The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Video Game

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Video Game 🕷🕸

The Spider-Man tie-in game where almost everything is messy… except somehow Cletus Kasady understood the assignment

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

Does anyone find it funny that in 2 separate Spider-Man 2 games the villian is kraven!?

🕷️ Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

So now we move on to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, and this one is interesting because it is technically a movie tie-in game, but it also feels like it’s trying to be its own weird alternate version of the movie at the same time.

And honestly? That’s already where the problems start.

The first Amazing Spider-Man game made the smart choice to take place after the movie. It didn’t force us to replay the film. It continued the story, focused on Oscorp’s cross-species experiments, and gave the game its own identity. This sequel does not feel nearly as clean.

This game kind of takes elements from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie, mixes them with its own story, adds extra villains, adds a morality-style hero system, adds random crimes around the city, adds Oscorp drama, adds Kingpin, adds Kraven, adds Black Cat, adds Electro, adds Cletus Kasady, and then hopes you don’t notice the whole thing feels like it’s being held together with web fluid and confusion.

The game follows Peter Parker / Spider-Man as he investigates crime in New York while still dealing with Uncle Ben’s death and the idea of responsibility. That part actually could have worked. The game tries to bring Peter back to the idea of learning what kind of hero he wants to be, while New York becomes more dangerous and the city starts turning against Spider-Man depending on how well you do your job.

On paper, that sounds good. Spider-Man having to deal with public trust, criminals, villains, police pressure, and his own guilt? That’s Spider-Man material right there.

But the execution is where things get rough.

The city feels like it constantly wants your attention, but not in a fun way. Crimes pop up everywhere, the hero rating system punishes you if you ignore them, and instead of feeling like Spider-Man choosing to help people because it’s the right thing to do, it feels like the game is standing behind you with a clipboard going, “Excuse me, sir, your hero score is dropping.”

That right there is one of the biggest problems. Spider-Man should help people because he’s Spider-Man. The game turning it into a chore system makes the whole thing feel less heroic and more like you’re trying to keep your customer satisfaction rating above two stars.

And yet, as messy as this game is, there is one part of it that genuinely stands out.

Cletus Kasady and Carnage.

I’m not even joking. This game gives us one of the better versions of Cletus Kasady outside of the comics, and that is wild considering the rest of the game is not exactly firing on all cylinders. Somehow, in this clunky, uneven tie-in game, Cletus Kasady comes through as one of the strongest parts.

And we are absolutely going to talk about that in detail.

🧍‍♂️ Character Rundown

Peter Parker / Spider-Man is once again voiced by Sam Riegel, and I have the same issue here that I had with the first Amazing Spider-Man game. He does a fine job as Spider-Man. He has energy, he has jokes, he sounds comfortable doing the superhero banter, and he keeps the game moving.

But he still does not feel like Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker.

And that matters more here because this game is tied to The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a movie where Andrew Garfield’s performance is one of the best parts. Say what you want about that movie, and trust me, I have plenty to say, but Andrew Garfield brings emotion to Peter. He feels twitchy, awkward, sarcastic, wounded, and genuinely human.

The game version feels more like a general Spider-Man voice wearing the Amazing Spider-Man suit. It’s not bad, but it creates this weird disconnect. Visually, you’re in the Amazing universe, but vocally, it doesn’t quite match.

Kraven the Hunter is one of the more interesting additions. The game uses him as a mentor figure to Peter at first, which is actually a decent idea. He presents himself as someone who can teach Spider-Man to be a better hunter, better fighter, and more disciplined hero. That could have been a really cool dynamic if the game gave it more time to breathe. The idea of Kraven getting close to Spider-Man before revealing his true nature works on paper.

Black Cat is also here, and she brings that playful criminal energy that usually works well with Spider-Man. She’s not the deepest version of the character, but she fits the type of game this is. Spider-Man games usually benefit from having Black Cat because she gives Peter someone who isn’t just a villain but also isn’t fully trustworthy.

Kingpin is here too, and I like the idea of him being involved because street-level crime and Spider-Man go together perfectly. Kingpin works as a larger crime boss presence, but the game doesn’t fully use him to his best potential. He should feel like this powerful force controlling the city from the shadows, but he ends up feeling like one more name in a game already crowded with names.

Electro is also part of the game, and this is where it gets weird because he is one of the main villains of the movie, but in the game he doesn’t have the impact he should. He’s there because the movie has Electro, but the game does not make him feel like the emotional centerpiece or terrifying threat he could have been. He’s more like, “Oh right, Electro exists too.” Which is not great when the movie poster basically screamed, “LOOK AT ELECTRO.”

And then we get to Cletus Kasady.

This is the one.

This game’s version of Cletus actually feels dangerous. He has that serial killer energy that Carnage needs. He feels unstable, creepy, and wrong in a way that a lot of adaptations struggle with. He isn’t just some loud villain. He feels like someone Spider-Man should be genuinely disturbed by.

That’s important because Cletus Kasady is not supposed to be “fun crazy.” He’s not supposed to be quirky. He’s not supposed to be some lovable chaos man. He is supposed to be terrifying because there is nothing underneath the violence. Eddie Brock at least has motives, grudges, pain, ego, and twisted logic. Cletus is something else. He is violence without a brake pedal.

And this game gets that better than some bigger adaptations did.

⏱️ Pacing / Gameplay Flow

The gameplay is very much trying to build off the first Amazing Spider-Man game, but it does not feel as smooth or satisfying.

You still have open-world New York, you still swing around the city, and you still have combat inspired by the Arkham style of countering, dodging, and chaining attacks together. But this time, everything feels a little more awkward. It’s not unplayable, but it feels less polished.

Swinging is okay, but not amazing. It gets you around the city, and there are still moments where it feels good because swinging as Spider-Man is naturally fun. But compared to the best Spider-Man games, this doesn’t have that “I can do this for hours” feeling. It works, but it doesn’t sing.

The combat is fine, but again, fine is not enough when you’re playing Spider-Man. You want speed, fluidity, impact, and creativity. This game has some of that, but it also gets repetitive. You fight thugs, dodge attacks, counter, use webbing, repeat. It is functional, but not exciting enough to carry the whole game.

Then there’s the hero or menace system, and oh boy, this thing.

The idea is that Spider-Man’s reputation changes based on whether you stop crimes around the city. In theory, that sounds like a good Spider-Man mechanic. The city should react to him. People should trust or fear him depending on what he does. That could have been interesting.

But in practice, it feels annoying.

Crimes constantly pop up, and if you don’t stop enough of them, your reputation drops. If it drops too far, the city treats Spider-Man like a menace, and you start dealing with more hostility. The problem is that it doesn’t feel organic. It feels like a chore list.

Instead of swinging through New York and naturally deciding to help people, you feel forced to drop what you’re doing because the game is threatening to punish you. It turns Spider-Man’s responsibility into busywork. And that is not what you want.

Spider-Man’s whole thing is that he chooses to help because he knows what happens when he doesn’t. The game turning that into a meter makes it feel mechanical instead of emotional.

That’s the biggest difference between good Spider-Man responsibility and annoying Spider-Man responsibility. Good Spider-Man responsibility makes you feel the weight of being a hero. Bad Spider-Man responsibility makes you feel like you’re behind on side quests.

And this game leans way too much into the second one.

🧠 Cletus Kasady / Carnage: The Best Part Of The Game

Now let’s really talk about Cletus Kasady, because this is where the game actually wakes up.

This version of Cletus feels like someone Spider-Man should not be taking lightly. The game presents him as a killer first, not as a gimmick. That matters. Before the Carnage symbiote even enters the picture, Cletus already feels dangerous. He doesn’t need the monster powers to be disturbing. The symbiote just gives the monster inside him a bigger weapon.

That’s what a good Carnage story needs to understand.

Carnage is scary because Cletus Kasady is already horrifying. The symbiote doesn’t corrupt him the way the black suit corrupts Peter. It doesn’t create the evil in him. It just empowers what was already there.

And this game actually gets that.

When Cletus becomes Carnage, it feels like something has gone seriously wrong. It’s not just “villain gets stronger.” It feels like a serial killer got handed a living weapon made of blood and knives. That is the energy Carnage should have.

He should feel unpredictable. He should feel uncomfortable. He should feel like the situation is no longer safe for anyone in the room.

And compared to other versions? Yeah, this game honestly does better than it had any right to.

🩸 Comparing This Cletus To Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Now let’s talk about Venom: Let There Be Carnage, because that movie had Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, and on paper that should have been great casting.

Woody Harrelson can play creepy. He can play charming. He can play weird. He can play dangerous. So when you hear he’s playing Cletus Kasady, you think, “Okay, this could work.”

But the movie doesn’t fully let him be Carnage.

That’s the problem.

The movie is too goofy, too short, and too afraid to really sit in how disturbing Cletus should be. It gives him a tragic backstory with Frances Barrison / Shriek, and it tries to make their relationship part of the emotional core. And I get what they were going for, but it softens him too much.

Cletus Kasady should not feel like a misunderstood romantic villain first. He should feel like a nightmare. The romance angle in Let There Be Carnage makes him feel more theatrical and cartoonish than actually scary.

And the PG-13 rating does not help.

Carnage is one of those characters who is hard to do properly if you can’t really show or imply the full horror of what he does. You can still make him scary without gore, sure, but Let There Be Carnage doesn’t really do that either. It turns him into a loud CGI monster causing chaos, but not the kind of chaos that sticks in your stomach.

The movie version feels like it wants Carnage to be dangerous, funny, tragic, and marketable all at the same time. And because of that, he ends up feeling watered down.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game version may not have the budget, the movie star, or the giant theatrical release, but it actually understands one basic thing better:

Cletus should make you uncomfortable.

He should not just be loud. He should not just be weird. He should feel wrong.

That’s why the game version works better for me. It doesn’t try to make Cletus cute or sympathetic. It treats him like a threat.

🔥 Comparing This Cletus To Insomniac Spider-Man 2

Now Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 is a different case, because that game does not fully give us Carnage yet. It introduces Cletus Kasady through a side quest involving the Flame cult.

And yeah, I know exactly what you mean.

The game treats the reveal like it’s this big twist, but the second you see him, it’s like:

“Okay, that’s Cletus Kasady.”

He has the ginger hair. He has the ginger beard. He’s wearing the Hawaiian shirt. He’s running a cult called the Flame. He’s obsessed with fire and destruction. He’s clearly unstable.

Who else was it supposed to be?

That is not a plot twist. That is the game holding up a giant neon sign that says “CARNAGE COMING SOON” and then acting surprised when we read it.

The cult angle is not a terrible idea on its own. I actually think Cletus as a cult leader could work if done right, because Carnage has always had that apocalyptic chaos energy. A group of people worshipping destruction around him is not out of character for a darker adaptation.

But the problem is that Insomniac’s version feels more like setup than payoff. He appears, the game builds mystery around him, and then it ends with him getting the symbiote sample and teasing Carnage later. It’s not bad, but it’s clearly a “wait until next time” situation.

And that’s why I think the Amazing Spider-Man 2 game version hits harder in the moment.

Insomniac’s Cletus is a teaser.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game’s Cletus is actually part of the story’s threat.

Insomniac’s version is basically saying, “Hey, remember this guy for DLC or the future.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game says, “No, he’s here now, and he’s a problem now.”

That matters.

Also, the Hawaiian shirt and ginger beard reveal is funny because it’s treated like this shocking identity drop, but anyone who knows Spider-Man villains is sitting there like, “Bro, there is only one guy this could be.” That’s like introducing a bald man in a wheelchair talking about mutants and pretending we won’t guess Professor X.

The game wants the moment to be mysterious, but it’s not mysterious. It’s obvious.

That doesn’t mean Insomniac can’t do something great with Carnage later. They absolutely could. But based only on what we got in that side quest, it is mostly setup. Good setup? Maybe. But still setup.

Meanwhile, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tie-in game actually gives you the Cletus-to-Carnage material, and that gives it an advantage.

❌ The Big Problems With The Game

Even though I’m praising Cletus and Carnage, I don’t want to pretend the whole game is great.

It is not.

The story is messy. It has too many villains and not enough focus. It feels like it wants to be about responsibility, Uncle Ben, crime in New York, Oscorp, Kraven, Kingpin, Electro, Cletus, Carnage, and the movie’s events all at once. That is too much.

The first Amazing Spider-Man game felt more focused because everything tied back to cross-species experiments and Oscorp. This game feels more scattered.

The hero system is annoying. It punishes you for not constantly doing repetitive crimes, and that makes the open world feel more like a chore than a playground.

The combat and swinging are serviceable but not special. They do the job, but after the first game, you would expect more improvement. Instead, it feels like a step sideways or even a step back.

The movie tie-in elements also feel awkward. It is not fully adapting the movie, but it also cannot fully escape the movie. So it ends up in this strange middle ground where it feels connected and disconnected at the same time.

That is probably the best way to describe the whole game:

connected and disconnected at the same time.

🧠 Final Thoughts

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game is frustrating because it has some really good pieces buried inside a very uneven game.

The open world is there, but the hero system makes it annoying.

The villains are there, but the story feels crowded.

The movie tie-in is there, but the game does not feel fully committed to being a proper adaptation or a proper sequel.

But Cletus Kasady and Carnage? That part works.

And honestly, that part works way better than expected.

This game gives us a Cletus who feels dangerous before he even becomes Carnage. It understands that Carnage is not just the symbiote. Carnage is Cletus Kasady unleashed. That is something Venom: Let There Be Carnage struggled with because it softened him too much, and something Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 only teased rather than fully delivered.

So yeah, this game is not great overall.

But its Carnage material? Shockingly strong.

And that makes it worth talking about.

⭐ Rating

I would give The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game a 5.8/10.

Not quite a 6, because the game has too many annoying systems and too much messy structure for me to fully call it good. But I also don’t want to drop it too low because there are parts that do work, especially the Cletus Kasady and Carnage storyline.

As a Spider-Man game, it’s uneven.

As a movie tie-in, it’s messy.

As a Carnage adaptation, weirdly enough, it’s one of the better ones.

So 5.8/10 feels fair.

Not awful.

Not good.

But absolutely carried by one of the better versions of Cletus Kasady we’ve gotten in a Spider-Man game.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning

Now we’re getting into the full story, villain reveals, Cletus Kasady, Carnage, and why that part of the game works better than the rest.

🕸️ Spoilers

The game begins with Peter still haunted by Uncle Ben’s death, and that’s actually a solid place to start. Spider-Man stories always come back to responsibility, and using Uncle Ben’s murder as a driving force makes sense. Peter is still trying to understand what kind of hero he is supposed to be, and the city around him is becoming more dangerous.

The game introduces a lot of moving parts. Kraven enters Peter’s life as someone who seems like he wants to train him and sharpen his instincts, but of course, because he is Kraven, there is more going on. Kingpin is tied into the crime side of the city. Electro appears because the movie needs Electro energy somewhere in here. Black Cat crosses paths with Spider-Man. Oscorp is still part of the larger mess.

But the story never flows as smoothly as it should. It feels like a bunch of Spider-Man plots fighting for the front seat.

Then Cletus Kasady enters the picture, and suddenly the game feels more focused.

Cletus is introduced as a killer, and the game does not try to dress that up. He is not some random thug. He is not just a boss fight waiting to happen. He is a deeply unstable person, and Spider-Man can tell there is something especially wrong with him.

That is why his transformation into Carnage works.

When Cletus gets bonded with the symbiote, it does not feel like an ordinary villain upgrade. It feels like the worst possible person just got handed the worst possible power. That is Carnage. That is the whole point.

Carnage in this game feels violent, chaotic, and dangerous in a way that stands above most of the other villains. He is not motivated by money like criminals. He is not trying to control the city like Kingpin. He is not hunting for sport like Kraven. He is not lashing out because of an accident like Electro.

He is just destruction.

That makes him scarier.

And it also makes him feel more accurate to what Carnage should be.

When you compare that to Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the difference is clear. The movie version had the look and some of the chaos, but it never fully captured the horror. It wanted Cletus to be tragic, romantic, funny, creepy, and entertaining all at once. That made him feel diluted. Woody Harrelson tried, but the movie around him would not let Carnage be truly terrifying.

Then you compare it to Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, where Cletus is introduced as the Flame. That version has potential, but the game treats the reveal like a mystery when it’s painfully obvious. Ginger hair, ginger beard, Hawaiian shirt, cult leader, obsessed with fire — come on. That is Cletus Kasady with a name tag turned backward.

And because Insomniac’s version is mostly setup, you don’t get the full Carnage payoff yet. You get the promise of Carnage. You get the tease. You get the “remember this later” moment.

But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game, you actually fight Carnage. You actually see Cletus become the monster. You actually deal with him as a present threat.

That gives this version more weight.

The final Carnage material is easily the most memorable part of the game. It makes you wish the entire story had been built more tightly around him, because if the game had focused harder on Cletus, Oscorp, and the creation of Carnage, it might have been way stronger.

Instead, Carnage is the best part of a game that is otherwise scattered.

By the end, Spider-Man stops the threats, deals with the chaos, and the story wraps up in a way that is serviceable. But the part that sticks is not the hero system. It is not the open world. It is not even Electro.

It is Cletus Kasady and Carnage.

That is the part that actually leaves an impression.

🎯 Final Final Thought

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game is not a great game, but it has one great idea buried inside it.

That idea is Cletus Kasady.

This game understands that Carnage should be scary because Cletus is scary. The symbiote is not the whole monster. It is just the thing that lets the monster grow teeth.

That is why this version works.

The rest of the game is messy, repetitive, and uneven, but when it comes to Cletus and Carnage, it actually gets something right that bigger adaptations have fumbled.

And honestly?

That is probably the most surprising thing about this whole game.