I just gotta start with...WOW
This game is F****** AMAZING. Matter of fact, amazing is putting it mildly. They have a fully realized and ACCURATE 3-d rendered map of ALL of New York City (although some of it is not accessible until certain story events happen...and, of course, some key things are changed for Spidey - like the flat iron building being the home of the Daily Bugle for example). They have aerial combat, which is a must for Spiderman, and it's also amazing (if slightly wonky to try to aim at things...).
Downsides to the game - NO targeted web shots. Previous versions of Spidey games (inc. Spiderman 1 for PS2) had a 'targetting/look around' mode where you could target web shots for long distance accuracy. Maybe it's a skill much later in the game, but being on chapter 14 or so and not being able to do it...can get painful, especially when it comes to fighting flying things from the ground.
Another plus - while the game does follow the movie plot, I'm thinking the game was developed using the original movie script, or maybe just a divergent script that used the movie script as it's base, because several lements have changed, as well as several characters being added (incuding Black Cat, Shocker, and Rhino, possibly among others).
ANOTHER plus - this game never gets boring. You tired of doing plot things? Swing around for a bit and stop some 'minor' crimes, and do the occassional good deed (although catching balloons for little kids gets old kinda fast).
Case you're wondering, I just picked the game up this past Saturday (two days ago), so I haven't had a ton of time to play it yet (about 6-7 hours?
). Still, I'm on normal. I would hate to see this game on hard...there are over 40 different combos I can do already and, to be honest, large fights tend to come down to button mashing and prayer, and probably will continue to until I sit down and try to memorize some of the combos.
'Nuff said