Spider-Man 2 : Web Wombat : Games

Having given up any chance of seeing a mature themed Spider-Woman sequel, I decided to take such calamitous news on the chin and invest some time with Activision's latest Spider-Man console game.

Look, I love Spider-Man, and I know Halle Berry's Cat Woman is supposed to rock the hizzy, but she who can't project sticky silk from unsightly folds in her wrists is just not a super heroine in my book.

I didn't want to rock the boat folks, but I tell it like I see it, and today I'm seeing particularly clearly.

Okay, I'm off the point here, but who's gonna stop me - no one? Good. Now I can take over the world with my… errr, rusted out 1978 Toyota Corolla… Dang.

Next on the agenda after world domination - let me see… ah! Spider-Man 2 on the consoles. Looks nice, has Tobey Maguire, Alfred Molina and Kirsten Dunst all lending their voices to the production and promises free-roam gaming in a massive recreation of New York city.

Sounds good right? Sure, but spending an hour talking to Paris Hilton also sounds good - until you realise her vocabulary extends to four words and two of them are "Look! Gucci."

To be honest, I did get a bit bored of Spider-Man 2 after extended play, though we are talking several days, as opposed to one hour. But in hindsight I think that that was the problem - I played the game too damn much, but more on that later.

The game is played out in parallel with the movie, which is kinda cool (click here for the movie review), but in general it pans out in a linear fashion, split into chapters.

To web swing is to live - it's digital poetry

Each chapter tasks you with a handful of objectives, usually involving buying an upgrade of some sort (combat moves, web swing speed, dilithium crystals etc), earning hero points and of course a few annoying odd jobs, such as delivering pizza for Mr. Aziz, taking photos for the Daily Bugle nerdlingers or peddling broken glass on the street corner as a treatment for ADD sufferers.

Now, getting back to why I played the game until it got boring, here's the reason: gameplay. It's rock solid, it's fairly freeform and it's also a shit load of fun.

Getting to grips with all the moves that Spider-Man has to offer takes time, and one of the most important moves related to exploration is the web swing.

By freeform, I mean that you can essentially shoot web in front of you like an organic grappling hook, then start swinging and exploring the city. Shoot web, swing, detach web and fly through the air; then shoot web, rinse and repeat until you're positively nauseous.

There's no denying that Spider-Man is one very versatile super hero, and for mine, this is the first Marvel game I've played where you actually feel immeasurably superior to all other beings in the gameworld - and that's such a cool feeling.

You can climb buildings, leap about 150 metres into the air (that's about 450 feet for the imperialist pig dogs), run faster than cars and of course use slow motion to unleash a deadly selection of snap-kicks on unrepentant criminals.

Combine these moves with the web swing and all of sudden a living, breathing and sprawling city is quickly transformed into your very own personal playground, whereby leaping from skyscraper to skyscraper is all in a days work, and covering many miles in seconds is a very real prospect.

Three web ties at once? Holy arachnid Saturday!

Being the Spider-meister in such a massive city is an unbelievably enjoyable experience, and some credit should go to the lovely physics engine (and body kinematics) that Treyarch saw fit to code into the game. Without these the swinging, jumping, launching and free falling wouldn't be half as much fun.

Oh, and while we're talking web swinging, I take umbrage at the action/movement section in the manual, which is headlined "Do Whatever a Spider Can".

Well, last time I checked, spiders couldn't swing through massive cities, use cameras or belt several shades of hurt through car jackers with their balled fists and/or tentacles. Will Barker 1, Marvel 0.

Back to the gameworld, and completing the objectives of any given chapter is fairly self-explanatory - save for the hero points. "So tell me about the stupid hero points before I f*** your shit up" I hear you subtly infer? Well, here's the deal: you simply save people from falling to their death and beat up crims for hero points.

Wherever you are in the city, you'll frequently come across random NPCs who will tell you of a robbery or such, and sometimes you'll also come across petty crimes in progress. Combat is another aspect which has been well handled, offering gamers a fairly in-depth, but very comic-faithful take on melee combat.

So, we've established that the game's very involved, it's got these cool cut-scenes to keep the plot bubbling along and you can even play the game at your own pace, spending all day solving petty crimes or instead rushing through the main objectives.

But, sometimes it hurts to play. There's a real repetitive nature to the game. You know exactly what you'll be doing next chapter (earn 4000 hero points, meet Otto and purchase silicone breast implants) and this sometimes makes progressing hard to justify. Why should I bother doing it over and again when I can have more fun putting that stray cat in the microwave?

"People think I'm a sensitive super hero,
but it's all an act to get the chicks. Now
witness the real Peter Parker. Hahaha!"

Sure, the upgrades are cool and there's plenty of powerful/practical combat moves and acrobatic manoeuvres to unlock, but after about the 7th chapter I really felt the tedium creeping in.

It sounds very tempting, and it is a very alluring game, but when all's said and done, there's a feeling of emptiness in the Spider-Man 2 game, a feeling that you're purpose in this game is largely superficial.

But on it's merits, and for the length of the game, it's a damn fine title, and even in the face of such criticisms, I still sit here at work typing away like the slightly confused desk monkey that I am, constantly thinking about swinging through the city like a well-adjusted super hero.

Oh, and before I finish up, I should make mention of the graphics. Ooh, there's some pretty screenshots there - nice work Ed, you pansy [Excuse me? - Ed]. In general, the game is very easy on the eyes, but that's not to say it's a real humdinger.

There are times when you look at the details or some character models and think "I've seen better, and where's that warmth coming from?" but I think the smoothness and high frame rate help nullify such reservations.

The fact that you perch atop the highest skyscraper, watch the sun set and view the city in all its entirely - albeit at a reduced detail for distant objects - is also a testament to Treyarch's tip-top programming skills.

The awesome cut scenes, which some reckon are better than the action sequences in the movie, the tasty voice acting, superlative gameplay and wham-bam graphics all lend this game a high quality feel.

Though I still feel the game lacks a bit of charm and has an empty feel at times, it is still a masterful production that deserves plenty of credit. Now, where's that Spider-Woman script I was working on…

Game: Spider-Man 2
System: Xbox
Players: 1
Online: No
Developer: Treyarch
Distributor: Activision

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Spider-Man 2 is on the shelves now.

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