In what I guess is common knowledge these days due to this video (https://youtu.be/pOU6HVSL6a8), the cult favorite licensed game of Spider-Man 2 was never properly ported to PC. Instead, Activision inexplicably decided to hire a no-name studio to make an entirely new game for the PC market. Why? Supposedly to attract a younger audience, but that still doesn't make much sense because a. did the PC demographic really skew younger than consoles in 2004? and b. even if it did, there's still no way it would be worth the added cost of developing a new game rather than porting Treyarch's beloved console version.
But then again, it's entirely possible there was no added cost, as this game feels like it was developed in a month or less with the budget of a console port. The janky feel on full display here most closely resembles the bargain-bin PC games that Valusoft would put out around the same time (maybe not that bad, but the same air of cheapness prevails). It's comically short--I finished in under 4 hours which for me is no time--and seriously lacking in anything to do besides finishing the story. The "side content", if it can even be called that, again feels like it was made in half a day by one dev and then given comically forgiving time limits so that no play-testing would be required (e.g. you get to swing through a couple dozen rings, a la Superman 64, while a full 5 minutes ticks down). The collectibles, much the same. And why would you bother with any of it? The game gives you absolutely no incentive or reward to play the challenges or get collectibles, so why spend more time then you have to in this godforsaken nightmare?
But I'm digressing, forget all that. The cheap, half-assed feel isn't the problem here, nor is it the empty GMod-esque overworld, nor is it Tobey Maguire's totally disinterested voice acting (who the hell could blame him), nor is it the stilted cutscenes, the complete lack of enemy variety, bad boss fights, annoying music, or the bizarre points system (wtf? did they think they were making Frogger?). Nor is it the terrible level design that consists mostly of walking through narrow hallways, checking every cramped room until you find the right one. No, the real problem here comes right back to that original mindset of 'we need to make a stupid game for stupid kids', which has resulted in the most boring, over-simplified excuse for a Spider-Man game since the Atari 2600 version. When swinging, zipping, punching, interacting, and shooting are all mapped to the same button (the only non-movement button), it's not a surprise that the moment-to-moment action isn't rewarding. When what passes for "puzzles" are Simon memory games, it's easy to remember that kids are not this stupid. Every single facet of the game has been dumbed down to the nth degree, and it's just so tedious to play. Any kid that's old enough to handle this nonsense is definitely old enough to handle the console version, making this whole enterprise completely pointless.
Fun fact, I believe this game was actually my introduction to the character of Spider-Man as a kid. I never finished it until today, because I usually got stuck in the shitty level design at some point and couldn't progress. So much for "kid-friendly". Too bad Circuit City didn't have the first or third games that day, as my understanding is that they both are straightforward ports of Treyarch's console games. I guess that means Activision learned their lesson, which is good, because this has to be one of the worst PC games put out by a major publisher.
But then again, it's entirely possible there was no added cost, as this game feels like it was developed in a month or less with the budget of a console port. The janky feel on full display here most closely resembles the bargain-bin PC games that Valusoft would put out around the same time (maybe not that bad, but the same air of cheapness prevails). It's comically short--I finished in under 4 hours which for me is no time--and seriously lacking in anything to do besides finishing the story. The "side content", if it can even be called that, again feels like it was made in half a day by one dev and then given comically forgiving time limits so that no play-testing would be required (e.g. you get to swing through a couple dozen rings, a la Superman 64, while a full 5 minutes ticks down). The collectibles, much the same. And why would you bother with any of it? The game gives you absolutely no incentive or reward to play the challenges or get collectibles, so why spend more time then you have to in this godforsaken nightmare?
But I'm digressing, forget all that. The cheap, half-assed feel isn't the problem here, nor is it the empty GMod-esque overworld, nor is it Tobey Maguire's totally disinterested voice acting (who the hell could blame him), nor is it the stilted cutscenes, the complete lack of enemy variety, bad boss fights, annoying music, or the bizarre points system (wtf? did they think they were making Frogger?). Nor is it the terrible level design that consists mostly of walking through narrow hallways, checking every cramped room until you find the right one. No, the real problem here comes right back to that original mindset of 'we need to make a stupid game for stupid kids', which has resulted in the most boring, over-simplified excuse for a Spider-Man game since the Atari 2600 version. When swinging, zipping, punching, interacting, and shooting are all mapped to the same button (the only non-movement button), it's not a surprise that the moment-to-moment action isn't rewarding. When what passes for "puzzles" are Simon memory games, it's easy to remember that kids are not this stupid. Every single facet of the game has been dumbed down to the nth degree, and it's just so tedious to play. Any kid that's old enough to handle this nonsense is definitely old enough to handle the console version, making this whole enterprise completely pointless.
Fun fact, I believe this game was actually my introduction to the character of Spider-Man as a kid. I never finished it until today, because I usually got stuck in the shitty level design at some point and couldn't progress. So much for "kid-friendly". Too bad Circuit City didn't have the first or third games that day, as my understanding is that they both are straightforward ports of Treyarch's console games. I guess that means Activision learned their lesson, which is good, because this has to be one of the worst PC games put out by a major publisher.