Game Review: Spider-Man

Game: Spider-Man
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Treyarch
Release Date: 15th April 2002

On the face of it, a game based on the 2002 Spiderman movie for the PS2 looks like a good idea. With the console's much improved 3D graphics vs the original Playstation, and a critically acclaimed film plot to draw upon for storyline ideas, the game should have been an almost guaranteed success. With a few shuffles of events and additions to the film's overall story, the general aim remains the same; to stop the Green Goblin's plan and ultimately save the day.

The gameplay consists of individual missions with their own goals, such as making your way to a certain place, stopping robberies, and making your way through enemies to a final bigger baddie. The main problem with these missions is that in addition to not really giving you too much to do, anything particularly is shown in a cutscene instead of being playable. Each time the player completes a stage of the mission a cutscene plays, which really breaks the flow of gameplay.

Controlwise the game has several problems; Indoors it's hard to control what Spiderman does since he can climb on any surface, sometimes when you try to walk through a door he'll start climbing the wall. Also due to the way the camera switches to get almost movie style shots of the action, you can be running down a corridor toward an enemy and have the camera switch to facing you and begin to run back where you came from without even changing what direction you were holding. The combat controls are equally disappointing; You're allowed to lock onto enemies which locks the camera to them, but not Spiderman's movements. It's entirely possible to run straight past someone you're locked onto whilst trying to get close enough to hit them.

When you do try to hit enemies there's punch, kick, jump and web shot buttons, as well as combinations which must be unlocked before use. Enemies fall down after 3 hits and are neutralised after 4 leading to them falling straight back down after getting up most of the time. The combination moves aren't much better, as they're difficult to execute with the game recognising you've done so, as well as being pretty useless. Also enemies with guns stay back and let those who are unarmed get in your way of hitting them, allowing Spiderman to be shot as he battles the unarmed combatants.

Outdoor combat is just as unsatisfying, as you're swinging from your web (which miraculously attaches to nothing, and so makes web-slinging essentially flying with stricter controls), you're not allowed to punch or kick whilst doing so. This means your only method of attack is to fire web whilst swinging, which if your enemies are stationary is fairly annoying since you'll constantly be swinging past them at varying levels of altitude. As you swing through the city, Spiderman moves slowly upwards in addition to his vertical movements which can also complicate things.

To guide you to where the action is happening in missions, there's a compass in the bottom right corner of the screen which must be used alongside the altimeter beside it unless you're a fan of swinging straight over where you were meant to be going. Spiderman has his own health and web meters which can be filled with powerups found throughout the city and indoor levels.

Graphically the game isn't too shabby, especially for 2002, the city feels pretty empty and you soon get to its borders which have invisible walls that Spiderman bounces off. It's a little strange that you can't go below a certain level of height to explore the city, but perhaps understandable due to technical constraints. The music for the game is fairly cinematic with tense instrumental pieces making up the majority of the soundtrack. It's not particularly memorable, but does make the game seem more similar to the film.

Overall this is game with a lot of problems; the plot can be confusing at times especially if you haven't seen the film, the movement and combat controls are difficult to use at the best of times and outright get in the way in the worst cases. The missions are generally short and uninteresting with lots of cutscenes between each part of them. At the time of its release Spider-man received fairly positive reviews, but I think this was due to the impressive new 3D techniques of the PS2 and new gameplay features which seem much less advanced now.

Rating: 58/100
Grade: D