Without so much as a "Go get 'em Tiger," Spider-Man makes his triumphant return to consoles with the recently released "Ultimate Spider-Man." Rather than waiting for an addition to the motion picture franchise, "Ultimate" dives head-first into the successful alternate-universe-of-sorts popularized by Marvel a few years back.
This line of comics reinvents the beloved web-slinger for a new generation of readers, while maintaining the core elements that make Spider-Man such a fan favorite.
After the success of last year's "Spider-Man 2" and it's free-roaming style, developer Treyarch went back to the well for the latest installment. "Ultimate Spider-Man" features a somewhat smaller version of New York City, this time redone in comic style. Everything from the Empire State Building to Times Square has been recreated using the same cell-shaded graphics seen in titles like "Sly Cooper" and "Ico." The visual aspects of this game are simply amazing, particularly the cut-scenes between missions. While still in full-motion, events unfold in a comic-paneled style that evokes thoughts of old-school great, "Comix Zone." Characters leap between panels, complete with cheesy "Thwip!" and "Rrraaaarrrrr!" word effects.
All of the character models are faithfully rendered with respect to their comic book counterparts, though it seemed like Peter's hair looked a bit greasy every time he was in a cut-scene — but maybe that's just his style.
Brian Michael Bendis, who actually writes the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comics, penned the entertaining story of the game as well. Dialogue is exactly what people would expect from Spider-Man — quick quips and smart-ass comments aplenty.
Controls are almost completely identical to those found in "Spider-Man 2," with a few minor tweaks in web swinging. Rather than having to jump after shooting a web line, players simply have to let go of the R2 button and press it again to start a new one. This effectively eliminates the gripes many had with last year's control — mainly that web swinging almost required a few extra fingers to successfully maneuver about the city's buildings. At the same time, the sensation of flying around a bustling metropolis, narrowly squeaking between skyscrapers is unfortunately somewhat diminished in this game. It's still fun to cruise around New York — it just somehow doesn't feel quite the same.
Also similar to "Spider-Man 2" (sensing a trend?), game-play consists mainly of completing a few base story missions and fighting bosses. Between story missions, players are required to complete menial tasks like racing around the city, saving countless people from falling off of balconies/rooftops and fighting miscellaneous thugs. The game really suffers with these boring tasks, which seem like a way to extend the length of the game without bothering to craft a longer story.
Where "Ultimate Spider-Man" mixes things up is by allowing players to control Spider-Man's nemesis Venom for a handful of missions. Though his core controls are similar to Spider-Man's, rather than swinging through the city he is able to perform a monstrous leap over and around buildings. The brawn of Venom also opens up options like throwing cars at enemies or simply grabbing them and — one of the game's greatest guilty pleasures — snapping them in half. Venom's missions are a breath of fresh air in the franchise and are hopefully a sign of things to come.
Granted many action/adventure games suffer from the same problem, but the camera in "Ultimate Spider-Man" almost completely ruins the game-playing experience. It's constantly clipping on buildings, often causing players to lose sight of their hero, and makes fighting large groups of enemies almost impossible, as the game isn't sure which foe it should be focusing on.
Where "Ultimate Spider-Man" truly shines is in its boss battles. Players get to face off with famous villains like Rhino, Shocker and the Green Goblin in what actually feel like epic battles. Fighting Rhino in a used car lot, with the towering man-beast hurling cars at Spider-Man as he tries to fight back, offered an amazing amount of fun. The fight with Shocker, in particular, was one of the better boss battles to appear in a game in quite some time. Players are encouraged to be creative, finding their own unique way to defeat enemies — a freedom seldom found in games.
Although these battles are greatly amusing, gamers will typically find themselves just using the same moves repeatedly to defeat some of the more difficult bosses — the Green Goblin in particular.
Before all of the game's boss battles, both Spider-Man and Venom are required to chase said boss around New York before the showdown. In theory, this sounds like a fun way to segue into a huge brawl. In practice, it's an annoying test of patience that often results in a string of profanities and a hurled controller.
"Ultimate Spider-Man" is a good game — there's no doubt about that. But what keeps it from being great is the repetitiveness of the entire experience. Most missions feel exactly like the ones that came before — with the exception of some of the Venom missions, which offer a welcome change of pace.
While it's a bit unfair to compare this game with one like "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," Treyarch could learn a lot from the staff over at Rockstar Games. Adding more story missions with more varied styles — enough of the chasing bad guys, proceed to beat up bad guys by mashing buttons — would elevate the game from average to a blockbuster title.
Grade: B
