Ultimate Spider-Man
Only does a few things a spider can.
Tags: Ultimate Spider-Man Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Nov 5th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Spider-Man (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Adventure | No | ||
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Since they hit on a winning formula in Spider-Man 2: The Game, Activision needed a way keep it going. With another Spider-Man movie not due until 2007, they decided to mine the Ultimate series of comics. In this universe, the characters have been updated to live in the “actual” world, with Peter Parker being a webmaster (get it?!?) and everybody and their brother knowing he’s Spider-Man. This includes his buddy Eddie Brock who becomes Venom with the help of a cancer-fighting suit the Peter and Eddie’s fathers helped create.
Got all that? Frankly, dealing with the Ultimate universe is one of the frustrating parts of this game. Familiar characters seem unfamiliar, and it can be difficult to tell who the familiarly-named villains are until someone calls them by names.
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The game centers around the cancer-fighting suit and puts players alternately in control of Spidey (he can websling and has spider-sense) and Venom (he can jump really high and recharge his suit by feeding on bystanders), meeting members of F.U.R.Y. and ultimately meeting up and battling each other. There are also guest appearances by The Human Torch, Wolverine, and a few others.
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This game is fantastic looking. Billed as the “innovative 3D Comic Inking Technology,” and looking an awful lot like cel-shading, the game looks as much like playing a comic book as seems possible. The fully-realized map of Manhattan, the characters, the visualized sound effects, and even the cut-scenes between levels – everything looks like a comic book. It sets the mood and works really well with this game.
As with the previous Spider-Man game, this one lets the player roam freely around New York. One could do nothing more than websling from building to building or ride around on top of the cars in the city and have a pretty good time.
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Random city events will give players the chance to choose whether or not to help the lady being mugged, the man dangling from a rooftop, or the out-of-control vehicle careening wildly down the street. Other icons around the city will trigger “combat tours” and races. The combat tours have Spidey thrashing a lineup of thugs and the races have him… well, racing – against the clock to get through a pre-determined course. Once a certain number of city events and combat tours have been completed, a story event will open up, allowing the player to advance the storyline when they are ready.
The story is fast-paced and well-written, and there aren’t any slow points – unfortunately this means the game is over fairly quickly. A weekend rental would be a little too long for this game if it weren’t for all the unlockable content. From comic book covers to alternate costumes, there are plenty of icons to find that will reward the player with content.
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Sadly, the game’s biggest problem is an issue of patterns. Most story events have Spidey or Venom chasing someone and the random city events fall into three or four categories. The chases are the most frustrating thing about this game, and just might be one of the most frustrating game devices ever. Having a character that can only swing or jump really high chasing a character that can fly is a recipe for annoyance like you just can’t know until you play this game. Falling behind enough means replaying the chase over and over again until a way to stay close enough can be devised. If this device were used sparingly, it would be a good gameplay mechanic. Since it is used all the time, though, it affects the whole game. Rhino? Chase. Green Goblin? Chase. Chase, chase, chase. It is the game’s biggest flaw, and it knocks this game’s score down quite a bit because it is so frequent.
At times, this is a fun game, but those times come in between the story-advancing frustrating parts. If you’re a die-hard fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man series, this one’s a weekend rental for you at least.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Stylish and good-looking, looks like a comic book + A fully-realized New York for the player to websling around + Lots of unlockable content |
6.7 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- Storyline is short, hardly a weekend rental's worth - Chase sequences are overused and frustrating |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| So much effort was spent on making this game look great that it's surprising more time wasn't spent balancing the gameplay. | |
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Tags: Ultimate Spider-Man
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Nov 5th, 2005 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
