Ultimate Spider-man

It is astonishing that only a few years ago that when a comic to videogame was being made that it was guaranteed to be crap, Superman 64 anyone? Yet thanks to the developers at Neversoft, the mold was broken and we have fine comic book based videogames. Unlike the previous Spider-Man games that have been released, this latest game is based off of the Ultimate Spider-man comic books series.

Several years ago, the Venom suite was created by Dr Richard Parker and Edward Brock, and their goal was to cure cancer. Recently their sons, who were best friends, Peter Parker and Eddie Brook Jr. found the remains of the suit and unleashed it upon the world. Peter first took it and he saw that it was dangerous so he put it back. Eddie next took the suit and it consumed him, shortly there after he and Peter fought a nasty battle, but then he vanished in a spark of electricity. Now it is up to Peter Parker, who is the amazing Spider-Man, to continue crime fighting, while Eddie Brook goes on a terror spree in New York.

One of the best things about this game is that you can play both as Spider-Man and Venom, and they each control very differently. Spider-Man plays just like all of the other games that carry the same name. One of the biggest differences between this game and the others ones is that Peter is a lot younger, so he will have less moves available to him, in comparison to the other games. Other then that players will be able to move freely throughout the city, swinging on web lines and enjoying the city view.

Venom plays a whole lot differently then Spider-Man. The first thing that players will realize is that Venom is a whole lot stronger then Spider-Man. He can lift and throw cars at people, uses claws and tentacles to attack people. Also Venom has no form of webbing so he will run around the streets and jumps a lot higher. One of the biggest drawbacks to being Venom is that he must constantly feed upon other humans because his health is always draining.

The game itself plays a lot like the previous Spider-Man 2 game. Players will have the opportunity to swing (or jump) around the city. As you are doing this you will come upon different missions, missions that will progress the story or just side missions that players will get to do for fun. This is a good thing though because players will get to play the game at their leisure and enjoy just goofing off with the different characters.

One of the things that I liked about this game is all of the different characters from many different comic books that players will get to interact with. In the beginning of the game players will get to race against the Human Torch (from Fantastic Four). Later on players will meet such characters as Wolverine, Rhino, Electro, Silver Sable, and many others. Not only that but most of the super villains that players will fight against have been completely redone with the Ultimate Spider-Man universe. For instance the Green Goblin is now an actual monster, in-comparison to the other games where he flies on a glider and throws bombs at you. These changes will make players want to keep playing to see what all the new character makeovers are.

When I first saw that this game was using some cel-shading properties I just was disheartened, especially since we are all brunt out on it. Now that I have gotten to spend some quality time with the game I have to say that this game looks really good, and the cel-shading fits really well with the entire game. Unlike the last game, the city of New York is scaled down a lot, which is not a bad thing since it will not take you a long time to get from one end of the city to the other. The character models in this game are something to be seen. Each of the main characters are highly detailed and look like they just popped out of the comic book.

With the good there is usually the bad. There are a few things that plagued this graphics in this game. First up is the limited draw-in distance, which means that you will see the occasional popup. While this is not a bad thing, it is still an annoyance. Just like all games of this nature form time to time the camera will become an annoyance and get in your way and could cause you to lose some of your precious life. Last but not least, this game also features some slowdown, even though it is not to the point where you are crawling it is still noticeable and a real distraction while you are playing this game.

The voiceovers for Ultimate Spider-Man really fit this game. Since Peter Parker is still a teenager his voice is now a bit younger, but he still has his classic smart-alek quips that he speaks while he is fighting a boss or when he is just swinging around the city. It is something that players have come to expect in a game with him, and the developers do not disappoint in this area. The only down part of the sound is that the music is really generic. Also the sound effects are also just as generic, but it is not really a problem in the game I just wish it was done a little better.

What is really disappointing in this game is the lack of extras. Unlike the other games in the series the extras that players will have the chance to get are pretty tame. There are only a handful of costumes that players will get to change between as well as a few different comic book covers. This is a real disappointment because the lack of extras really makes the replay value go down. A game of this nature really relies on extras because it keeps the players coming back trying to get the best score on everything.

Ultimate Spider-Man is rated T for Teen and contains language and violence. It will take up to 85 KB on your memory card for game saves.

Gameplay: 8.5
I really like the diverse gameplay between Venom and Spider-Man. This makes the game a whole lot more interesting because they each have their own style of play, which helps break up any repetition that might form.

Graphics: 8.1
The game looks really good. The cel-shading for this game really fits in with the entire atmosphere. The only bad thing is the occasional slow down that plagues the game, it is not bad where it ruins the game experience but it will get on your nerves.

Sound: 8.6
The voiceovers in this game are really strong and helps convey the characters really well. It is too bad that the music is very generic as are the sound effects.

Difficulty: Medium
The game has its hard moments as well as some easier ones, just like any game of this nature.

Concept: 8.5
I really liked that I got to play as both Spider-Man and Venom; this really mixed up the gameplay and helped prevent any repetition.

Overall 8.4
Ultimate Spider-Man is a really good game for the PlayStation 2. While there are a few things that prevent this game from becoming phenomenal, I highly suggest that you pick this game up and try it out for yourself.