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'Next-gen Spidey returns '
 Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Category: : Action
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
Might look like: /
Date posted: 30 August 2007
Written By: Nate
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The developer, Treyarch
From the developers who brought you the action filled Call of Duty 3 game for the Xbox 360 last year and the well received Spider-man 2 game for the original Xbox comes the next installment in the spidey series, "Spider-man 3".
Though as with every other movie tie-in game its been undoubtedly proven that sacrificing game quality in exchange for meeting a release date that coincides with its movie counterpart, ultimately leads to a bad game.
Though with the people at Treyarch it has already been established that they can certainly handle the time constraints. Their previous work on the Spider-man 2 game came as a surprise for many critics because of how it was actually a good game for being a movie tie-in. Sadly the fact of the matter is that each development process differs for each game.
Therefore, the time has come to see if the Spider-man 3 game lives up the hype and retains the high quality action that was seen in its previous installment.
Game based on a movie ... works ?
As you all might already know this game follows the story behind the new blockbuster movie "Spider-man 3".
Now if you do not know about 'Spider-man 3' then you should probably stop reading now and invest in a little something called a television.
Now aside from the movie story line there are numerous other side stories put into this game that the movie does not follow, as well as new villains. The game’s setting takes place in Manhattan as the comic and Spider-man movies did as well. Though this time around the city is much larger than before and also includes two new immense areas such as the sewers and the subway.
  
Next-gen visuals & sounds
To start it all off the first thing that will catch the players’ eyes is the great visuals in 'Spider-man 3'.
As previously said in many previews before, the sheer size of the city of Manhattan is massive. Being roughly twenty miles in size, Spidey’s neighborhood is the largest of any Spider-man game to date. This size increase gives the player more than enough ample breathing room for performing Spider-man’s many acrobatic moves while swinging from building to building.
One thing to look out for is that even though you may be mesmerized by the acrobatic ballet in the air, you may overlook the fact that many character models in the game look a little bland.
Aside from a few super villains and of course 'Spider-man' himself, many of the characters in this game look as if they were flash cloned from one another. Though they litter the streets, they do not have the detail quality seen in the main character models.
Nevertheless Spider-man 3 is still a beautiful looking game with excellent character animations that help to breathe life into the city.
As a means to help solidify the breathtaking feeling of swinging through a city you must also have a great sound catalogue to further bring that experience home to the player. With Spider-man 3 it is no exception.
The background ambiance as your flying from rooftop to rooftop pull in the player as if they were actually swinging around in real life. This helps the player to further enjoy what Spider-man 3 has to offer.
From the numerous crowds chatting about to the sounds of the very wind as you swing away help broaden this exciting experience to something that can be very memorable to say the least.
To further strengthen the already powerful sound library behind Spider-man 3, Treyarch got hold of the original actors from the Spider-man 3 movie to reprise their roles in this new installment in the Spider-man franchise. So this time around you will actually have the chance to interact with 'Tobey Maguire', 'James Franc'o, and the lovely 'Mary Jane Watson' played by "Kari Wahlgren". Now before everyone goes crazy thinking that this is an error and Kirsten Dunst is actually the one who plays Mary Jane in the movies. This is true, but the fact of the matter is that Kirsten Dunst was unable to lend her voice to the Spider-man 3 game and that’s where Kari Wahlgren steps in.
Though with the absence of Dunst’s voice from the game the character sequences are still well scripted and the actors bring a grand sense as if your playing in the actual movie.
Overall the audio is superb and with a strong cast and a nice orchestral theme, Spider-man 3 feels more like an epic game than its previous installments.
Control Spidey
Now as with all previous Spider-man games there is one aspect that must be perfect in order for the game to be any good. That one significant aspect is control.
In order to successfully utilize all of Spider-man’s physical abilities you must have a strong and fluid control scheme behind it. With Spider-man 3 the controls seem to meet these requirements.
Well almost meet the requirements, but they were not that far off. Swinging through the city as Spider-man is a breeze. The controls are fluid and streamlined.
  
Though a problem occurs when changing directions. When doing so the camera does not react quickly enough, for when you turn you lose sight of what is in front of you. This leads to some very frustrating experiences, especially when you are under the crutch of a time limit.
Sadly this is not the only negative thing about Spider-man 3’s controls. To be blunt the fighting system is clunky. When fighting multiple enemies at once the lock-on system tends to be a little wonky, forcing you to attack people you do not intend to. Also when performing combos the attacks do not feel as smooth as you would think for a Spider-man game. Combining attacks together feels more like a sporadic button masher than a more strategic fighter like "God of War" on the 'Playstation 2'.
Also as seen while swinging, the camera acts against you when you fight enemies as well.
With its non intuitive camera angles most enemies end up hidden out of the player‘s view altogether. Though with all this the controls are still good, not the greatest, but good nonetheless. The controls will lead to quite a few frustrating moments, but at least it will not force you to throw your Xbox 360 across the room., and that is a very good thing.
Gameplay
All this talk about Spider-man 3’s controls and visuals would mean nothing if the gameplay was not good or entertaining.
To begin with, 'Spider-man 3' is a sandbox game where you can go anywhere anytime, and in order to progress the story you must complete a series of missions littered all throughout the city. Though to accompany the main story missions there is also a wide variety of small side missions for you to accomplish.
These range from giving Mary Jane a piggyback to various destinations to foiling random crimes such as bank robberies and car theft.
Each of the missions adds a bit a variety to the game and with the infinite amount of random crimes occurring there is technically no end to playing this game.
A new feature to 'Spider-man 3' is the action cut scenes A.K.A. the button sequences from 'God of War'. With this you must press a certain series of buttons in order to proceed through the scene. Miss one button and you fail. This new addition is a great one to the Spider-man game franchise because it gives you the ability to perform Spider-man’s gravity defying reflexes to escape dangers or defeat enemies in flashy and spectacular ways.
Though this addition is great, this new feature does have a drawback. The reaction time for pressing the correct buttons are extremely specific. Wait just a little to long or press a button just a hair to early and you fail the sequence and are forced to start it all over again.
Other than this, the action sequences are a welcome sight for a Spider-man game.
Another big addition to 'Spider-man 3' is the ability to play using the ‘black’ suit. With the many previews before the game was released, it has been said again and again that when you play using the ‘black’ suit you will be stronger and faster than when in the usual red and blue Spidey suit.
Though this seems to not be the case. Other than the addition of a ‘Rage’ meter, used to unleash a devastating move once filled, there is really no difference between the two Spider-man suits. Though nonetheless the ‘black’ suit still looks pretty cool.
Conclusion
In the end, "Spider-man 3" for the Xbox 360 is ultimately a good game.
Though some camera issues and control tweaks do hamper the game from being a truly amazing title. On the other hand, the addition of the action sequences and wide range of activities is a welcome sight to the Spider-man franchise. If only the small control issues could be resolved then this would be a great new direction for the Spider-man franchise to be heading.
Through all this, the Spider-man game franchise has established itself as one of the few, if not only, movie tie-ins to achieve such high critical praise and commercial success.
Hopefully more movie tie-in games look to the 'Spider-man game' series for inspiration and instill part of it into their own as a means to try and reach Spider-man‘s level of quality.
-Nathar
Ratings
Manual:
75 % |
Graphics:
83% |
Music & Sfx:
89% |
GamePlay:
90% |
|
This game scores
 
on our 5-point Rating System
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