The Amazing Spider-Man
By Marc Saltzman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Web-slinging comic book adventure has some violence.
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The Amazing Spider-Man
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What’s It About?
Penned by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Battlestar Galactica), THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is a single-player action game. It serves as an epilogue, of sorts, to The Amazing Spider-Man movie with the story taking place after the events of the movie. As you'd expect from a Spider-Man game, players experience free-roaming web-slinging all over a crime-ridden Manhattan, as well as acrobatic fighting with criminals in, above, and even underneath the city. In fact, the game's new Web Rush mechanic allows the young Peter Parker to pull off a wide number of moves never before possible in a Spider-Man video game -- and with unprecedented speed and fluidity.
Is It Any Good?
If your Spidey sense is tingling, then trust your instinct. The Amazing Spider-Man isn't a flawless adventure, but fans of the superhero from comic books and movies will no doubt enjoy swinging, fighting, and crawling through this game. You really do feel like you can swing around New York, anywhere you want, as opposed to being kept on a tight leash while tackling various missions. The combat, while on the easy side, heats up with memorable boss battles, plus gamers will like the balance between combat and stealth. Classic villains have been re-imagined for this game, including Scorpion, Rhino, Felicia Hardy, and Iguana.
The writing is smart and funny, the controls are easy to pick up, and there are many collectible comic pages to snag while swinging through the air and while running on rooftops. The game's indoor missions aren't as fun as the freeform outdoor ones, however, and after you play the game through there's little reason to do it again. Overall this game is fun, funny, frantic, and faithful to the Spider-Man universe.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether Activision was smart not to mirror the exact storyline of the film. On one hand, this looks and plays like it's a unique adventure that serves as an epilogue to the film, but on the flipside, some teens might want a similar storyline as the feature film. What's better?
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Game Details
- Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Subjects: Language & Reading: following directions, reading, Hobbies: collecting, Science: gravity, motion
- Skills: Self-Direction: achieving goals, work to achieve goals, Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, decision-making, thinking critically, Responsibility & Ethics: following codes of conduct, honoring the community
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Activision
- Release date: June 26, 2012
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Superheroes, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- ESRB rating: T for Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Last updated: August 26, 2016
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