My thumb hurts. Coming from me, that’s pretty high praise for Spider-Man: The Movie 2 (hereafter referred to as Spider-Man 2 for brevity’s sake) for Xbox. After picking up the game yesterday, I ended up playing for about four hours, losing all track of time. Now here I am the next day, with my thumb still throbbing. Console games rarely have that effect on me anymore, especially when they’re not of the RPG variety.

Personally and professionally, I’ve always felt it’s important to use the right tool for the job at hand. I’m of the opinion that nothing beats a mouse and a keyboard (except possibly a trackball and a keyboard) for games which require precise or nuanced controls (e.g. first-person shooters and real-time strategy games). I also strongly prefer the mouse/keyboard combination for games which require a lot of interactivity and communication (e.g. MMORPGs, open-ended single player RPGs). And, let’s face it, while there’s no question that the Xbox has the best price-to-graphics performance ratio of any gaming platform, a fast computer with a lot of RAM equipped with a top-of-the-line monitor and video card is a visual wonder to behold. Doom 3 may be coming out for Xbox, but I don’t think anyone would argue that a well-equipped PC is going to be the preferred way to play. Finally, being fortunate enough to have a wife who is not only an avid gamer, but also is an avid gamer with good taste, I tend to play a lot of cooperative multiplayer games. With two networked computers, this is effortless and highly entertaining, but without multiple consoles and televisions, this is either impossible or impractical (trying to play a game like Batman: The Rise of Sin Tzu, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, or even The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures where both people have to stay on the same screen at all times is irritating at best after playing through, for example, Diablo and all its expansion packs/sequels).

That pretty much relegates the consoles in my house to the realm of Japanese-style linear RPGs, action/fighting/sports games, and the ocassional party game (DDR, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers Melee, etc.). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just means that a console game doesn’t usually hold my attention for extended gaming sessions.

This is where we come back to Spider-Man 2. (Fear not, I do actually have a point to all of this.) I grabbed the game because it seemed like it’d be a nice action title to add to the library from some of the previews and other pre-release material. When I popped it in, I quickly came to think of it as Grand Theft Auto: do it and Spider-Man will kick your sorry butt. The structures of the two games are remarkably similar - you can go anywhere you want and make up your own fun by performing tasks for various people, and then when the mood strikes you, there’s always a mission or goal that will advance the plot of the game. The big difference is that in GTA, you’re cutting people up with chainsaws, hiring prostitutes, and stealing cars, while in Spider-Man 2, you’re beating up thugs and supervillians, rescuing New Yorkers, and returning stolen cars. I also found that the missions are easier in Spider-Man 2 than in GTA, which helps keep the novice engaged and the experienced player focused on whatever they’d like to be doing.

With a few action-packed hours under my belt, I’ve decided that the Console Gold review is the one that best matches my feelings about the game. Yes, the textures are a little simple, but it’s worth it for the incredible draw distance. Yes, the random missions get a little repetitive, but they were obviously engaging enough to keep me occupied. What the review fails to communicate, though - even though it’s clear that they like the game - is just how damn fun it is. Swinging around a fully-realized, accurately depicted Manhattan as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is just something you have to experience for yourself. If it turned a hard-core PC gamer (yet casual console gamer) like me into a true believer, then imagine what it’ll do for people who prefer the console platform! (And don’t forget to take a swan-dive off of the Empire State Building for me.)

A special P.S. to the gaming industry: Even though my thumb is sore now, a Batman game using the open-ended, “GTA-style” format to solve crimes and dispense vigilante justice would have reduced it to a bloody stump. This game proves that superhero video games, as a genre, can be elevated from the level of horrific garbage (as seen in Batman: Dark Tomorrow and Superman 64) by giving us huge virtual Gothams and Metropolises to patrol.