'The Amazing Spider-Man'

Activision

Sony PlayStation 3 (Xbox 360, Wii)

$59.99

ESRB rating: Teen

Review rating: 3.0 stars

Most people are happy to forget about the disappointing "Spider-Man 3" movie and the horrible game that accompanied it. I hoped that developers of the new movie tie-in, titled "The Amazing Spider-Man," would simply enhance the formula that made "Spider-Man 2" so fun. How was I to know that it would end up as a dumbed-down copy of the popular Batman games?

For starters, this title begins after the events of the movie and teams the wall-crawler up with Kurt Conners, aka The Lizard. I'm sure you're thinking, "what the heck?" Apparently, the mighty Oscorp company has continued Dr. Connors' research, and as a complete shock to everyone, their genetic mutations escape and start rampaging throughout New York.

Bad storylines can ruin an open-world game because the main missions focus on the story. Fortunately, the fun side missions and optional activities are the only things that kept me from wanting to squash "The Amazing Spider-Man" underfoot! I especially enjoy the photography mini-game, but I can do without collecting hundreds of comic book pages.

Fighting enemies is not very fun at all, especially because players have no control over the random combos they unleash. The only variety comes from initiating cool web moves in between mashing the attack button and occasionally hitting the dodge button. Even the stealth game play is a simplistic copy of the far superior stealth found in "Batman: Arkham City."

Web-swinging is unbelievably boring because of the fact that all players have to do is hold down one button instead of actually participating. This results in watching the same animations repeatedly as well as occasionally smashing into buildings and slamming into the ground. The new Web Rush ability that lets players slow down time and accurately direct Spidey to certain areas is cool, but I still want more control over web-swinging.

In the end, "The Amazing Spider-Man" is overly simplistic and uninspired.

'Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends'

Atari

Microsoft Xbox 360 (PS3, PC)

$49.99

ESRB rating: Everyone

Review rating: 2.5 stars

Racing games used to adhere to two strict categories: hardcore simulations or completely unrealistic arcade-style speed fests! Both require gamers to slam the virtual pedal to the metal, but I always found the latter to be much more enjoyable. Now many simulations offer promising drivers the ability to lessen the realism, and "Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends" is no exception.

Ferrari fans can enjoy the vast selection of more than fifty highly detailed vehicles that span Ferrari's well-known sixty-five year history. It truly is nostalgic to begin a career driving an old-school single-seat Ferrari with no roof and end up driving something akin to a rocket on four wheels! Unfortunately, the story is told through boring text instead of exciting videos, and many courses are reused over and over. What good is having 200 events when players get bored after the first 20?

As I mentioned before, some features, including physics and handling, can be tailored to casual players. Sadly, the steering always seems overly sensitive. This results in frequent over-steering and spinouts, which is very frustrating. In addition, I lost control every time I barely nudged another vehicle or obstacle.

Overly sensitive controls are bad enough when playing against A.I. opponents, but they drastically decrease the enjoyment of playing against other people online. Who wants opponents screaming in your ear every time you accidentally, or intentionally, tap their precious fake vehicles? Perhaps professional racing is this difficult in real life, but I don't play games to simulate reality.