 Review By: Andrew Joy |
Developer: | Treyarch |
| Publisher: | Activision | |
| Genre: | Action | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | HDTV 720p | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Before most video games come out, the dedicated souls behind them often spend months, sometimes years, perfecting their product. When it comes to licensed games, you will rarely see that kind of commitment. Someone like Cliffy B. might live and breath nothing but Gears of War as he tries to familiarize the gaming press and public with his title, making sure gamers know that his title, more than anybody else’s, is the one they should spend their money on. The big marketing teams that helm licensed games, however, can often rest easy, knowing their title will likely sell on name alone. Unfortunately, much like sequels and franchise IPs, movie-licensed games also present something of a catch-22. On the one hand, the formulaic, derived and uninspired material often represents the very worst our digital playgrounds have to offer. Of course, I’ll also be the first to admit that there are a few exceptions, such as the more recent The Godfather: Blackhand Edition for the Nintendo Wii, but being based on an older property, it wasn’t rushed to meet a retail deadline either. On the other hand, the reliable (and often times quite substantial) profits raked in by those games allow developers to invest in the new and unproven games we so clamor for.
Even though they have become the sort of unofficial whipping boy of the industry, and even having lambasted them myself on occasion, movie-licensed video games do serve another purpose: they afford one the ability to see a movie without actually having to see a movie. A recovering comic geek myself, when it was first announced that Marvel was adapting Spider-Man into a live-action feature film, my excitement knew no bounds. Unfortunately, after actually seeing the movie, my enthusiasm could have been contained in a contact lens case. That being said, when the second movie came out, I naturally approached it with cautious optimism, hoping that they’d truly capture the character now that they’d had some experience with him...it would seem at least for me, that I was wrong. And so, when it came time for the third one, much like the (hopefully) last movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, I swore it off all together. However, curiosity does tend to get the better of one, and that’s why you find me playing a game based off of movies I don’t particularly care for. Sadly, while I can still get the essentials from playing the game, those of you who actually saw the movie may be left scratching your heads.
Even though I didn’t catch it in theaters, thanks to a little bit of research (Wikipedia may be the single greatest invention of this decade), I can tell you that there are a number of differences between the Spider-Man 3 movie and its video game adaptation. While most the of the changes are fairly insignificant details, such as where the Symbiote first attaches to Peter Parker, others are much more noticeable, like the sheer number of villains in the game. While the first Spider-Man movie focused mainly on the Green Goblin and the second on Doctor Octopus, the third film ups the ante a bit, pitting our hero against the New Goblin (Norman Osborn’s son, Harry), Sandman and, of course, Venom. The Spider-Man 3 game digs even deeper into old web head’s rogue gallery, also offering up Scorpion, Lizard, Mad Bomber, the Kingpin and his three gangs: The street punk Apocalypse gang, the all-girl gang Arsenic Candy, and the martial arts-practicing Order of the Dragon Tail. So, while your main goal throughout Spider-Man 3 remains ridding Peter of the Symbiote and defeating the three main villains of the movie, doing so often requires you to defeat level after level of superfluous filler. I’m all for a nice, lengthy game, don’t get me wrong, but the movie’s story seems to get lost as it tries to compete against the half dozen or so extra plotlines introduced here.
Of course, even more than just wanting to see how the saga ends, I wanted to play Spider-Man 3 simply to feed my addiction – like so many games in my ever-growing library, this title is yet another sandbox game. So, as crowded as the game’s main story is, there is whole lot more to do in this game then simply making a race to the credits. Unfortunately, none of the activities are as inspired and fun as games like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, but for a majority of the game, you are a good guy, so it is to be expected. Instead of clearing a hit list or committing insurance fraud, players can stop random crimes caused by the various gangs mentioned before (as well as the Mad Bomber’s goons and the Lizard’s ilk), stop runaway cars, defuse bombs, and skydive. There are also a lot of activities that are common between the games, such as collecting hidden tokens and racing. However, much like ripping some old lady out of her car and taking it for a joyride, you likely just spend most of your time in Spider-Man 3 swinging around the city. It’s easy, relaxing, and chances are it’ll come as a welcome change after one of the game’s annoyingly difficult "cineractives" and boss battles, which are an exercise in repetition, often requiring you to pound a button sequence very quickly and without error, lest you be forced to do it over again.
Posted: 2007-06-20 19:03:41 PST