Spider-Man Review - Games - http://maxpages.com/bestgamesites/Spider_Man

RATING: 7.8

Spider-Man for GameCube follows the life of geek turn super-hero Peter Parker, detailing as the movie does his life from nerdy teenager to photographer extraordinaire and webslinging crime fighter. But the title only loosely sticks to the storyline of the film, and also injects some extra evil foes, missions and scenarios into the mix for good measure. With several different gameplay modes to boot and a pretty visual presentation bringing everything together, Spidey's next-generation appearance is ultimately a satisfying one, but it does have its mechanical and technical drawbacks and could prove a bit too short for advanced players.

The Facts

Play as the famous superhero Spider-Man

Explore 22 huge worlds

Swing above skyscrapers, climb walls and buildings, hang from ceilings, use webbing to propel forward and more

Summersault, jump, run, dive, and flip your way out of enemy's harm

Use special power-ups and perform more than 30 different attack moves and combos

Fight super villains in different types of environments

Next-generation 3D engine developed by Treyarch for use with GameCube, Xbox and PS2

Beautiful new visual enhancements including more detailed textures, bigger environments, reflection mapping, advanced particle effects and more

Single-player adventure

Gameplay
A radioactive spider has already bitten clumsy Peter Parker and inherited him super-human abilities as the story to this GameCube take opens. He's making some extra cash as a masked wrestler, and a good one, when fate steps in. His boss stiffs him on some owed money, so Parker doesn't think twice about letting a thief who has stolen some items escape down the hallway of the place -- he's got his own problems to worry about, after all. But life isn't without its sense of irony it seems. When Peter returns to his uncle Ben's house later that night, he discovers the old man murdered -- by the same thief that he let escape earlier.

Spider-Man for GameCube is a fairly linear 3D action-adventure through 22 stages of varying challenges, from stealthily crawling atop ceilings of warehouses and figuring out ways to unlock doorways to fighting flying bosses while swinging in the skies above the city. You control the webslinger himself as he brawls his way about, zips across walls and rooftops, punches, kicks, and dives over enemies, and generally impresses with his quick and powerful abilities.

There are several different modes of play, each with an individual set of control mechanics. You begin the game as Parker, still dressed in an undeveloped wrestling-mask version of what will day become Spider-Man's suit, and looking for revenge on the thief who killed your uncle Ben. You learn that a gang called the Skulls are involved, and decide to look for members, uh, on the rooftops of the city. It makes enough sense if you think about it -- and you're crazy.

But the play mechanics, relatively tight, make up for any holes in the story. Spider-Man can graciously swing from building to building, fast and freely, which feels very polished, cling to buildings and crawl in any direction, also very well done, and generally explore without too many problems. And it's just plain cool to be able to hop onto buildings, shoot upward with a web spin, and then freefall back down, only to cast a web out and go soaring again. Depending on which control setup you prefer, there are two, webs that allow Spidey to glide through the city in strides are cast with the R button, while the analog stick controls his direction and level. There are all sorts of tricks that can be performed in mid-air, from shooting webs at enemies with the Y button -- generally the main form of attack in any air fight, to holding R for more speed, pressing A to free fall, and more. The setup works tightly enough, though you'll probably smack into a few buildings before you get fully used to it, and indeed the enhanced control setup is the way to go once you've mastered everything as it allows for instance turning in mid-air, an advantage in battles.

The biggest problem in the air, as on the ground, is the camera system. It's just not very smart, and this does have a bearing on gameplay. The sky-based action is largely well angled, easy to see where Spidey is heading and usually equally easy to stay centered on the enemy or object you need to defeat or acquire. But there are definitely times where, after slapping into a building, for example, you'll lose sight of an enemy and the sucker -- still moving around, even circling -- will be just about impossible to get an eye on again. Treyarch has offered control of the camera with the C-Stick, which enables you to look around while playing, but the drawback to doing so is that the camera affects the direction of Spider-Man's movements. So, if you're swinging across a city in the left direction and decide to have a look to your right, the hero will also go that way, and then when you try to correct yourself everything will be out of whack. You'll actually have to stop applying pressure to the camera and let the controls fix themselves. Still trying to correct the issue, the developer has included the option to lock onto enemies so that Spider-Man's view always stays centered on them. This usually works very nicely.
The scope of each level is impressive indeed. The skyscrapers of the first area stretch seemingly as far as the eye can see, which presents the need for two ways of orienting yourself. The first, a compass, points in the direction that Spidey needs to go. This usually works fairly well, but it has some issues in specific spots, at one point angling the hero in one direction and when he gets there pointing in exactly the opposite; it isn't completely reliable. The other shows the elevation of the enemy or object Spidey needs to find, which proves very useful.

Overall, the sensation of swinging and soaring above massive cities is realized triumphantly. It's fast moving and Spidey can go just about anywhere you can see, be it up or down, left or right, or anywhere in between. Just be prepared to fight not only the enemies, but at times the camera too.

On the ground, Spidey takes on a wealth of different abilities. He can of course run, jump, punch, and kick, but as he progresses through the levels he acquires new combo abilities too. He'll be able to dive and kick, flip around, execute a gravity-stomping slam, and much more. He can spin webs at enemies, temporarily disabling them, and then pounce. He can encapsulate himself in a shield of webbing that blasts open onto opponents, knocking them down. He can instantly shoot his web up at a high ceiling and immediately stick to it, or to a sidewall, or straight forward. He can shoot his webbing downward at foes while hanging from the ceiling. He can stick to and climb walls and ceilings. He can even jump on the shoulders of an enemy and beat the poor fool over the head while he runs around. The selection of abilities on hand is, quite simply, awesome, and when you walk underneath a ceiling shaft and immediately shoot Spider-Man up it with his webbing, it clicks -- it feels great, just as you'd imagine, and that's quite an accomplishment. Webslinging anywhere in these ground levels is pure fun. It's very seamless and smooth, and offers a real sense of Spidey's agility and acrobatic movements.

There are various goals per ground mission, some more complicated and challenging than others. These mini-goals range from finding a key that opens a door to rescuing civilian hostages and closing off a water pipe before it fills a level with electricity-fused liquid. There is a decent boss fight with the Shocker in which Spider-Man must use his web zips to beat out the charged opponent's blasts. There is a spiraling chase through a blazing tower against the Vulture. There is a speeding mid-air flight with the Green Goblin to save Mary Jane. All of these are enjoyable. The fighting system, though -- some standard combos and regular punches and kicks, fails to deliver the Spidey feel; it's too slow, a bit too clunky, to mimic the real deal.

The problem is again the camera system. It's wacky, more so than in the mid-air levels. Treyarch has tried just about everything to make it function in an entertaining manner, and while it works for the most part, it hasn't come together exactly as planned. The camera generally follows in a third-person fashion behind you, but it attempts to shift behind transparent walls as the hero clings to ceiling, or to an object, and so forth. When it does this, the view changes to the new pulled back angle, which is immediately disorienting, but what's worse is that the control changes to reflect this new angle too. So you might be trying to walk forward into a dark hallway one second and unknowingly climb a wall in front of you, at which point the view switches, as does the control, and it takes a moment to right everything. This happens a lot during indoor exploration, making it the biggest problem of the game.

Shocking stuff.

In the end, though, the experience is worth braving the camera issues as there is quite a lot of fun to be had while the adventure lasts. For some, this could be as long as 10 to 12 hours, especially if playing on the most difficult setting and counting the training missions too, which are enjoyable. For others, though, like us, the adventure could prove too short, beaten in about five or six hours, including some training areas. If you consider yourself a speed gamer -- the type who doesn't stop playing until he's finished a product -- you may want to consider Spider-Man as a rental rather than a buy. And if you're dead-set on buying and happen to own an Xbox in addition to GameCube, you should be aware that the Microsoft version offers two additional levels, not to mention better graphics and sound, making it the better purchase. All readers would be wise to check out our head-to-head feature which compares and contrasts all three incarnations.

Graphics
Visually, the GameCube version of Spider-Man falls neatly between the crisp and colorful Xbox version and the less defined and more sluggish PS2 build. All three versions are pretty, mind you.
Spider-Man GCN brings the movie to life with a well modeled, high polygon 3D main character -- Spidey, and some solid enough animation to boot. You'll be pleased with the webslinger's quick, fluid movements, his acrobatic jumps up and down walls, onto ceilings and his seemingly choreographed swings through the city. Beyond that, you'll be treated to some handsome outside 3D areas that stretch into the far distance, huge buildings that reflect sunlight on their windows, a world of streaming traffic far below the city that moves with eerie realism, and more. The indoor environments range from a dark subways to sewer systems, abandoned warehouses, towers, and more -- all brought to life with relatively strong texture work, detailed, colorful and varied. Each area is filled with a wide range of lower-polygon enemies, all of whom animate a bit on the stiff side, but acceptably still. There are advanced particle effects that disperse flames and splatter, smoke that looks nearly volumetric, some blurring slow-motion effects, and a whole lot of other visual treats too.

The framerate isn't quite as smooth as the Xbox version, which runs at 60 fairly consistently. The GCN version drops regularly between 60 and 30, which isn't always pleasant on the eyes, but you'll get used to it as you play through a couple of the bigger city levels. It's never a troublesome affair and in truth there are those who probably won't even notice.

In the end, the game looks like the movie in a lot of spots, from the characters themselves to the wide, sprawling city locales, to the FMV cut-scenes that highlight some of the action. It's of course easily the prettiest Spider-Man game to date.

Sound
On the audio side, the GameCube version of Spider-Man delivers a solid experience, but it is the least amazing of the three console versions. Unfortunately, the title does not run in Dolby Pro Logic II, despite the fact that the PS2 version does. You can thank Nintendo's inefficient methods for that -- the company was unable to get its contract between Dolby signed, sealed and delivered in time for Activision to put the technology to use on the GCN build. A real shame.

Still, even without DPLII, the game is loud, theatrical and moody on the ears, with some seriously funny speech included. Treyarch nabbed the voices of real actors Tobey Maguire for Peter Parker / Spider-Man and William Dafoe for the Green Goblin. The result is an impressively acted, wittily delivered storyline, with loads of one-liners in the game. As criminals yell, "Is the circus in town?" to Spidey, he retaliates with quick comebacks that might make you smile. Others might make you wince. When the Vulture screams that he just wants to be left alone, Maguire says, "You'll have lots of time to yourself in your jail cell." Later, as Spider-Man rides atop the backs of enemies, the scream for him to get off, that he's going to bring them both down. And topping everything off is the voice of Bruce Campbell, who brilliantly narrates the training modes with a sense of style and humor all his own -- this really adds character to the game.

If there is to be an audio drawback, it's that the GameCube version sounds slightly tinny in comparison to the Xbox and PS2 games, probably due to over-compression. It's just barely noticeable though.

Closing Comments
Spider-Man is a fun 3D action-adventure. Developer Treyarch has done a remarkable job of recreating the feature film for videogame junkies, as Activision's offering looks and sounds a whole lot like the movie, and even follows some similar plot lines. Control is, for the most part, very satisfying, particularly anything related to Spider-Man's webbing moves -- snapping up to a ceiling or swinging through skyscrapers is extremely enjoyable and sure to appeal to the boy in all of us. The different level modes are equally enticing, from exploring the ceilings of a running sewer to chasing the Vulture up his blazing castle, and to gripping the back of the Green Goblin as he fights to free himself in the skies above a major city.
What isn't so fun, though, is the fighting system -- it lacks something, be it collision detection or variety, and as a result there's never that sense of "umph!" when connecting with an enemy. That's a minor problem, perhaps, as there's so much more to the game, but unfortunately there are other drawbacks, the biggest of which is easily the camera system. Maybe it's trying to do to many things at once, but often times the action becomes disorienting, difficult to find your bearings, particularly in the indoor levels, which is downright frustrating. And then there is the issue of length -- is six hours for advanced gamers enough? That's a question you should consider before buying.

In the end, Spider-Man's shortcomings are overshadowed by its successes, which is why I can still recommend the game as a solid rental, if not a buy to most. I dare anybody to swing through the vast cities of this game, or crawl around on the ceiling while webbing a couple of enemies, and not totally enjoy the experience. I just hope that in the sequel the game's camera is no longer Spidey's biggest villain.

And if you're curious, Spider-Man for GameCube is a much better buy than for PS2 as it runs and looks better. But the Xbox version, with cleaner graphics and audio, a smoother framerate, and two additional levels, is the best of the three.

Click here for our head-to-head comparison of the three versions.

With that, you might be wondering why, if we agree that Spider-Man is better on GameCube than for PS2, did we give the game a lower score than our sister-site did the PS2 version? It just comes down to personal preference. In the end, the PS2 folks liked the game more than we did.

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Page Updated Wed Sep 4, 2002 7:34pm EDT