mercedes-b's Full Review: SpiderMan for PlayStation 2
Introduction
With the un-compromised success of the Spiderman motion picture, you could only guess that a video game franchise based on the movie was soon to follow. And that it did. The question on many gamers’ minds is this: Is this game really good, or is it just a way to make money to follow up the hundreds of millions made in the box offices? Well, after extensive playtime, I had made my decision.
The verdict – this game has mixed qualities. Some may describe it as good, others bad. My opinion is… well… read on!
Plot
Looks like there was no attempt at a new plot – pretty much a carbon copy of what the movie writers came up with. There have been a few differentiations though. Namely the addition of villains to make up for what many considered the movies true flaw – no other villains besides the Green Goblin. I personally didn’t care.
However, despite they added characters, they didn’t add a plot to go along with the additional characters. They just made Spiderman randomly enter buildings, running in to these characters everywhere – there was just so substance behind this modification. It really was quite pathetic.
So as you can see, the plot definitely isn’t something to brag to your friends about. It really just isn’t gamer friendly. Too bad, because I always love a video game with a good plot – sorry, but this web slinger just doesn’t deliver. Perhaps they will find a way to make up for it…?
Game Play
Spider Man’s game play is strikingly similar to that of the Playstation 1 counterpart. Of course this game wasn’t based on a movie, but plays pretty much the same. This could be accredited to the first game’s success, or perhaps that this title was rushed, and a new system of play just wasn’t seen as necessary.
You can do just about everything Spiderman does in the movie – except your webbing isn’t organic, so you will run out of it after continuous use. This feature is more true to the comic series than the movie. Game designers have let you do much more with the web than just shoot it though. You can create balls out of it, tie people up with it, zip from building to building with it, and ascend or descend from fixed objections. These features are nice, but not perfect. For some reason some structures hold while others don’t, when they are pretty much the same thing. Wacky, eh? I would call it inconsistent.
You can also learn new attacks by picking up golden spider icons through out the levels. This may give you an entirely new technique, or improve an existing one. Seems like a simple way to level up, but the problem with this is if you miss an icon, you will never learn that move again without back tracking. This usually means tedious searching of levels for a simple movie, which in the end distracts you from gaming. But the techniques themselves are innovative and unique, and add some fun to the sometimes dry feel of this game.
You can now also use stealth – this pretty much involves simply hiding in the shadows. A little picture of Spiderman’s head changes colors depending on how hidden you are. This is all right, but is almost never essential to game play, and you will usually get caught when you really are hidden. I guess this isn’t Metal Gear Solid.
Some aspects of the game aren’t very realistic as well – I mean, you can swing from the sky. What were they thinking, honestly? Yes, I know what your thinking – “Realism? It’s a game about a boy with spider like abilities who swings around in a spandex suit!”. But even so, I expected a degree of realism.
So as you can see, Spiderman really didn’t pick up too much in the game play department, which really doesn’t help this already degrading game save itself from piles of insulting reviews, mine included.
Graphics & Sound
If there were one appealing aspect of Spiderman, it would probably be the graphics and sound. They are extremely decent. The graphics stand out, especially the cut scenes, which are well crafted and beautiful. Character models are detailed, and your environments are rich and varied. Spiderman really one-ups the competition in this aspect.
As for sound, it is pretty decent, nothing special, but not bad. One thing that I really hated was the dialogue. Yes, this is voice acting, but I honestly wish there wasn’t. I just want to kill the narrator. He mocks you through out the game, constantly cracking cheesy jokes and playing off decaying clichés. I ended up turning off the volume on my TV. Thank god for the fact that the Sony Wega can play sound great, but can get rid of it as well.
So overall, graphics and sound good, voice acting bad - real bad!
Conclusion
So in conclusion, I just wasn’t able to get into this game. I found it repetitive, with low replay value, and really feels like a carbon copy of the movie – just less successful. I suggest you rent this game before even thinking of buying it, because chances are you’ll agree with me.
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