METAL GEAR SOLID 5: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Metal Gear Solid 5 is and always will be a stealth masterpiece, and while nothing will even diminish the game’s mechanical strengths, its open world doesn’t quite stand as tall. The open world maps are full of vast stretches of nothing populated only by the occasional enemy patrol, and getting from point A to point B ends up feeling like a chore. The emergent sandbox of the game’s web of mechanics does alleviate some of those issues, but by and large, it’s hard to shake the feeling that The Phantom Pain’s open world wasn’t executed nearly as well as it could and should have been.

DYNASTY WARRIORS 9

Dynasty Warriors as a series lives and dies by its large scale high-octane 1v1000 battles, and so, in Dynasty Warriors 9, Koei Tecmo and Omega Force, in their infinite wisdom, decided to… dilute that with an open world setting? This is a prime example of a series chasing a popular trend without any regard for whether or not that trend will be suited to its strengths. Worse still, not only did Dynasty Warriors 9’s open world detract from the game’s other strengths, it just wasn’t a very good open world to begin with itself.

If you wanted to get your hands on The Amazing Spider-Man video games (I don’t know why you would, but if you did), well, you’re running out of options. Apparently, both games have been delisted from the PSN Store, as well as from Nintendo’s eShop. This means you can no longer get the games digitally on PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS, or Wii U.

Apparently the second game is still currently available on Xbox digitally, but the first one is nowhere to be found; meanwhile, both games can still be purchased on Steam. As for what the reasons for this purge may be, it probably has to do with Activision no longer having the rights for the Spider-Man property (since apparently Sony has them now), causing them to withdraw the games from distribution.

If for whatever reason you should still want to purchase the games, feel free to hunt down a physical copy- they are rather cheap, though I imagine their price will go up now that they are about to get rarer. If you already bought the games digitally on PlayStation on Nintendo, you will still be able to download them from the stores.

[PlayStation Store (1), (2), Reddit, Go Nintendo via PlayStation Lifestyle]

The latest outing sees Peter Parker and his alter ego heading back to the mean streets – this time round coming face to face with the killer of his Uncle Ben, the Russian mob, the shiny-headed and unhealthily rotund Kingpin and all manner of famous foes from the comic books. And, of course, Stan Lee gets his usual cameo. Good times!

Sadly, it’s not a patch on the previous game and there are few real surprises during the six or so hour playtime.

"The transportation-like Web-Rush ability also makes a return and helps to navigate the metropolis quickly and efficiently. Highlighted areas appear on screen and a quick button press shifts you to that area – handy when you’re face to face with a few enemies and need to move about sharpish."

You guide our hero Spidey about the city, swinging from street to street to reach the next objective. The L2 and R2 buttons are used to propel web from your left or right hands, respectively – in effect meaning you can steer yourself nicely and use momentum to go round corners. A bit of practise and your movements will be graceful and silky smooth – although initially, you’ll no doubt be smacking into the sides of buildings like I was. Still, it’s a vast improvement on the previous game – especially given that the web now appears to actually attach itself to a nearby building rather than just sticking to an unseen surface somewhere in the sky. A criticism of Beenox’s last effort was the way the web just hung mysteriously in the air, a particular flaw when you were flying through a park and there was nothing around – it gave a whole new meaning to the power of the cloud!

The transportation-like Web-Rush ability also makes a return and helps to navigate the metropolis quickly and efficiently. Highlighted areas appear on screen and a quick button press shifts you to that area – handy when you’re face to face with a few enemies and need to move about sharpish.

Each level is broken up into short bite-size chunks, often ending in a scuffle with a few bad guys who are easily dispatched even on the toughest difficulty. They say it’s the sincerest form of flattery but Beenox is clearly trying to imitate Rocksteady’s Batman games. Spider-Man’s combat unfortunately falls short and most skirmishes tend to involve some relentless button mashing. Attacks can be interspersed with the occasional dodge move when Spidey’s senses indicate an incoming attack but otherwise there’s little variety.

"Besides the usual hapless goons, occasionally you’ll come face to face with a boss as well – and no doubt you’ll recognise a few of these iconic villains with Kingpin, Green Goblin and Electro among those making an appearance."

If you fancy really shaking things up a bit, spamming the circle button drenches the enemy in sticky strands that temporarily slows them down a little. Then there’s always the Web Pull move that allows you to yank bad guys towards you, ready for a pummelling. String together a few hits, your combo meter climbs and you can pull off a nifty looking signature move.

Besides the usual hapless goons, occasionally you’ll come face to face with a boss as well – and no doubt you’ll recognise a few of these iconic villains with Kingpin, Green Goblin and Electro among those making an appearance.

Besides the main story, there are plenty of photo investigations, combat challenges, races and other side missions to complete, as well as comic book pages, posters, audio logs, figures and costumes to collect. Completing missions rewards you with useful XP to spend on upgrading Spidey’s abilities, making him more powerful, more nimble and ultimately, more of a badass. The gameplay certainly improves when you’re in control of a souped-up Spider-Man and does prove to be pretty good fun.

Morality plays a role too – the game emphasizing the importance of how well Spidey is perceived and certainly adds another element to the gameplay. Good deeds – such as rescuing members of the public or stopping crimes – result in a positive boost to his hero/menace meter and people view you favourably… but fail to complete enough heroic acts and you’ll be fair game to the Task Force cops who roam the streets. These guys boast a lot of firepower and won’t hesitate in taking you on. It pays to play nice.

"Overall, it fails to live up to expectations and soon becomes repetitive. There’s not a lot of replay value and even with those collectibles and the lure of 100% completion, you probably won’t be brushing the cobwebs off the disc to play it again in a few month’s time. Fun while it lasts though."

Numerous – and thankfully, skippable – cutscenes progress the story, and there’s also the introduction of some hugely pointless dialogue sections. These occasional conversations with people you meet require you to choose from a selection of questions but weirdly enough, your choice doesn’t affect the outcome. You can ask all the questions, in any order you like, or none of them at all – there are no repercussions and it has no bearing on anything; it seems the designers merely added this element to offer some kind of interaction. A strange move and again, a blessing that you can skip these sections.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a bit of a letdown in the graphics department too and somehow looks worse than its predecessor. Close up, Spidey himself and his iconic costumes look pretty cool – nicely detailed with vivid colours – but beyond that the visuals certainly aren’t going to win any awards. The backgrounds are drab, the textures aren’t great and overall you could easily mistake this for a PS2 game. With the likes of Deadpool and the previous Amazing Spider-Man game managing to look pretty damn great, you’ve got to wonder why this falls short.

Still, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a decent romp and it has its moments but it’s a shame that even on the toughest difficulty you won’t be playing much longer than a few hours.

Overall, it fails to live up to expectations and soon becomes repetitive. There’s not a lot of replay value and even with those collectibles and the lure of 100% completion, you probably won’t be brushing the cobwebs off the disc to play it again in a few month’s time. Fun while it lasts though.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

After it debuted two weeks prior to become the number one selling game across all platforms, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fell to third place in this past week’s UKIE game charts. Meanwhile, Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall is back at number one, moving up from second place according to Gfk Chart-Track.

FIFA 14 also moved up one slot to third place while Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition came in at fourth. 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is in fifth place, followed by Call of Duty: Ghosts, The LEGO Movie Videogame, Battlefield 4, LEGO The Hobbit and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes. On a side-note, the fact that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games could have three LEGO titles in the top ten for this long? That shows success right there.

Spiders’ Bound by Flame also debuted this past Friday, coming in at 12th place in the UKIE game charts. The game has received mixed to negative reviews since its release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

It may have been dogged with controversy regarding the Xbox One version’s release – especially when the latter mysteriously went live digitally with no prior announcement – but Activision’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has managed very strong sales in its opening week in the UK. It debuted on top of UKIE’s game charts across all platforms, according to Gfk Chart-Track.

Titanfall dropped down to second place followed by FIFA 14, 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition. The only other new addition this week is Ubisoft Montreal’s Child of Light. This is especially interesting since the game was more widely distributed digitally. That it’s retail sales were strong enough to warrant a place in the UKIE top ten is something.

How long before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 stays on top considering the awful reviews it’s received thus far? We’ll give it a week tops. Stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, this articles includes locations guide for Black Cat’s journals, game audio logs, and & Jameson’s photos. You will also be able to unlock every achievement, trophy, learn how to get a high combo streak and even fix crashes and other errors for the PC version.

The game is now available for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 & Xbox One.

Combat Challenges Guide:

This will unlock the Luchador trophy/achievement. If you win all 12 you will be awarded with the Superior Spider-Man costume.

Challenge #1 — Starts at 0:47 minutes.
Challenge #2 — Starts at 3:30 minutes.
Challenge #3 — Starts at 6:50 minutes.
Challenge #4 — Starts at 10:32 minutes.
Challenge #5 — Starts at 14:50 minutes.
Challenge #6 — Starts at 21:11 minutes.
Challenge #7 — Starts at 25:39 minutes.
Challenge #8 — Starts at 26:58 minutes.
Challenge #9 — Starts at 31:23 minutes.
Challenge #10 — Starts at 35:58 minutes.
Challenge #11 — Starts at 40:35 minutes.
Challenge #12 — Starts at 46:09 minutes.

Hideouts Guide:

There are 5 hideouts in the game. Use the video guides below to find them all. This will unlock the Sneaky and Infiltration trophies and achievements.

00:06 – Spider Armor Suit
01:25 – spider-Man 2099 Suit
02:54 – Big Time Suit
03:48 – Scarlet Spider Suit
04:47 – Flipside Suit

Unlocking all suits and costumes:

There are a total of 13 Suits and costumes. Unlock them to earn Fashionista Trophy/Achievement.

#1 – Vigilante: Available from the Beginning – 0:05
#2 – Amazing Spider-Man 2012: Available from Beginning – 0:40
#3 – Amazing Spider-Man 2014: Available from Beginning – 1:12
#4 – Superior Spider-Man: Beat all Combat Challenges – 1:36
#5 – Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Obtained automatically during Story – 2:05
#6 – Big Time: Clear Russian Hideouts – 2:39
#7 – Scarlet Spider: Clear Russian Hideouts – 3:09
#8 – Spider-Man 2099: Clear Russian Hideouts – 3:40
#9 – Flipside: Clear Russian Hideouts – 4:18
#10 – Spider-Armor: Clear Russian Hideouts – 4:50
#11 – Hornet: Complete All 15 Races – 5:24
#12 – Ricochet: Obtained automatically during Story – 6:03
#13 – Spider-Carnage: Beat the Story – 6:35

Bonus Suit:
#14 – Electro-Proof Suit: PlayStation Store DLC – 7:10

There are a total of 13 Suits (Costumes) in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Black Cat’s journals location guide:

There are 10 of them which you can find below. This will unlock the Lover trophy achievement.

Audio Log #1 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 01 – 0:05
Audio Log #2 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 02 – 0:49
Audio Log #3 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 03 – 1:23
Audio Log #4 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 06 – 1:52
Audio Log #5 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 07 – 2:16
Audio Log #6 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 09 – 2:35
Audio Log #7 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 05 – 3:02
Audio Log #8 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 04 – 3:33
Audio Log #9 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 10 – 4:02
Audio Log #10 – Felicia Hardy’s Journal Part 08 – 4:31

Game Audio Logs & Jameson’s Photos locations:

There are 31 of them. A few of them are automatically received during the story mode. This will unlock the Reporter trophy/achievement.  This will also unlock Hunter of Killers trophies and achievements provided you also find all Black Cat’s journals.

Automatically Received:

00:06 – Photo Investigation & CK Journal 01

Chapter 4: Raid on Oscorp

00:47 – Harry Osborn Journal 01
01:11 – Jamesons Photo
01:23 – Max Dillon Journal 02
01:35 – Max Dillon Journal 01
02:04 – Jamesons Photo

Chapter 6: Into the Lions Den!

02:40 – Max Dillon Journal 03

Chapter 7: No One is Safe!

03:07 – Felicia Hardy Journal 01
03:31 – Wilson Fisk Journal 01
03:50 – Felicia Hardy Journal 02
04:02 – Jamesons Photo
04:20 – Felicia Hardy Journal 03
04:31 – Wilson Fisk Journal 02
04:49 – Wilson Fisk Journal 03
05:32 – Jamesons Photo

Chapter 9: Claws of the Cat!

06:01 – Felicia Hardy Journal 06
06:28 – Jamesons Photo
06:43 – Felicia Hardy Journal 07

Chapter 10: My Ally, My Enemy!”

07:01 – Jamesons Photo
07:20 – Harry Osborn Journal 02
07:30 – Harry Osborn Journal 03

Chapter 11: The Kingpin of Crime!

07:39 – Oscorp Crate
08:00 – Wilson Fisk Journal 04
08:16 – Wilson Fisk Journal 05
08:27 – Wilson Fisk Journal 06
08:40 – Wilson Fisk Journal 07
08:52 – Jamesons Photo
09:10 – Wilson Fisk Journal 08

Chapter 14: Maximum Carnage!

09:40 – Max Dillon Journal 10
10:14 – Jamesons Photo

Unlimited XP Cheat:

Check out the video below to unlock unlimited XP in the game.

Achievements and Trophy guide:

Human

Complete the game on Human difficulty

Hero

Complete the game on Hero difficulty

Super Hero

Complete the game on Super Hero difficulty

Bookworm

Collect all Spider-Man comic books

Lover

Retrieve all parts of Black Cat’s journal. Refer the guide above.

Special Agent

Retrieve all parts of Menken’s journal

Investigator

Retrieve all parts of Detective’s journal

I’m on a Roll

Achieve a combo streak of 42. Refer the guide below to know more how you can unlock this trophy.

Stay Down!

Perform 15 signature moves

Breaker

Destroy 20 body armors

Know Your Enemies

Unlock all character bios

Reporter

Complete all photo challenges. Refer the guide above.

All Tied Up

Defeat 50 enemies by performing stealth takedowns.

Drop It!

Disarm 50 enemies

Fashionista. 

Unlock all suits. Refer guide above.

Infiltration

Complete all hideouts.

Luchador!

Complete all combat challenges. Refer guide above.

Can’t Hit Me

Achieve 30 multidodges

Timing Is Everything

Achieve 100 critical hits

Lightweight Champion

Defeat 100 enemies

Middleweight Champion

Defeat 300 enemies

Heavyweight Champion

Defeat 500 enemies

Hero of the People

Save 50 civilians

Ultimate Spider-Man

Reach maximum levels for all suits

State of the Art

Unlock all concept art

True Hero

Get your heroism to the maximum

Enforcer

Complete 10 deadlock situations

Fireman

Complete 10 building on fire situations

Guardian Angel

Complete 10 rescue situations

Vigilante

Complete 10 petty crime situations

Fast-Tracker

Complete 5 races

Master of the Web

Perform 50 signature moves

Sneaky

Complete a hideout without being spotted. Refer guide above.

Secret Achievements and trophies:

Hunter of Killers

Photographed all Cletus Kasady symbols. Refer guide above.

Shocking!

Defeated Shocker

The Hunter, Hunted

Defeated Kraven

Lovers’ Quarrel

Defeated Black Cat

Is It Over?

Defeated Cletus Kasady

You Are Under Arrest

Defeated Kingpin

The Green Goblin

Defeated Green Goblin

Switch Off

Defeated Electro

Now It Is Over

Defeated Carnage

Friendly Fire

Damaged Carnage with fire at least 3 times before defeating him. This is unlocked during Chapter 14: Maximum Carnage. Use the video guide below to unlock this trophy.

Shotgun

Acquired the Seismic Blast ability

Disintegrator

Acquired the Ionic Web ablity

Aerial Break

Destroyed any armored enemy using Web-Strike. This is unlocked during Chapter 11: The Kingpin Of Crime. Use the video guide below to unlock this achievement.

The Amazing SpiderMan 2 Crashes, Fixes And Other Errors:

The game is not running on AMD GPU: Try downloading the latest drivers for your card.

The game does not start: Try exiting and restarting Steam. Normally, this should resolve the error.

The Xbox 360 controller does not work: Try downloading the latest driver updates for the controller. The Amazing Spider Man 2 has support for joysticks so you should not be facing issues unless it’s a driver thing.

The game lags for me i.e. frame rate issue: Try reducing AA and shadow settings.

Note: This guide will updated once we have more information about the game. You can also check out the complete video walk-through of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 here.

Game Overview:

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, players will take up the role of the iconic hero, and will encounter a number of new foes as well as some old friends. The game also features a “Hero or Menace” system which will be dependent on the actions of the player.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is developed by Beenox High, Voltage Software and Gameloft. It is published by Activision. The game is now available for the Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS and Android.

Check out the video walkthrough of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

For video game guides, tips and wikis, check out our gaming portal here.

Beenox’s video game adaptation of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has had a rather odd development history for the Xbox One. While it’s currently available for all home consoles and portables, the Xbox One version was “indefinitely delayed” by Activision. The game has now appeared on the Xbox Store for the console and seems to be an earlier version than initially thought.

This was indicated by some Twitch users as the game was streamed while NeoGAF user Wario64 posted images of the timed achievement challenges. Regardless, it’s there and currently retails for $59.99. Whether it’s any good or better than the movie remains to be seen.

Microsoft has yet to address the release – and the game has been out for a good several hours – but expect to hear some official announcement soon. Have you played the game yet? Is it worth all the fuss that was devoted to its numerous delays? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Just in case you are, for whatever asinine reason, interested in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the latest game based on a superhero who has rarely if ever starred in a good game, and a movie tie-in to boot, well, here’s the launch trailer to get you hyped up.

I’m sorry if I sound bitter (and I guess the game doesn’t look too awful)- Spider-Man 2 was an amazing game, and probably one of the best superhero games until the Batman Arkham and inFamous games came along. The Spider-Man games have a lot of potential, and to see Activision repeatedly squander it makes me sad. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is based on the upcoming movie (which itself may or may not be good)looks like a good Spider-Man game, but in a world where Batman: Arkham Knight is coming up, good doesn’t cut it anymore.

Anyway, in case this is your thing- it’s coming out on PS3, PS4, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Xbox 360. Hilariously enough, the Xbox One version was recently cancelled.