Spider-Man. Since the days the videogame systems have been sold in stores, there has been at one Spider-Man game on each system. Yes, there was even a Spider-Man game on the Atari systems. Shocking, isn’t it? Now with the release of the Spider-Man: The Movie in theaters, Activision has released the newest version of the Spider-Man game series on the next-generation systems.
Gameplay
The latest Spider-Man game is somewhat based on the current released movie, but not a lot. If the whole game was based on fighting the Green Goblin alone, then the game would only be an hour or two long and you would probably be bored with it quickly. Instead, the creators of the game made the game more from the comic book perspective than the movie. The game starts off with Peter (in his “wrestling” Spider-Man costume) going to catch Uncle Ben’s murder then fighting various archenemies such as Shocker, Vulture and Scorpion then to the final battles with the Green Goblin. The game does focus on the battles with Green Goblin, but the developers want the game to be fun with more enemies and be worth your money buying it.
Spider-Man offers a lot of action in the game, ground and aerial too. In a 3D computer designed New York City atmosphere, you web swing throughout the city battling baddies and end-bosses. At different times battling baddies in midair, you have protect civilians from falling structures such as bridges, and billboards within a certain time limit as you are fighting the baddie. When inside closed environments such as subways, or warehouses, you fight the normal goons hired by the endboss. As you work your way through the levels, you use different Spider abilities such as web dome, web up bad guys, and scaling walls creeping up the enemy. A nice feature use often, but not a lot is “Spider-Sense.” When you are fighting Shocker, Spider-Sense is used a lot here showing civilians in danger. Spidey must get in there time before the civilians are dead. I was happy to see Spider-Sense was used in the game.
Aside from the normal enriched story mode, there are varies training modes to improve your handling of Spider-Man. For beginners, I would try these modes since they help you better the control of Spidey in fighting, web swinging in closed environments or aerial fighting. Moreover, you get a funny narrator to help you out. Throughout the game, you earn points. These points unlock secrets codes or levels that can be used or played, respectively. Right now, I have unlocked a game called “Pinhead Bowling.” Its bowling, except Spidey is the “bowling ball” and you swing you way down the lane to knock down the “pins.
Graphics
The graphics in Spider-Man are marvelous. The Spider-Man costume is very detailed and matches the costume used in the movie and in the comics perfectly. The polygon character model of Spider-Man is shaped perfectly with barely any jagged edges that I have noticed. However, some of the other characters model need some work. Mary Jane Watson character model, for example, had some rough edges and all of the polygons was not curved perfectly, especially the head. Although minor graphic problems on some, all the enemies’ character models like Green Goblin were impressive.
The computer generated made New York City is very impressive in my opinion. Each building is very detailed and there are over 30+ (my estimation) buildings of different sizes in heights and shapes on screen at once. The animation of Spider-Man web swinging through the city is amazing. Maneuvering between each building is exciting since you see how well the animation was made of the web shooting from Spidey’s wrists and how he swings. A funny note though is when Spidey web swings in the city, he shoots webbing into the middle of the sky, and (somehow) it sticks. This is how he travels throughout the aerial battles. Finally, the indoor environments were made very well. They are very detailed and there a lot of objects and structures Spidey’s can swing onto. In addition, the fighting animation is sweet. The animation of the different punches, kicks and combos are very fluid and there is no bad animation.
Sound
The sound in Spider-Man is excellent and accurate. Every time you shoot webbing out, you can hear it perfectly and it really sounds like webbing is coming out. This includes from web swinging to webbing up a bad guy. The punches and kicks sound accurate too. The sound effects are very clear and not distorted. In addition, the music flows along well. The music used/played in the game fits perfectly.
The characters voices are crisp and clear when they are speaking. There is no distortion or any muffles. The voices are well acted and express the right emotions and tones in corresponding series of events. However, the best voice/voiceover is the narrator who gives out help in the beginning of the game, and during the trainings. The voice gives help, but says it in a comical, mean-nice way making you laugh. There even a part in the basic training where goes off to make a sandwich.
Control
The control is solid and accurate. When a button is pressed, the response for movement is very quick. Only response of a button that will not work is webbing coming out during a punch or kick. This is the only time I notice when a button will not work following right after a fighting button was pressed. The only problem I had with the controls with when the camera angle got a little out of placed. Sometimes the camera is in a weird location (i.e. when scaling a building/wall) and I sometimes have trouble controlling and it leads to some aggression and confusion. Once I get the camera in the correct viewing, the controls are functioning normally as they should.
Overall, Spider-Man is a very good game. This version is more original than the previous versions (ones that I remember) because you have the ability to fight enemies, hundreds of feet above the streets of a computer generated New York City. The game has a lot of action whether it is aerial or ground fighting. The only drawbacks are the camera angle that can sometimes mess up the controls and the minor blocky/rough edged character models. The latest version of Spider-Man is another good game from Activision.
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