Not bad at all, not great either,
I figured that since the same guys were making this game that it would improve on the aspects of Spider-Man 2 that needed it and add in a lot of new features as well. Unfortunately that is not exactely the case. In many ways this game is less than the Wall-Crawler's previous one.
The controls are EXTREMELY simplified from SM2 especially the combat. Gone are the many fighting moves that you could buy as the game progressed. You get a punch and a kick here, you can rebound off walls with either and it is easy to fight swarms of foes but all the cool moves I enjoyed are gone-why?? The previous title was worth the purchase just for swinging around Manhattan but they even simplified the swinging mechanics. The wall-run is more or less gone (you can do it for a few seconds only) and the physics are changed when you round corners. The free-roaming environment has added Queens but instead of adding a lot more of NYC it ends up being a very small addition as the entire city has been reduced severely.
The random missions have become even MORE repetitive with there being even less that before. The addition of being able to play Venom is ok but he controls so much worse than Spider-Man that it is a relief when those sections are over. You do get to eat that annoying lost balloon boy though.
The much vaunted cell-shaded look of the game is kind of annoying, at least it is too me. I would have prefered they kept the realistic look of the other game. The "comic-book style panels" are less of an intrusion than I thought they would be but I could have lived without them.
I loved Spider-Man 2 and can't help but be disapointed in what should have been an amazing or even spectacular follow-up. If you never played that game then you might enjoy this one more than I did, It isn't a terrible game by any means but it could have been so much more. I'd reccomend buying SM2 in the discount racks and waiting until you can get this one cheap as well.