Spider-Man 3 [ Xbox 360 ]
I don't think I'm alone in that my first urges upon playing a Spider-man game (after going through the training level) are to swing through the digital streets of New York from building to building to my heart's content, whilst stopping every now and then to pummel the odd villain to death and web him up. Since the last movie tie-in for the series, Spider-man 2, did such a good job of giving us this ability, this is obviously the first thing you eagerly await with baited breath to test. And on first examination, things don't look good. The first immediate problem is that the flipping camera cant sit still for 5 seconds, and even worse still, the angle of the camera seems to have an affect on the direction of your swing. So you'll be launching yourself away, move to adjust the camera slightly, and then as it unmercifully jolts back into it's awkward position you realize you're now horizontal in mid-air. And not only this, but you can go for a good few minutes without encountering any kind of crime in progress.
It's because of this that i think this game has gotten such bad reviews in certain places - IGN.com giving it a measly 6 out of 10. But the truth is that the only major fault with the game - the camera - is exploited and magnified in such a way with the web-slinging from the off that you just can't see how this game is going to be anything but awful. And for a while, I thought it was well below par as far as it's predecessor goes, but if you give it a chance to show off it's new moves you soon realize that the camera IS just about the only major fault in the game.
A new system has been imported whereby you have to press a corresponding button on your controller to perform an action - and this is used rather unpredictably and not always under the same situations. For example, in one battle with the New Goblin you have to quickly follow the button prompts on screen to dodge attacks and strike back, and in another situation you're web slinging through a collapsing area and have to react quickly with the prompts to avoid being squashed under various falling objects. In most cases it will very difficult to complete the button presses first time as they appear a split second before needing to be pressed, and most of the time you'll be remembering sequences rather than simply relying on lightening quick reflexes, which - in part thanks to the fact that an unsuccessful attempt only returns you back to the start of the sequence you failed - makes for interesting boss battles and intervals in the usual swinging action.
Now as for why the camera is so bad, it's never at any worse than when you're attempting to climb a wall or walk across a ceiling. The moment you attempt to do so the camera immediately flips to an overhead view meaning you can't see what's around you and most of the time you wont know if you're climbing up or down, left or right. The fact that the camera insists on jolting back into its default position every time you attempt to see where the fuck you are doesn't help things either. It's really difficult to understand how such a basic flaw remains in this game - maybe it's to do with the fact that it was rushed out to meet the release date of the film, but luckily not a lot of wall-crawling is required in most parts of the game (which is surprising really) so it's a fault that can be ignored after time.
The enemies come in the form of local gangs (which usually contain several easy opponents and one boss-level member who takes that little bit longer to defeat and is usually carrying a larger weapon than the rest), as well as villains from both the comic books and the movies. Rhino, Sandman, Scorpion and of course Venom appear among others.
So in the end, a massively under-rated game. To begin with i didn't rate it much but now I'm finding myself playing it constantly. A nice choice of missions through the various areas of the graphically impressive city (which span the course of the game and can be taken on at any time in several parts) gives you plenty to do if simply swinging between buildings and enjoying the view isn't your thing, but the joy of taking on a gang and swinging half of it's members upwards for mid-air battles is simply something every spidey wannabe has to do once in this game. Bruce Campbell also does another fine job of Narrator, you can be sure every time you screw up or mis-time something he'll be there to give you some words of wisdom.
It's because of this that i think this game has gotten such bad reviews in certain places - IGN.com giving it a measly 6 out of 10. But the truth is that the only major fault with the game - the camera - is exploited and magnified in such a way with the web-slinging from the off that you just can't see how this game is going to be anything but awful. And for a while, I thought it was well below par as far as it's predecessor goes, but if you give it a chance to show off it's new moves you soon realize that the camera IS just about the only major fault in the game.
A new system has been imported whereby you have to press a corresponding button on your controller to perform an action - and this is used rather unpredictably and not always under the same situations. For example, in one battle with the New Goblin you have to quickly follow the button prompts on screen to dodge attacks and strike back, and in another situation you're web slinging through a collapsing area and have to react quickly with the prompts to avoid being squashed under various falling objects. In most cases it will very difficult to complete the button presses first time as they appear a split second before needing to be pressed, and most of the time you'll be remembering sequences rather than simply relying on lightening quick reflexes, which - in part thanks to the fact that an unsuccessful attempt only returns you back to the start of the sequence you failed - makes for interesting boss battles and intervals in the usual swinging action.
Now as for why the camera is so bad, it's never at any worse than when you're attempting to climb a wall or walk across a ceiling. The moment you attempt to do so the camera immediately flips to an overhead view meaning you can't see what's around you and most of the time you wont know if you're climbing up or down, left or right. The fact that the camera insists on jolting back into its default position every time you attempt to see where the fuck you are doesn't help things either. It's really difficult to understand how such a basic flaw remains in this game - maybe it's to do with the fact that it was rushed out to meet the release date of the film, but luckily not a lot of wall-crawling is required in most parts of the game (which is surprising really) so it's a fault that can be ignored after time.
The enemies come in the form of local gangs (which usually contain several easy opponents and one boss-level member who takes that little bit longer to defeat and is usually carrying a larger weapon than the rest), as well as villains from both the comic books and the movies. Rhino, Sandman, Scorpion and of course Venom appear among others.
So in the end, a massively under-rated game. To begin with i didn't rate it much but now I'm finding myself playing it constantly. A nice choice of missions through the various areas of the graphically impressive city (which span the course of the game and can be taken on at any time in several parts) gives you plenty to do if simply swinging between buildings and enjoying the view isn't your thing, but the joy of taking on a gang and swinging half of it's members upwards for mid-air battles is simply something every spidey wannabe has to do once in this game. Bruce Campbell also does another fine job of Narrator, you can be sure every time you screw up or mis-time something he'll be there to give you some words of wisdom.
posted by MacabreMagpie at 11:25 AM
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