He whispers softly: "God bless mummy and daddy and nanna and pop.

"God bless my sister - even though she annoys me - and Snuffles my cat.

"Oh and can you please make someone bring out a decent action hero game?"

Yep, it's seriously got to this point - where it seems only divine intervention can help game developers release even a half-decent movie tie-in game.

I can't put my finger on it.

Is it due to a lack of time to develop the games? Or are they simply unable to produce the goods regardless?

It seems the only decent ones around are those where the game precedes the Hollywood blockbuster.

Like I before E except after C, there is always an exception to the rule - and in this case it's the Batman Arkham series, but that truly is the exception to the rule.

Unfortunately, the new THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 release from Beenox is definitely the I before E - not the exception.

Obviously, the latest gen machines provide a much clearer, visually appealing version of the game, although the Xbox 360 version tested here was still fairly impressive graphically.

Surprisingly, the game kicks off proceedings two years in the past, where we see Peter Parker's uncle being gunned down in the street by a petty criminal, and Peter finding Uncle Ben lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk, taking his last few breaths.

We then fast-forward two years into the future and Peter, aka Spider-Man, is still hunting for the crim responsible.

There are lots of new bad guys for Spider-Man to tackle in THE AMAZING SPIDER- MAN - Russian mobsters galore, serial killers, arms dealers, costume-clad villains and Electro himself from the movie.

There are two basic aspects to TASM2 - travelling by web through the city (a very enjoyable experience) and battling bad guys by the bucket load (a rather unenjoyable experience).

Web slinging has been given a makeover this time around.

Instead of randomly blasting webs into space, Spider-Man now has to attach his webs to structures such as buildings before he can start swinging through the city.

He can also purposefully cast webs from his left and right hands by pulling the left and right triggers.

Combat is a completely different kettle of fish and probably the most disappointing part of the game.

Fighting hordes of enemies or street thugs relies on nothing more than button mashing, mixed in with the occasional dodge when your spidey senses start to tingle.

These shortfalls in the combat system are mirrored by some rather sloppy enemy AI and a number of annoying glitches, including an issue with some dodgy camera angles, particularly during combat and while web slinging.

THE VERDICT

Sadly, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 is just like a countless string of other movie tie-in video games - short on substance and disappointing gameplay.

It's not all bad.

There's some clever and witty humour thrown in, particularly delivered by Spider-Man during combat.

But overall, a lacklustre and boring storyline coupled with a highly deficient combat system makes this a substandard offering.