Gamenikki
Systems
Screens
Summary
pros
- Excellent presentation and visual style
- Playing as Venom iis about the coolest thing since fried food
- Same sturdy gameplay engine
cons
- Game wavers between being too easy and way too hard
- Storyline skews towards younger age set
- "Hilarious" sound bites get old very quickly
final score
7
The Review
Ultimate Spider-Man
- Number of Players: One
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Developer: Treyarch
- Publisher: Activision
- ESRB Rating: T
- Online: No
- Supports: Memory Card (15 Blocks)
Another year, another Spider-Man game, only now our dear old franchise doesn’t have a new film to promote. The solution? Return to the actual comic for source material (a wise choice), only this time Treyarch adopts the newer, “more hip” source: Ultimate Spider-Man. The title is just a tad misleading, as it suggests the final destination of a linear path started with the previous Spider-Man games. Ultimate Spider-Man is best enjoyed when viewed as a separate path for the franchise, one whose bright graphics and teenybopper storyline add a refreshing parallel to the realist movie versions. Fans need not fear, the established web-slinging engine makes its return along with a few enhancements and one major twist: Venom is now a fully-playable character, complete with his own individual abilities.
The storyline of Ultimate Spider-Man takes place in New York, starting in Queens and quickly heading into Manhattan. Peter Parker and Eddie Brock finally track down the result of their dads’ scientific research, the liquid symbiotic suit that attaches itself to the wearer. Parker feels uncomfortable and rids himself of the suit, while Brock adopts it and becomes the well-known Venom. Futuristic defense company Trask Industries has billions of dollars in government contracts on the line over Venom’s suit, so they are pretty anxious to get it back, employing all their available weaponry (such as The Rhino). Meanwhile, Parker goes about living life in an environment better suited to teen dramas like The O.C., with his flippant comments, mild double entendres and a sassy girlfriend to help “keep it real”.
I found the storyline a tad distracting, since the game obviously skews towards a younger audience, but while this may result in plenty of eye rolling and awkward laughter, the vibrant comic book style presentation gives credibility and much-needed visual cool to the process. Lines and panels quickly shoot out of the screen to frame the cutscenes, and even if they don’t act like a real comic layout would, the flair adds dynamism to a story that was otherwise dead on arrival.
"...Ultimate Spider-Man is best enjoyed when viewed as a separate path for the franchise, one whose bright graphics and teenybopper storyline add a refreshing parallel to the realist movie versions...."
The storyline of Ultimate Spider-Man takes place in New York, starting in Queens and quickly heading into Manhattan. Peter Parker and Eddie Brock finally track down the result of their dads’ scientific research, the liquid symbiotic suit that attaches itself to the wearer. Parker feels uncomfortable and rids himself of the suit, while Brock adopts it and becomes the well-known Venom. Futuristic defense company Trask Industries has billions of dollars in government contracts on the line over Venom’s suit, so they are pretty anxious to get it back, employing all their available weaponry (such as The Rhino). Meanwhile, Parker goes about living life in an environment better suited to teen dramas like The O.C., with his flippant comments, mild double entendres and a sassy girlfriend to help “keep it real”.
I found the storyline a tad distracting, since the game obviously skews towards a younger audience, but while this may result in plenty of eye rolling and awkward laughter, the vibrant comic book style presentation gives credibility and much-needed visual cool to the process. Lines and panels quickly shoot out of the screen to frame the cutscenes, and even if they don’t act like a real comic layout would, the flair adds dynamism to a story that was otherwise dead on arrival.
Written by: Dave Jesteadt