"Two years have passed since Peter Parker first hit the streets of New York City as the conflicted crime-fighter Spider-Man. Now he finds himself battling his most diabolical villain yet, the mechanized, multi-tentacled Doc Ock. The nefarious Doc Ock was once Dr. Otto Octavius, a brilliant nuclear physicist. But a freak accident transformed him from a timid researcher to a criminally insane megalomaniac who blames Spider-Man for his horrible transformation. Now the scientist Peter once idolized for his remarkable intellect has marked our web-slinger for death...."

Spider-Man 2 is a third-person arcade adventure sequel which has been published on all major platforms - Xbox, PS2, GBA, Gamecube, and PC. However, the PC version (subtitled "The Game") isn't a console port, but a totally different game. The console versions were developed by Treyarch, while the PC product was made by the Fizz Factor Game Studios. Also, the ratings provide the most noticeable clue: the PC product ($29.99) is for everyone, while the console titles are for teens.

As you'd expect, Spider-Man 2 works along the same basic lines as the last one (review 66%) but is actually a desperate attempt to completely expand the concept and the way it's implemented. In an attempt to liven things up a bit, the Spider-Man 2 does more than merely pit Spider-Man against Dr. Octopus. You'll also face other baddies, like Mysterio, the Puma, and on multiple occasions you'll fight off against Rhino.

Most of the game is played in a 3rd-person perspective, with the expected keyboard/mouse setup for controlling Spiderman. The controls are very easy - most of the action is done by your mouse buttons, including attacks and object interaction. The Spidey can be made to jump and cling onto walls with a click of the right mouse button, while left-clicking performs whatever action is highlighted on the context-sensitive crosshair. The PC version is horribly restricted. Rather than being able to swing from anything, you are limited to designated swing points, and you can only fire webshots if the cursor indicates that you can do so. The game follows the same generic formula - you brawl with thugs, fight bosses, and solve the occasional puzzle. Needless to say, it doesn't take long before the simplicity of the game becomes painfully repetitive. Besides, the game is short - way too short. It took me about 3 hours to finish the game.

There's really not much positive to say about the game, so I'll keep it short and simple. If you've seen the movie then it just feels like the PC version was cobbled together for the sake of making a PC version. Also, the graphics are uninspiring. Flat and lifeless are two words that spring to mind and the animations aren't exactly pretty either. I would expect better graphics for a PC game.

Overall, Spider-Man 2 for the PC is a piece of crap. It's one of the worst games I have played this year. If you want a real Spider-Man 2 game, stay away from this and buy the console version.

Related links:  homepage, demo (197MB)

Minimum system requirements: Pentium III 600 MHz or Athlon 600 MHz or higher processor, 128MB RAM, 3D hardware accelerator card required - 100% DirectX 9.0b-compliant 16 MB video card* and drivers, 100% DirectX 9.0b-compliant true 16-bit sound card and drivers, 827 MB of uncompressed hard disk space (plus 400 MB for the Windows swap file)
*Supported Chipsets: All NVIDIA GeForce chipsets, NVIDIA TnT and TnT2, All ATI Radeon chipsets, Matrox Parhelia