Purple Perils
Spider-Man can never get a break. If he’s not busy growing four extra arms1 or battling the eight-limbed Doctor Octopus on the silver screen2, he’s running late for Mary Jane’s play3. Peter Parker hardly ever gets the chance to stop for a breather. Why? Because when you’ve got that whole “great power, great responsibility” work ethic going for you, you don’t get union-approved breaks. But, the super-powered teenager’s problems are our gain, since it means there are always petty crooks, imperiled bystanders, and lost balloons to keep Peter Parker’s alter-ego occupied in Treyarch’s brilliant, open-ended video game, Spider-Man® 2.
Spider-Man, poised for action (and a photo).
Crime Stories
Random missions inSpider-Man 2 come in two categories: petty crimes (signified by a purple targeting icon) and missions (which turn up green). White icons mean a story-related mission, while yellow icons let Spider-Man hone in on part of a mission while it’s going on (if you need to return someone’s purse, for example, a yellow directional marker will let you find your way to the purse owner). Yellow icons also point out targets in a non-crime-related mission (such as pizza delivery). Purple crimes don’t have to be addressed (meaning you can wuss out, if needed) while green missions must either be completed or lost. Purple or green, you’ll get a full health icon at the end of each fight, so if one mission is giving you trouble, you can always try to stop a purse-snatching to help Spider-Man heal up. This article will cover the purple crimes that you’ll encounter.
Spider-Man learns the hard way …
No Need to Get Petty
The four most common types of petty (purple) crimes include:
(Aforementioned) Purse-Snatching
This is the second-easiest way to get a quick health power-up. You’ll only have to fight a single no-good criminal and return the purse to its owner … and blammo! Instant hero points and healing! Look for the purple icon and listen for the woman shouting, “Stop! My purse!”
Stop! Thieves!
“Stop! Thieves!” missions can spring up anywhere, even atop a skyscraper as you’re swinging over Manhattan. This type of petty crime can be much trickier and might even force you to break out the spider reflexes—though you should be okay if you simply pay attention to your spider-sense flashes and dodge at the appropriate times. (This will also give you nice group-stopping counter attacks). Treyarch throws in the occasional variation, too, like crooks that try to escape by helicopter, making for one high-flying chase sequence.
Spider-Man is breakin’ up this break-in.
My Balloooooon!
You are going to get sotired of that little kid’s whiny voice, but there’s no safer way to get a quick health and hero-point combo. However, you can also drive yourself insane trying to jump directly into the balloon’s path. Fortunately, balloons are almost always rising into the sky right next to a building, so just wall-crawl up until you’re right next to it, and you should grab it automatically. Then, you can jump down to the yellow icon demarking the whiny kid below.
Nuts Behind the Wheel
The loony driver mission is a petty crime that builds upon your skill at foiling carjackings and escapes. When you see a purple mission icon accompanied by an angry person threatening to put a “fist up someone’s tailpipe” (seriously, that’s what they say), you need to swing low and pinpoint the nut job who is endangering Manhattan’s more-or-less innocent pedestrians. Nut jobs drive fast, so use sprinting and web zips to land with precision on top of the speeding vehicle. Then, start slamming X to pound the roof of the car. You don’t need to worry about the usual gunfire coming from the cab, either. You will have to deal with a stunned citizen, who will whine about what you’ve done to their car, but you’ll also get to hear some of Spider-Man’s best comebacks.
This Means (Gang) War!
If you come across a bunch of thugs whose targeting icons already have a bit of yellow amongst the red, you’ve come across a gang war. (The yellow indicates a bad guy that has already taken some damage. These fools have been beating on each other.) When Spider-Man arrives, these guys turn on our hero. Follow your usual tricks for group fighting, and if you’ve bought it from the Spider-Man Store, see how many of the gang members you can string up by the heels with the Web Hanger move (X, X, Y, and A). My record is four in one fight, but surely you can do better than that.
For more on Spider-Man’s random missions (like people in danger of falling and the ever-popular “It was terrible! I just saw someone get carjacked!”), check out Ben Barker’s “Perils of Peter Parker.”
1 Amazing Spider-Man, comic book, issues number 100-103.
2 Spider-Man 2: The Movie.
3 Last issue, true believers!
By Danny Chihdo
