Quick Take: The positives and negatives of a video game in 5 minutes or less.

“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN”Format: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, 3DSPrice:  $29.99-$49.99Publisher: ActivisionDeveloper: Beenox, Other OceanESRB Rating: E10+ (everyone 10 and up)The Grade: B

What is it? A third-person action game featuring everyone’s favorite wisecracking, web swinging superhero, Spider-Man. The game’s story, written by Seamus Kevin Fahey (“Spartacus: Vengeance,” “Battlestar Galactica”), takes place after the events of the recently released film. Players take on the role of Peter Parker as he battles famous Marvel villains such as the Rhino and the Scorpion as well as robots from evil weapons manufacturer Oscorp.

The Good

More control: One of the keys to success for the last two Arkham games — a franchise “The Amazing Spider-Man” is sure to draw comparisons to — was how much fun it was to be Batman. Arkham developer Rocksteady made players feel the power of the Dark Knight. This latest Spider-Man title is a move in the same direction, thanks mostly to the new Web Rush feature. Web Rush, which is engaged with the press of a button, slows things down, similar to “Max Payne’s” Bullet Time. It allows players to not only attack but move in ways that really makes gamers feel like the wall crawler.

Sweet freedom: The game is cleverly divided into two parts that play to our hero’s strengths. Indoor action requires plenty of wall crawling and quick movements. Outdoor action involves lots of wide-open webswinging. The game balances these two different environments extremely well, especially when using Web Rush.

Engaging story: The story in “The Amazing Spider-Man” seamlessly takes over where the movie leaves off. The plot is engaging and makes good use of some of Spider-Man’s more interesting nemeses. In fact, it integrates the Marvel villains in a much smoother manner than the “Spider-Man 3” film ever did. If you haven’t seen the latest Spidey movie, you’ll be a bit confused as to what’s going on at first and the plot does contain some film spoilers, but eventually Fahey’s story comes together nicely.

The Bad

Combat Rock: “The Amazing Spider-Man” has an improved combat system that relies more on counter moves than pressing the action. This would be fine but the game lacks a true combo system. When combined with the frequent visual cues players are given during battles the combat feels too easy.

What the French call a certain I don’t know what: There are times when gamers will notice that there’s a few things in “The Amazing Spider-Man” that are just a little off. The average voice acting (the cast from the movie are not featured in the game), the hollow character models, the overly simplistic web swinging system and repetitive stealth missions devalue the gameplay.

The Verdict

While this title hasn’t reached the gold standard of the last two Batman games, I found myself having a lot of fun with “The Amazing Spider-Man.” It lacks the somber mood of a title featuring the Dark Knight, but that’s the beauty of being a wisecracking teenager with super powers instead of a vengeful adult with lots of cool gadgets. As Spidey, I swung around New York exploring to my heart’s content, then jumped into the fray when the mood struck me. The action may be less intense, but it’s still fun.

Gazette Media Columnist Terry Terrones is a veteran video game journalist. He has written for numerous publications including GamePro, PC World, GameZone, and Official Xbox Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/terryterrones.