Spring Break
'Spider-Man 3' swings and misses in Xbox 360 game
By: Marshall Fleming
Issue date: 5/25/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Originally published: 5/25/07 at 1:14 AM EST
Last update: 5/25/07 at 1:14 AM EST
Originally published: 5/25/07 at 1:14 AM EST
Last update: 5/25/07 at 1:14 AM EST
While many fans anxiously awaited the third installment of the Spiderman movie franchise, another group of fans waited for the third installment of the corresponding video game.
Much like the reviews for the movie, thoughts on the game are mixed. While the game gives a much bigger map than previous versions, and the graphics have greatly improved to work with the Next-Gen gaming consoles, (The game was reviewed on Xbox 360), there are multiple concerns with the game.
The biggest turnoff came in the beginning stages of the game during the tutorial. Admittedly, I have not played either of the earlier versions of the game, so I knew it would take some getting used to, but even for those of you that are Spiderman veterans, the controls have changed from previous versions, so you may want to review them. The tutorial goes by pretty quick and assumes that you are able to battle enemies while reading text about what to do as well as comprehend what the tutorial voice says, so you may need to try it several times before you advance.
The majority of the moves that the tutorial teaches however, do not need to be used unless fighting a major villain. Fighting the random crimes you come upon when swinging around NYC and a large amount of enemies in selected missions is a bit too easy. Almost all can be defeated using the same attack throughout the duration of the fight. Using other attacks just increases the entertainment factor from the sheer force.
Other features you will have to complete early on in the game include transporting Mary Jane around the city and following her demands to "Swing higher!" or "Swing faster!" which will get annoying very fast. There are also photo assignments, (seeing as Peter Parker is a photographer for the Daily Bugle), that are pretty much there only to take up time.
It would be great if the ease of defeating bad guys, and the unnecessary missions that come up from time to time were the only problems, but the biggest problem, the camera angles, is where quality starts to decline. When swinging in certain directions, the compass in the corner of the screen (which tells you where you need to go and how far you are from your destination) sometimes slips behind another on screen tool, meaning you have to temporarily change direction to get it back into view. The camera angles also tend to get a little bit sketchy when you go into crawl mode and approach corners.
Despite these deficiencies, the game still has many good qualities, many of which are brand new to this version. Obviously the biggest new feature is black suited Spiderman. About half way through the game, which for the most part follows the plot of the movie, the suit will become available. With it, your attacks and attitude become noticeably different.
The other great feature of the game is being able to choose the order in which you complete your missions. Obviously, you will need to complete some missions before being able to try others, but for the most part, you will have 4 or 5 missions at a time that you can complete in any order. If you fail a mission, you can leave that one to try another and come back once your skills are better.
For now I mark Spiderman 3 as a "Rent it or borrow it first, then make a decision."
Much like the reviews for the movie, thoughts on the game are mixed. While the game gives a much bigger map than previous versions, and the graphics have greatly improved to work with the Next-Gen gaming consoles, (The game was reviewed on Xbox 360), there are multiple concerns with the game.
The biggest turnoff came in the beginning stages of the game during the tutorial. Admittedly, I have not played either of the earlier versions of the game, so I knew it would take some getting used to, but even for those of you that are Spiderman veterans, the controls have changed from previous versions, so you may want to review them. The tutorial goes by pretty quick and assumes that you are able to battle enemies while reading text about what to do as well as comprehend what the tutorial voice says, so you may need to try it several times before you advance.
The majority of the moves that the tutorial teaches however, do not need to be used unless fighting a major villain. Fighting the random crimes you come upon when swinging around NYC and a large amount of enemies in selected missions is a bit too easy. Almost all can be defeated using the same attack throughout the duration of the fight. Using other attacks just increases the entertainment factor from the sheer force.
Other features you will have to complete early on in the game include transporting Mary Jane around the city and following her demands to "Swing higher!" or "Swing faster!" which will get annoying very fast. There are also photo assignments, (seeing as Peter Parker is a photographer for the Daily Bugle), that are pretty much there only to take up time.
It would be great if the ease of defeating bad guys, and the unnecessary missions that come up from time to time were the only problems, but the biggest problem, the camera angles, is where quality starts to decline. When swinging in certain directions, the compass in the corner of the screen (which tells you where you need to go and how far you are from your destination) sometimes slips behind another on screen tool, meaning you have to temporarily change direction to get it back into view. The camera angles also tend to get a little bit sketchy when you go into crawl mode and approach corners.
Despite these deficiencies, the game still has many good qualities, many of which are brand new to this version. Obviously the biggest new feature is black suited Spiderman. About half way through the game, which for the most part follows the plot of the movie, the suit will become available. With it, your attacks and attitude become noticeably different.
The other great feature of the game is being able to choose the order in which you complete your missions. Obviously, you will need to complete some missions before being able to try others, but for the most part, you will have 4 or 5 missions at a time that you can complete in any order. If you fail a mission, you can leave that one to try another and come back once your skills are better.
For now I mark Spiderman 3 as a "Rent it or borrow it first, then make a decision."
