I can understand why some reviewers might have been a little harsh on the game as it still fails to address certain problems that have been around since the move to an “open world” setting.

However… it’s Spider-Man… and playing as Spidey is almost always cool so… just like all the previous titles, I’m quite happy to spend my time with it.

Another thing I liked was the various characters that appealed and the absence of Tobey Maguire made it feel more like the classic ’90s cartoon series, rather than the movies!

I recognised its flaws: the gameplay did lack variety, and the story choices were ultimately pointless, but if you treat it like a mindless title to unwind to rather than a Triple-A release, it’s more than adequate to satisfy a Spidey fan’s needs. And it has this uncanny ability to keep me playing: just five more kills, ten more kills, twenty more kills, damn, 4am.

The combat was much more enjoyable than previous versions and actually appeared more cinematic. All right, it’s uninspired thug bashing, but if any game allows you to:
- knock a soldier off his glider
- land on top of him on the roof of a nearby building
- pummel him to death before knocking him over the side
- then continue to batter him as you both tumble to the street
- finally crushing his corpse against the roof of a parked car
- and leaping back in with a gymnast’s flair
…And all without depending on dreaded quick-time events, then I’m more than happy to play it again and again.

They always seem to have problems filling these open-world games with interesting content. I’d settle for a smaller game world if there was something interesting to do on every street corner. I’d also really like it if Spidey went off on his holidays somewhere, even if it’s only for a single game… I’m getting a little bored with New York!