Activision and developer Treyarch have given gamers a special gift this
Summer and it is a game that is simply the best comic book inspired title
ever to appear on a console. Fresh off the success of "Spider-Man 2", the
game is a worthy companion piece that will delight fans of the film and the
comic.
Instead of the usual side scrolling or small map games, all of Manhattan is
available to Spidey to deal with all manner of criminals. The game starts
with a nice tutorial (voiced by Bruce Campbell) that teaches you fighting
and web swinging tactics that are needed before Spidey can venture into the
big city. The game is divided into chapters each of which tell a story. When
you have completed the mission, you can move onto the next mission or you
can roam the streets doing odd jobs such as delivering pizza and taking out
random thugs.
Manhattan is well displayed though some of the side streets are a bit
generic. The Empire State Building, Ground Zero, and other locations are
accurately portrayed adding a sense of realism to the adventure. With day
and night cycles, it is alot of fun to perch on a skyscraper and watch the
sun rise over the simulated city.
While the swinging and physics system, can take some getting used to, once
you do, you will be able to faithfully recreate the moves from the film and
comic with style. There are also upgrades that you will get as time goes on
that you can chose by allocation of so called "Hero Points" that will enable
you to do things such as shoot webs faster, jump higher and so on.
While the story and much of the voice talent follows that of the film,
classic villains such as Rhino, Shocker, and Mysterio do arise and make the
game alot of fun. I always got a kick out of swapping one liners with some
of The graphics in the game are amazing and aside from some blocky textures
to the background characters the look of the buildings, and characters are
easily amongst the best you will find anywhere. The game also has great
sound qualities as everything from sirens and the words of encouragement
from passing citizens make the game not only fun, but realistic and diverse.
Due to the sheer size of the city a top down view map is used to show
important areas and the island and will become a very valuable tool to help
you navigate the city.
Despite my usual issues with the X-Box control, the sheer size of the city
and the outstanding array of moves and game options makes this a must for
Spidey fans and will delight action gamers as well.
4.5 stars out of 5
gareth@nwlink.com
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