by: John Olin

October 02, 2005

Written by: Jonathan Clark

Treyarch’s last iteration of Spider-Man was a watershed in the genre of superhero games. Combine airtight controls and quality presentation with the startling ability to web sling throughout New York at your leisure and it’s no surprise that the game enjoyed immense success. But with great success comes the burden of greater expectations; rarely is the sequel to a revolutionary game able to classify itself as, well, revolutionary. Does the latest installment in the web-slinger series defy that trend?

First and foremost (as this has been the main source of pre-release hype for USM) the new visual engine is amazing. Not since Comix Zone for the Sega Genesis have developers been able to so accurately capture the look and feel of comics on screen. It’s not quite cell shading, not quite hand drawn, but quite frankly it’s awesome. The characters are the real stars here. Bright, vibrant colors are mixed with large and emotive characters to bring the friends and foes of USM to life in an all-new way. Realistic? No. Gorgeous and original? Yes.

The animations are top notch. Spider Man and Venom both control smoothly. Getting them to swing, leap and tumble around a colorfully rendered New York is definitely easy on the eyes. Ultimately if comics could move, this is what they’d look like. The presentation meshes with the visual style perfectly. Cut scenes are most often told through the use of comic panels, which themselves could be considered top quality comic art. The city beautifully transforms throughout the day and night as well. Walls glow against the dusk light, and windows from office buildings light your way through the night air. The resemblance to a beautifully drawn comic-panel is occasionally quite eerie.

That’s not to say it’s perfect. The city itself is decidedly less than last year. While you may be able to swing over more pure square mileage, the buildings themselves aren’t nearly as imposing and wondrous as last year’s game. Skyscrapers don’t scrape the sky quite as high and you will miss out on some of the massive free-falls that were available last time. As we have yet to enter the ‘next-gen’ there is still pop up to be found (mostly pedestrian traffic as you approach ground level), and the texture fill-rate on the buildings doesn’t span very far. In English it means you’ll occasionally see buildings only a few blocks away look like a glob of color before materializing into windows, bricks, doors, etc when you approach. Furthermore the frame rate does take hits when there’s a substantial amount of action going on. However these are minor gripes for a product whose visual prowess captures the imagination as successfully as USM.

I’ll go ahead and sum up in two quick phrases what you me and your dog loved about the last Spider-Man game; ‘great controls’ ‘open-ended’. Breathe easy America; it’s all there. I haven’t played Spider-Man 2 (SM2) in many months, but I instantly returned to form once the web slinging began. Zipping around New York feels easy, natural and above all extraordinarily fun. There are a few minor differences in the controls but overall the folks at Treyarch have again captured the feel of being Spidey. That said, certain areas of the game have a stagnant feel, while others are simply missing altog ether.

Combat controls have actually been whittled down to (somehow) make the fighting engine more simplistic than last year. There’s no longer a true ‘bullet-time’ mode, as you’ll only need to hold the ‘A’ button when your Spidey-Sense alerts you to danger, in order to make an easy escape. Moves have dwindled as well. The available actions during a battle have been cut down (e.g. no more web-fists) and generally make the game substantially easier if somewhat less rewarding. The addition of Venom as a playable character may allow some to claim that there are technically more moves available to the player, but it simply doesn’t translate. During a fight you’ll find yourself easily dominating your foes with simple two-to-three button combos and seeing the same punch/kick/web moves over and over does get repetitive.

Also making a return to this edition are the side missions or ‘city-goals as they’re called here. It’s more of the same from last year, with you saving hapless citizens from petty criminals and (all to often) from themselves in order to progress the storyline. There do seem to be more missions with varied tasks that aren’t quite as mind numbing as the previous title however these will get old fast, especially if you just want to proceed with the storyline. On this same track, the ‘points system’ for leveling up is gone entirely. Instead of purchasing new powers at your own pace the game rewards you with upgrades as the story progresses and you complete certain tasks.

For whatever reason (perhaps in an effort to compliment the cartoonish visual style) Treyarch has made this game incredibly easy. Through a combination of utterly simple controls, generally mindless bad-guys and an overpowering protagonist at your command, you could breeze through the storyline in around 10 hours (that’s with some major sightseeing). Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of the controller-throwing, F-Bomb inducing, stupidly hard game but this is ridiculous. Generally you’ll feel as if you’re going through the motions just trying to advance the story.

Speaking of the story, its typical comic-book fare and I generally enjoyed it. As I’ve tried to emphasize throughout this review, the developers have captured the feel of a great comic. In that regard don’t expect a mind-blowing epic storyline. You get to play as Venom, which creates its own sort of story, but it’s nothing new if you’ve kept up at all with the series.

The characters all look to be in their teenage years that may create some problems with die-hard Spidey fanatics. Mary Jane, for example, washes Peter’s Spider-Man outfit while he’s in class and Peter doesn’t seem to disturbed about flinging himself, uncostumed, throughout the city in the games opening minutes. Also some major players are missing. J. Jonah Jameson is absent (although he does get mentioned in passing several times) while Aunt May is completely incognito. What the?! Aunt May (like it or not) is a fixture in this series with respect to the life of Peter Parker. The fact that she’s not even represented in a cut scene is just bizarre. The use of younger characters requires younger voice actors. This is love it or hate it--I hated it. Peter sounded like a pre-pubescent whiner for the majority of the game.

I know that my review may have come across as overly negative so let me say right now; this is a very solid game. If you didn’t play last years game definitely pick USM up. If you haven’t played Spider-Man 2 or need a fresh take on the Spider-Man games, pick this one up. The shortcomings definitely do not outweigh an overall excellent title.

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If you’re like me and did play SM2 you’ll be amazed by the new visual style but after you’ve come off that high you’ll see a solid title that failed to truly build on last years game play elements in ways that could have again set a benchmark in the super hero genre. If you’re going to rent one super hero game this year, give USM a look. If you’re going to buy one, stick with Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

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