on ASM2 so in the spare days towards the end we started to make a "definitive swinging experinece" using a ASM2 costume in it aswell.

It was made in Unity and features an extremely realistic city street in the east end. The graphics are close to on par to what you see in the Grade A PS3/360 titles. The swinging animation and the spidey model was the hardest to create making it as identical to AG as possible.

We are trying to have this tech demo ready to release so Beenox (i believe that they started ASM2 months back) so we will be trying to give them a helping hand. Hopefully this demo will change the way spidey games play because it works like this...

Real physics in terms of weight and length of the web, and holding a specific button for each hand to hold or slide down a web, then another button to push acceleration.

Will give an another update in the coming weeks to confirm if this will be implemented.

 

[Marvel Spider]

Wow, awesome! Will you post it when you're finished?

 

[CashforStash]

Wow, awesome! Will you post it when you're finished?

I can check with the boys if I'm allowed to post screen shots or even model developments (should be fine), but to release the full on tech demo now would be suicide in terms of "keeping it under the table" as Beenox has shared interest in testing it soon.

If it's declined then we will upload it ASAP, just to show people we "could" have a grade A spidey game but the world will always just turn.

PS. the webs will have to always attach to a building, using your mouse, the two hand buttons and the acceleration button with the physics we have developed the closest we can get today with current programs to a realistic swinging simulation. The mechanics could be applied to other games that could involve swinging (daredevil anyone?).

 

[SpideyK]

^Woah... Cool.
And nice to hear there's an ASM2 game in development, as well. Here's hoping Beenox will be picking up on your swinging mechanic!

Aaaand some screenshots would be awesome too, yeah.

In terms of visuals, what current video game titles would you say they're the most similar to?

 

[CashforStash]

Woah... Cool.
And nice to hear there's an ASM2 game in development, as well. Here's hoping Beenox will be picking up on your swinging mechanic!

Aaaand some screenshots would be awesome too, yeah.

In terms of visuals, what current video game titles would you say they're the most similar to?

Assassins Creed 3 because the motion blur from that was essentially re-created and implemented into this.

Our problem is Beenox or Activison actually investing to showcase this swinging system into the game, as it would be just a big chunk devoted to programming it in whatever city they are designing now.

 

[SpideyK]

Assassins Creed 3 because the motion blur from that was essentially re-created and implemented into this.

Our problem is Beenox or Activison actually investing to showcase this swinging system into the game, as it would be just a big chunk devoted to programming it in whatever city they are designing now.

Assassins's Creed III? Cool.

Anyway, yeah, I really hope Beenox get around to include your swinging mechanic, or at least something different from the swinging in the first ASM game - I wasn't too crazy about that, honestly.

 

[FN Spider-man]

That sounds awesome I hope they do pick it up us fans have been waiting for something like that

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Peace, what's up everyone? I didn't get to interact with most of you in a while

I disagree about Activision being bad, every studio to work on Spider-Man games from their group has shown a lot of heart and love in developing the games, I saw it in interviews and games. Even Shaba had a lot of heart in making their dud of a Spidey game, they said they wanted to work on Spidey for a long time before they got the chance to make WoS to create better combat, sadly they made the most uninspired combat, the web strike, the swing kick, and wall fighting as classic Spidey are good, everything else in combat is pretty meh
They put a lot of love and effort, and they released 6 good games (7 if you like to count Marvel Ultimate Alliance), a few decent games, 1 mediocre entry, and a dud with lots of lost potential

Before Activision made Spider-Man games, there was never a good, or even decent Spider-Man game. Maximum Carnage is average (1994), and if you compare it to Marvel Superheroes from Capcom (1996) you know what the SNES is capable of in term of Spidey games and fluid mechanics and good combat, all that MC did better is the swinging and wall crawling at certain points. Sonic games, Metroid, Mario, Double Dragon, etc were all way ahead of MC, even during the NES era (Sonic doesn't count)

Maybe it is like Oscorp said, maybe Spider-Man has a bigger scope in his agility that cannot be captured in the scope of a game, and considering how lots of awesome swinging scenes can nary be replicated by video game experience, it's easy to believe and fully agree with Oscorp on this one, it's a failure any developer can face, even the best and of high dedication as Spidey fans. Still, even with that, those few developers did a lot of good in their years, some implemented ideas fans hope to see implemented, and they were implemented nice enough, fans kept complaining and wished to see some of the things already used to be used again, and act as if they were never used

And let's not forget how a lot of greatness that can be shown in cutscenes, cannot be replicated during gameplay, like let's say Batman holding a guy from his leg and tempting to drop him, that was never replicated out f the scope of Quick Time Events, some developers like Capcom never knew how to make them proper and/or compelling, lets compare it to QTE as designed by Tecmo for Ninja Gaiden, or by Crystal Dynamics in the new Tomb Raider, those knew how and when to tell the player to press the proper button for certain actions during QTE scenes

I too, hope for a superb Spidey game, and hope for developers to study more carefully and tip top the quality of their product(s), I also think gamers need to shape their acts and be more objective in that matter, often more than Spidey game developers

It was made in Unity and features an extremely realistic city street in the east end. The graphics are close to on par to what you see in the Grade A PS3/360 titles. The swinging animation and the spidey model was the hardest to create making it as identical to AG as possible.

I'm looking forward to see this swinging style
Tries Unity, doesn't work on my PC it seems. I'll probably need a new PC to be able to properly use it

 

[FN Spider-man]

Okay you're right on this one Aziz I did love the fact that in WOS you were able to do those and heck in sometimes have air battle or fight while you're falling down with an enemy and I love the spider sense from sm2 and the swing stye of both WOS and SM2 and the web rush from ASM and hope for it to be more polished and when I saw ASM at the theaters I thought man this is how he should move in games so I hope some of those things that worked can be integrated into the next. Also to me I liked the fighting style SM2 how you could go and on fighting and never running out of things to do, to this day im still play SM2 but let me stop here or i'll be rambling lol.

I want to see what that would be like it sounds pretty amazing

 

[JOE]

I wanna see a screenshot!

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Will be uploading a realistic swinging simulation that me and some of my bros down in LA have made. We've all had a great journey working on ASM2 so in the spare days towards the end we started to make a "definitive swinging experinece" using a ASM2 costume in it aswell.

It was made in Unity and features an extremely realistic city street in the east end. The graphics are close to on par to what you see in the Grade A PS3/360 titles. The swinging animation and the spidey model was the hardest to create making it as identical to AG as possible.

We are trying to have this tech demo ready to release so Beenox (i believe that they started ASM2 months back) so we will be trying to give them a helping hand. Hopefully this demo will change the way spidey games play because it works like this...

Real physics in terms of weight and length of the web, and holding a specific button for each hand to hold or slide down a web, then another button to push acceleration.

Will give an another update in the coming weeks to confirm if this will be implemented.

That sounds awesome. Please post more if/when you can! t:

Peace, what's up everyone? I didn't get to interact with most of you in a while

Well, it's certainly nice to interact with you again

I disagree about Activision being bad, every studio to work on Spider-Man games from their group has shown a lot of heart and love in developing the games, I saw it in interviews and games.

I think you're talking about two different things though. The developers having 'heart and love' in developing the games has nothing to do with whether or not people think Activision is 'bad.'

IMO, most of the developers that have worked under Activision have strong love/care of Spider-man and it def has shown in their interviews/developer videos and such. Beenox def falls into that category as well...they've always talked about how much they love Spidey and their work on the games and the little details that they provide make that a certainty, in my book.

That being said, Activision is the reason we've never gotten a truly AAA Spider-man game. Yes, we've def gotten some very good games, some decent ones and a couple of crappers...but not the jaw-dropping level of quality and design that most Spidey fans are yearning to have. Most projects are done with limitations that prevent the developers from achieving that type of game status.

The overall scope of Spider-man's powers prob do present a greater level of difficulty with developing a game for him. But in all honesty, if more time and resources were given to develop those things it's still very possible to have that higher degree of quality. There was an article that came out not too long after the release of ASM the game that talked about the development process and the strains of it all and a producer from Activision stated that they got the game to about 80% polished of what they originally intended. That's partially a problem with making a movie tie-in but also from the company that won't allow the extra time to make that other 20% a reality.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Well, it's certainly nice to interact with you again

Feeling is mutual

I think you're talking about two different things though. The developers having 'heart and love' in developing the games has nothing to do with whether or not people think Activision is 'bad.'

It was a reply to "Activision doesn't care for the franchise" and that sort of quotes
And Kotick (clearly far from being 5th best game company CEO) did decide Spider-Man need better games by the end of 2009
How long was it before they announced Shattered Dimensions?

IMO, most of the developers that have worked under Activision have strong love/care of Spider-man and it def has shown in their interviews/developer videos and such. Beenox def falls into that category as well...they've always talked about how much they love Spidey and their work on the games and the little details that they provide make that a certainty, in my book.

That being said, Activision is the reason we've never gotten a truly AAA Spider-man game. Yes, we've def gotten some very good games, some decent ones and a couple of crappers...but not the jaw-dropping level of quality and design that most Spidey fans are yearning to have. Most projects are done with limitations that prevent the developers from achieving that type of game status.

I once suggested Avalanche Studios, hoping they care enough to make Spidey games
The way Rico hangs and uses his cable in Just Cause 2 (not available in the first game) is a bit reminiscent to Spidey web shooting mechanics in the games before Spider-Man 2 (PS2/XBox/NGC)
Their level of attention to details is stunning, even on low quality image

The overall scope of Spider-man's powers prob do present a greater level of difficulty with developing a game for him. But in all honesty, if more time and resources were given to develop those things it's still very possible to have that higher degree of quality. There was an article that came out not too long after the release of ASM the game that talked about the development process and the strains of it all and a producer from Activision stated that they got the game to about 80% polished of what they originally intended. That's partially a problem with making a movie tie-in but also from the company that won't allow the extra time to make that other 20% a reality.

They were luckier than Treyarch with Spider-Man 3, maybe even smarter for limiting the scope as they did, my second favorite Spidey game has unused dialogue, rejected plots, lost gameplay elements
Would you believe Spider-Man was supposed to save hostages from Lizard-Men and discuss with them the stolen material and why they were kidnapped?
Another unused scenario involves a bank heist with inside help, the dialogue was scrapped and not used in the game
One of the unused lines is (I kid you not, I don't see why it was there) Tobey saying: "Captain America, eat your heart out"

 

[Shikamaru]

So another movie-based game at the hands of Activision.

*sigh*

 

[Spider-Aziz]

So another movie-based game at the hands of Activision.

*sigh*

They made better movie games than most companies, I can say by a large margin

 

[Shikamaru]

They made better movie games than most companies, I can say by a large margin

That's not really saying much.

Plus, what is the point of making a movie game if people are going to forget about it after the next film comes out? The events of the TASM game are no longer canon due to TASM 2. Not only do movie games limit the potential of the game itself, but they also don't go anywhere most of the time due to this.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

That's not really saying much.

Plus, what is the point of making a movie game if people are going to forget about it after the next film comes out? The events of the TASM game are no longer canon due to TASM 2. Not only do movie games limit the potential of the game itself, but they also don't go anywhere most of the time due to this.

There's a lot of effort put into the movie games, I will say more memorable effort than what's put into Shattered Dimensions or Web of Shadows

 

[Shikamaru]

There's a lot of effort put into the movie games, I will say more memorable effort than what's put into Shattered Dimensions or Web of Shadows

I disagree. The top 2 Spider-Man games to date are the original Spider-Man for the PS1 and Ultimate Spider-Man (IMO). Both of those games had a lot more effort put into them.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I disagree. The top 2 Spider-Man games to date are the original Spider-Man for the PS1 and Ultimate Spider-Man (IMO). Both of those games had a lot more effort put into them.

I didn't compare it to those two

 

[TheWallCrawler]

I have never played Ultimate Spider-man, is it really that good?

 

[Shikamaru]

I didn't compare it to those two

I'll give you that the movie games are better than those two games you've brought up but again, that is not saying much. Plus, the TASM game was in development for in a bit of a longer time than those games thus it makes sense it would be a bit better.

Regardless, I doubt we would see an AAA Spider-Man movie-based game anytime soon unless Webb and/or Sony has major involvement in it and Beenox is given more freedom by Activision.

I have never played Ultimate Spider-man, is it really that good?

Maybe I'm just blinded by nostalgia but I personally love it. Never have I had so much fun being in New York. Playing as Venom was also really neat. The story was also very good IMO and was a good fit for the game.

It is my second favorite Spidey game (first being the original Spider-Man for the PS1).

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I have never played Ultimate Spider-man, is it really that good?

It's one of the good Spider-Man games, but in my list it's in the bottom
It made certain important improvements over Spider-Man 2:
1. Wall bounce is easier to perform, and it's used for attacks
2. Hanging bozos on the light pole is smoother
3. You can do a trick (can be monotonous, depends on the mood) to make the story flow smoothly, instead of being forced to do all chores riught before a certain story mission

It's a simple game, yet a satisfying one

I'll give you that the movie games are better than those two games you've brought up but again, that is not saying much.

Actually, it is saying much
Spider-Man 2 (cause more people love it, although Spider-Man 3 is honestly a more enriched Spidey experience, despite certain drawbacks) for example:
Has a great large scaled city including interiors.
Swinging experiences is well enriched, allowing you to swing from a helicopter as well.
You have arcade places to train in as you please
City missions are a bit more varied than in USM
Charged jump is exactly how it needs to be done
You are allowed to skip initial locomotion training
Cinematics look really good
Photo missions are available
Pole swinging is brilliant
Shocker boss fights are creative, so is the Mysterio's market fight and the Statue of Liberty mission

Plus, the TASM game was in development for in a bit of a longer time than those games thus it makes sense it would be a bit better.

I know this game has no right to be my favorite when superior games preceded it, but it is my favorite Spidey game, can't help it for the time being
I follow a rule when it comes to movie games; don't pay so much attention to the story, maybe a little to none, never so much.
For movie games they made certain interesting plots, and the Raimi games made it clear being its own universe, still, not made to really pay much attention to

Regardless, I doubt we would see an AAA Spider-Man movie-based game anytime soon unless Webb and/or Sony has major involvement in it and Beenox is given more freedom by Activision.

The bold we can very easily agree on

 

[Oscorp]

I'm very excited by what CashforStash is talking about! I hope we get to see it sometime! Would be awesome to have some realistic web swinging again!