Intro
What could be more enduring than the story of an ubergeek turned super hero
through infection by insect, then left with no recourse but to spend his life
swinging around in his underwear while uttering witty quips and usurping armor-clad
baddies? Well I'll tell you what could be, nothing! Except of course maybe the
annual Entdepot Kitten Rodeo headed up by our own Nick, but that's a story for
another time.
Gameplay:
8.5/10
The essentials of Spider-Man are rather simple: progress
from level to level, accomplishing whatever tasks are presented to you. Such tasks
range from simply defeating X number of thugs/robots, besting a super villain
in either hand-to-hand or aerial combat, or simply navigating one maze of a level
until you find yourself triumphantly standing at the exit. Also littered between
the levels are many short movies to help further along the plot, and I have to
say that all things considered, they really aren’t half-bad. Oh, and speaking
of the plot, even though the game is positioned to take itself as an adaptation
of the movie, by all means do not expect a direct translation, as many things
have been added, dropped or altered so as to make for a more action-packed title.
Spider-Man himself is capable of a multitude
of moves and abilities, all of which can be practiced and learned in the training
mode, narrated by the talented Mr. Bruce Campbell. These talents range from your
staple wall-crawling, web-swinging, and web-shooting to your more advanced moves
(which should not be attempted by amateurs) like aerial web shields, combo attacks
and last but not least, hiding in the shadows! Yes folks, you heard me right:
in this game, everyone’s favorite little spider takes a crack at the stealth
trophy currently held by the Metal Gear Solid games. The good news: it's
not that hard to avoid the enemies with this new “stay in the shadows and
become invisible, no matter what you do” feature. However, the bad news
would be that the stealth function really isn't that in-depth, and when you consider
the length of the levels in which you’re expected to use this feature, the
whole concept becomes rather boring and overdone. Now
I'm sure that by now you've read other reviews of this title, many of which have
likely mentioned the one problem which seems to be ever-present: the camera. To
be honest, it definitely is a problem; even after playing the game for hours,
thinking that I had adjusted myself to the awkward behavior of the camera, it
was still haunting my every move. There are some instances where the camera issues
can be resolved by using the “enemy lock-on” feature, but this will
limit you to only seeing what is between you and your enemy, leaving you blind
to all other obstacles. Graphics:
8.5/10
When everything is said and done, the PS2 incarnation may not be the
prettiest of the three home consoles when it comes to Spider-Man, but
that definitely doesn't mean that it isn't a breathtaking game all the same. Heck,
I'm still impressed with the open city levels, and to be honest I will be comparing
other future titles on the PS2 to Spider-Man in regards to the environments.
Sound: 9/10
Considering
that this is the game version of the recent movie, it is rather comforting to
have some of the actors lending their vocal talents to the game characters. Also,
the music tracks lend themselves rather well to the game, especially in the early
levels where the feeling of actually being a heroic figure is all the more embedded
through the epic music. Control:
8/10
For the most part, the controls within this Spidey title were dead-on,
something that can be very hard to accomplish once you stop to think about the
variety and overall uniqueness of the moves Spidey is capable of pulling off.
However, while the webslinger himself may not be too hard to control, the same
cannot be said for the camera, which often finds itself facing a direction less
than advantageous to the matters at hand. Overall:
8.5/10
GO BUY SPIDER-MAN. GO BUY IT NOW. YOU DON'T BUY, YOU MISS
OUT BIG TIME. Spider-Bryce, Spider-Bryce, his reviews sure are nice, writes them
out any size, tells the truth and not lies, LOOK OUT! Here comes the Spider-Bryyyyyyyyyyyyyce!
(Note: Hmm, I'm sorry for this, I'll just leave well enough
alone for now - ED) [
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