I was only able to get maybe halfway through the game before disc wear prevented further play. (Thanks to Gamestop's complete lack of caring about games' conditions.)
However, as the gameplay barely varied, I felt like I'd seen all there is to see. And that's what is holding this game back. Most video games are incredibly repetitive, as that's the nature of the medium, but there is no imagination or innovation to push this game above average. For example, while the combat animations are nice to look at, the fighting /moveset itself offers no substantial variation. The upgrade system doesn't change the combat in any meaningful way like it does in Web of Spider-Man. The costumes don't change the combat like playing as different characters does in Shattered Dimensions. What is here in ASM 2 isn't awful. But nothing here is great. And adding to the blandness are some annoyances, the worst of which is having to constantly interrupt the main story to fight 'street' crimes. Spider-Man is quickly vilified and even violently engaged if these these crimes are ignored. And by the way, it is impossible to fight all the street crimes and help everyone in danger of burning alive in an apartment fire. So its automatically Spider-Man's fault when these things happen. Spider-Man is blamed. You're the bad guy. Just like that. So you can pursue the game's main storyline to finish this grind or pull your webs out by the roots combating thugs and fires in overwhelming plethora. Yes there is a balance to achieve here, but it's skewed far too much to ignoring the main storyline to pursue these activities that ultimately feel like busywork, rather than enjoyable distractions.
Everything in ASM 2 is done better in other Spider-Man games, leaving this game solidly behind those better titles. If you can grab this game for like $10 or less, go for it. But personally I didn't--and wouldn't--pay more than that. If I had paid full price for this on release, I'd have felt pretty ripped off. The lukewarm-to-negative reception this game received is understandable.
I had to return my copy to Gamestop since the copy they sent me was badly scratched and stopped working after just a few hours. (I kept only 2 out of 10 games from my order. Not good, Gamestop.) But I'm in no hurry to replace the copy I had. A PS3 /PS4 blu-ray copy would be nice since those disc surfaces are scratch-resistant, unlike Xbox 360's dumb proprietary DVDs. However, I wouldn't be able to transfer my save file from my Xbox 360 to those versions, obviously, and I really don't want to have to replay the first 1/2(?) of this game. A just-okay-not-great game. A game that's worth a single playthrough if you can find it for cheap. A game that's playable if you're a fan of Spider-Man. If you're not a fan, I'd definitely skip this one.
Pros: Web-slinging feels pretty good. Combat is pretty to look at.
Cons: Everything else.
