Spider-Man 2

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bookworm
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Spider-Man 2

Post by bookworm »

The to-the-point point of this post:

Have any of you played this game? I just bought it on GameCube and I found out that it was apparently a very well known game back in the day that was pretty universally praised and tons of people fondly remember it today. So I'm curious if anyone here has past experience with it.


The somewhat convoluted reason I'm making this post:

Many, many years ago, I'm talking when I was a little kid, I would occasionally use the PlayStation when I went to a certain friend's house. One of the 'games' he had was actually a demo disc with bits of a few different games and many times I loaded up the demo level of Spider-Man and messed around. I don't recall if I ever actually beat the level, I just really enjoyed swinging between buildings and crawling around and when a bad guy was near having him say "Spider sense tingling!" Kid me thought it was super fun, and the memory has stayed with me all my life.

Some years ago that friend actually gave me his PlayStation collection when he didn't want it anymore. Going through the games I was excited to find the case for that demo disc, remembering those childhood memories and wanting to revisit them, but unexpectedly there was actually the disc for a different game in that case. Apparently the demo disc had been misplaced at some time over the years. I was disappointed that I couldn't re-experience that, and every couple of years since I would think I really should at some point make a point to get the actual game since it's remained such a strong childhood memory and it would be really satisfying to finally relive it.

So last week I finally set out to do just that, scouring eBay for a version that was a decent price and in good condition, and doing some research into that game to make sure I was looking for the one I remembered. In the process I came across information on Spider-Man 2, a game I wasn't familiar with. I saw that it was incredibly highly praised, noted in particular for great webslinging mechanics - which was the real reason I was tracking down this old game - and having a super fun, expansive open world described as 'GTA Spider-Man edition' by one review. It sounded awesome! I changed my focus and tracked down a good priced version of that game instead and bought it. And as I waited for the delivery I became very excited about it. I'm really not much of a gamer, but I couldn't wait to get this and jump in! It arrived a couple days ago, I haven't had a chance to play it yet but I'm going to as absolutely soon as I'm able!

By the way, a couple days later I still bought a copy of the PlayStation game I was originally looking for too. So this lifelong developing story gets closure, or a new chapter depending how you look at it, in probably the perfect way of not only me finally acquiring that original game but in the process finding one that's even better and that I fully anticipate will give me hours of enjoyment. Whereas if I had only got the first one I would get probably just some fun revisiting the first level and messing around, with no intention of actually rushing to play the full game. Still would have been worth it, to relive the childhood memories, but it's an awesome bonus that I'm also getting another game now that I actually want to play not just mess around in for a few minutes.
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Post by Catspaw »

I'm not familiar with the game (and never have been much of a gamer) but I liked reading your story, bookworm! :D It's funny what all sticks with us from childhood, and I'm glad you're finally going to get to play the game you have such fond memories of, plus another one as well!
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Post by bookworm »

Wow does this game live up to its hype!

I finally got to start it today; it exceeded my high expectations and just from the couple hours I've played so far I can already confidently say it's my favorite console game I've ever played! And I haven't even continued the story past the first section - once I got past the tutorial and introduction chapters I just went around exploring the huge city and doing random event missions that pop up! It's exactly what was advertised: a play at your own pace Spider-Man sandbox game. So much fun!
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Post by Catspaw »

That's pretty high praise! I'm glad that you are enjoying it so much already! :D
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The Top Crusader
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Post by The Top Crusader »

I remember everyone loving that game but for whatever reason I couldn't get into it, even though I enjoyed later open-world Spidey games (Web of Shadows I think I completely 100%'ed). I didn't like the way the combat felt IIRC. I did like going onto really tall buildings and jumping to my death, though. \:D/

I am really enjoying the newest Spider-man, but I haven't had much time to invest in it yet.
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Post by bookworm »

The Top Crusader wrote:I didn't like the way the combat felt IIRC.
It's interesting you say that, that was the single criticism I did see from a couple people. I really like it though. I can't figure out the timing of the dodge mechanic, but so far that has been optional and you can win any fight with a combination of shooting webs and pressing B. For someone like me that gets frustrated when game mechanics get too complicated that's perfect. You can add in combo moves if you know what you're doing to be more efficient, but if you're not comfortable with that you can just button mash and still win.

My favorite tactic is to do the whole fight in the air, to ensure you don't get ganged up on. I got the combat upgrades that add an extra hit to a chain of in air attacks and the one that lets your jump off a guy you're fighting in the air to go really high. So at the start of a fight I web one of the enemies and throw them into the air, jump onto them and keep hitting them in the air until they're beat, then use the jump as they're falling back down go up really high and use that time to web the next guy on the ground and pull him up so I can start fighting him and repeat the cycle.
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Post by EK »

I’m really late on this l but, yes Spider-Man 2 was one of the greatest Spider-Man games made and one of the greatest games of that console generation.

That original PlayStation Spider-Man was great too, I had it on PC and i specifically remember if you typed in the code ‘eel nats’ (Stan Lee backwards) you got some cool costumes or something. That final battle/chase with carnage/ock is one of my best video game memories.

Spider-Man PS4 is almost a homage to those games in many ways, it’s a really great current game.
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Post by bookworm »

Yeah I've watched some videos of the new game and it has strong echoes of this one. If I had a PS4 I would be very tempted to pick it up. I'm wary it's too complex though; when a game has a skill tree you need to manage I glaze over. Spider-Man 2 is the perfect package for my gaming levels of attention and comprehension.

Wow the graphics are beautiful in the new one though. Even if the actual gameplay was too much for me it might still be worth it to get just to swing aimlessly around that massive city.
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Post by The Top Crusader »

One of the really cool things about Spidey on PS4 is you can turn off the annoying mini-games like decoding radio frequencies and dumb things like that which aren't fun.

I got a physical copy when it first came out but the other day (maybe still?) had the game and all the dlc on sale for like $20-something digital, and usually the dlc alone is $30, so yay. \:D/ Changing out discs is so 1990's. :noway:
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Post by EK »

It really is antiquated to use disks, something PC gamers realized years ago. I used to like having a big collection but switching from game to game by just using the controller is definitely better in the trade off. I have BOTW as my only physical game on switch so I got lucky, I just never take it out.
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Post by The Top Crusader »

Yeah I kinda wanted to go at least mostly digital on the Switch but of course it has the stupidest storage amount and extra storage is significantly more expensive using the SD cards instead of just a big external drive like on XB1 and PS4. For the other consoles though I used to always get physical for newer games because Best Buy had the 20% off program and that was usually cheaper for brand new stuff... but since that died about the same time this baby showed up, I just wait for digital sales on *most* games now.

But yeah I traded a bunch of XB1 and PS4 games into Gamestop when they actually were running a good trade-in promo, got a bunch of digital currency, and rebought a bunch of games digitally for a better deal then what I sold the physical copies to them for.



...and also Vudu is awesome for movies.
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Post by EK »

Games can get ridiculously expensive if you don’t take advantage of the deals. $60 + another $20-30 for DLC (which is really just parts of the game they left out on purpose at this point)

I miss the days when Blockbuster ran a “all you can rent” deal on games for a monthly price and kids would just save the games to their modded xboxes. Ostensibly free games.

I don’t think I’ll be as nostalgic for whatever jet ski snowboard ping pong game Sony wants to give away for free each month.

Also, hack a Wii U. It’s worth it.
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