All right, this is what you, and me, wanted everyone. A REAL analysis of how this game plays, not some sparse comments. So, here we go.
I've spent exactly 2 hours swinging around the city. I didn't do any missions or anything, I just focused on studying the way Spidey moves now. As you may have heard, no, there is no dual webslinging. At least not yet, anyway. I hear it's an unlockable though. Considering that I'm a SM2 vet, I was extremely interested in using dual webs. That said, I don't even miss it! The swinging is EXTREMELY satisfying, and even the most jaded of us out there will definitely love it. It has a lot to do with the animations they've added. There's simply a ton of 'em, so many that, even though you see them over and over, they never seem repetitive. Every time you leap off a webline, depending on your speed, direction, height, and distance from other obstacles, there'll be a different animation accompanying it.
Which brings me to leaping off of webs. You have two options, release the swing button, or jump off of the line. Each one has their own animations, and both have their uses. Releasing the line enables smooth transitions to another line and speeds you up, whereas leaping from the line makes changing direction easier and gives you major airtime. And I do mean MAJOR airtime! No joke, you can get some serious air in this game folks, and it lets you plot out your next swing, or get over the edge of a building that much easier.
Now, controlling the actual swing. The amount of control you have in this game during your swing is unbelievable. Rest assured, the physics from SM2 remain intact, but now they've given so much control to the player, it mind-boggling. The directional controls dictate the angle of the swing. I mean, from a standstill, you can take off into the air at some extreme angles. It really makes a big difference in making the swinging that much more dramatic. One other thing of note is firing off the webs. Depending on Spidey's orientation in the air, he'll realistically twist and fire off the webline in the direction you press. It's so beautiful to be in the midst of some acrobatic maneuver and watch as Spidey twists out of it and shoots off his web. Amazing. Also, running on walls while holding a webline will be your new 'thing-to-do', I promise. He even has different animations for THAT, depending on whether or not you're attached to the building you're running on, or latched onto another adjacent building. Gorgeous.
The Web-Zip. The WZ, (for short) is now more efficient. It's quicker, faster, and it sends Spidey spiraling feet first toward whatever you WZ'd to. It's performed by tapping the swing button, which makes accessing it even easier.
Physics. As I stated before, the SM2 physics are in, you just have more control over it now. You can swing laterally, and you can still do loop-de-loops. It's even easier now. If you continue to hold the sprint button as you swing upwards, Spidey will kick his legs up and over his head and continue on, looping over the anchor point. From there, you can swing back down or leap off into your many acrobatic maneuvers.
About those acrobatics. Your options are many now. Like I said, there context sensitive, the automatic ones he does from a webline, or leaping from the ground (more on that later). BUT, you also have other acrobatics you can initiate at any time. Tap the sprint button twice in mid-air and you switch to 'acrobatic' mode, where you can use the crawl, jump, punch and kick buttons to engage all sorts of maneuvers! It also seems (not confirmed) that you can combine those buttons for even more acrobatics! I've seen Spidey do some moves on accident that I don't know how to recreate. All in all, swinging and leaping through the air is a beautiful thing, a beautiful thing indeed!
Now, on to leaping. As you've all heard before, charge jumps AND double jumps are in. I try not to double jump, since it kinda takes you out of the moment, and looks completely ludicrous, just like USM. But, sometimes, SOMETIMES, it is effective at giving you extra distance. I just wish you could turn it off. As far as leaping from the ground, Spidey has many animations for dives and leaps, completely different from the swinging ones, depending on whether you tap or charge your jump, how high you are, or if you just walk off an edge. Also, his landings are so beautiful now. Utterly graceful, and there are many of them. And, if you fall too far? Spidey smashes into the ground face first, complete with smoke from the impact. It's sudden, and brutal!
Wall maneuvers. The wall slide is back but, YOU CAN"T LEAP OUT OF IT!!! This was my biggest gripe, and I just hope that it's an unlockable but, sliding along the wall and not being able to jump off is just too big of a mistake. Wall running is an unlockable, and I haven't unlocked it yet, but, as I said before, wall running with a webline is gorgeous and beautifully implemented. Crawling on the wall is improved. He now crawls on the tips of his fingers like the movie (YAY!), and leaping along a wall is more dramatic.
Which brings me to the camera. I don't really know what they did, but it's so much more dramatic now. I noticed Spidey doesn't stay in the center of the screen anymore, and if you're moving to fast, you can even escape the camera. But, whatever they did, the sense of movie-like swinging is at once disarming and completely convincing. The feeling of vertigo you get on top of buildings is stunning, and it renews the feeling you got when you first played SM2. Kudos to Treyarch for that.
Combat. I didn't do much fighting, but it seems more fluid and clean now. The number of moves is staggering, and the web can be implemented flawlessly. Coolest thing about it? You can web sling objects in the background!!!!!! YES!!! I fought some guys in a computer room of sorts, and as I slammed them around, they smashed up cubicles, desks and shelves, complete with true physics. As the debris piled up, I found you could latch on with your web and fling them this way and that, even spin them around like you saw black spidey do in that new trailer. Whipping objects like tables, chairs and pieces of debris was a totally new experience, and is, bar none, the coolest addition I've seen yet.
And there's so much more to see. I could go on forever, but for now, that is the scoop, ladies and gents. And I'm sure there's TONS of other things to discover in the game. And I didn't even TOUCH the black suit!!! I'm officially hyped, and you should be too. SM3 looks to exceed our expectations, and here is a tip of the hat to Treyarch for officially 'doing Spidey right'
