The Amazing Spider-Man First Impressions

Before I say anything else, let me say the most important thing: do not play The Amazing Spider-Man if you do not want the film of the same name spoiled. You will get spoiled in the first hour and there's no way of avoiding it, so think about that before you even think of touching the game before the movie's release. With that warning out of the way, I can now say the game itself is, from my first few hours, rather boring with good/bad controls.

By "good/bad" controls I mean some aspects are good and some are bad. I enjoy the simplicity of web swinging because it's automatic as long as the right trigger is being held. It allows me to freely look around and watch as Spidey swings through the air in his well-animated form. I'm sure some people might dislike the over simplification, but I like it and don't care about what the web is sticking to and if it makes sense—it's a game about a guy who has spider powers...sense was lost a long time ago. I also enjoy the two-button combat—one button for action and one for dodging—but it's already becoming repetitive and I only see that increasing with every minute played.

This hallway eventually fills up, but even empty it's about as much fun as I've had with the game at this point.

What I don't like about the controls is the "Web Rush" ability which allows the gamer to send Spidey to a specific location with a tap of the right bumper. It's nice in theory, but it requires a precision that isn't so easy to come by, especially when the camera gets all wonky, which it is prone to do. I found myself snapping to the wrong location more than once, losing my sense of place.

At one point I had to protect a character as enemies were shooting at them and had to do so by web rushing towards enemies and taking them out one by one. I failed multiple times because I would end up web rushing to the wrong location and then the camera would lose its mind. It was incredibly frustrating and what frustrated me more was how I ended up beating that section: I had my issues with the camera and controls and figured the one I needed to protect would soon die so I just stopped moving and waited for them to die so I could restart at the checkpoint; however, the waiting lasted much longer than I expected and me doing nothing ended up saving the character's life as all the enemies magically died after a short cutscene, adding to the nonsense.

There may be fun to be had in The Amazing Spider-Man and I may still find it, but my first impression is rather low and I don't see how the game could change my mind with more time. I don't even find the story interesting enough to keep playing; instead, it's just jumbled mess of little sense and as disappointing as the rest of the game, which I really wish I wasn't saying.