There are two styles of levels in the game, on the ground or in the air which gives the gameplay a good balance and keeps you interested. To be honest, the aerial levels are much more exciting, as you’d probably assume. In the air, you can swing above the canyons of New York City, gliding above the buildings and skyscrapers. Spidey can crawl up there sides and shoot webs anywhere. He can also use his Spider Sense to help him anticipate things that lie ahead. The game gives you a great sense of freedom in these modes. Below him, he can see the rooftops. Once he lands, the game switches back to the land mode, though he can still use his webs to get out of sticky situations. To help him along, Spidey has an onscreen compass when he’s airborne, which is really quite helpful in locating the next objective. The ground based levels are fairly traditional kick and punch types though you also have to collect keys and other devices to open doors. In this mode, Spidey can crawl into a dark area and become invisible to opponents, and has several types of web-attacks he can use on opponents, including the Web-dome, which protects him from enemies and explodes at them as well. Spiderman can also use his webs to yank an opponent towards him or disable them amongst other special powers.

One of the cooler things about this game is that when you crawl on the ceiling, the camera switches to a nice transparent viewpoint allowing you to look below your character. You can also pick up objects and throw them at opponents. Spidey can also turn quickly, perform aerial attacks and drop on opponents’ heads which levels the odds when he faces a group of foes. He has several different types of web-attacks, including Impact and Ball webs, which can be used on airborne enemies. Once you’re airborne, things get more interesting. You can throw up webs anywhere on the levels and swing far above the world and can also use zip webs to traverse horizontally much faster. While turning can be accomplished with standard moves, the fastest way to do this is to drop the web line, reposition your character and shoot another web. This is much more intuitive and fun than it sounds and most players should be able to get the hang of it in no time. Additionally, the player has a limited amount of web-energy, which is used to create the webs, but can get more by collecting icons and power-ups that are scattered around each level. There are also health and other power-up icons in the game as well, which makes playing slightly easier.

As you progress through the game, Spider-Man gains new abilities and special moves, including an enhanced web-slinger and improved Spider Sense which allows you to dispatch opponents much faster. These special moves mainly apply in the ground but integrate into Spider-Man’s existing move set naturally, making the action feel more like the comics/movies. The game’s missions are fairly interesting. It’s a bit slow initially, as you search for enemies on the rooftops, and battle through nondescript warehouses which can get tedious. Later on, you’ll face more interesting tasks such as rescuing civilians, more complex levels and of course the boss battles with several enemies in dramatic and challenging confrontations. These can be quite difficult especially if you aren’t completely familiar with the controls. This is where the camera system is the most glaring in its deficiencies and frequently gets in the way of the action. Since you need to adjust the camera on the fly while battling the opponents is incredibly annoying and frustrating and detracts from the gameplay significantly. The mitigating factor is that you face other foes besides the Green Goblin, such as the venerable Shocker and Vulture. This makes the game much more enjoyable and helps it transcend the usual interactive-movie label and is quite surprising given the contemporary trend of unimaginative licenses.

Surprisingly, there are two separate control interfaces offered, classic and advanced, but which mode you use doesn’t really change the overall feel of the game much. While the simplified controls are nice they don’t offer the flexibility that they should have, which is annoying, since either mode involves very tough tradeoffs. We just go for the advanced controls and put up with the awkwardness, since it’s not to terrible once you get the hang of them. Whichever mode you decide, the game’s controls are quite versatile, in addition to swinging, you can do spin dashes and other maneuvers. You can also lock on to an opponent which is quite helpful, especially in the aerial modes where the enemies move faster and attack you. Why there are two modes of play is somewhat odd, since both seem to be mostly similar, with different styles and have little effect on the overall enjoyment of the game. An extensive training mode is included that will help you get the hang of things. While it takes awhile to master the ins and outs, players will find that the interface is versatile and intuitive once the become accustomed to the controls.

Spider-man’s overall level design is superb, which an impressive momentum that helps to carry the player through the action with high motivation. There’s a good balance between action and strategy, though good reflexes are more important in this title than puzzle-solving. The transitions between airborne and ground based combat are excellent. This is enhanced and some missions mix these modes nicely. Overall, the levels are large and expansive and allow you to play in an almost non-linear fashion. It still has strictly linear play, but there are so many options, it’s hard to feel constrained. Each level is smartly designed and the common controls make for a seamless gameplay experience that’s both challenging and fun. While the combat with the ground based adversaries isn’t as smooth as one would like, thanks to the tendency of them to cluster, it isn’t terrible. One key to remember is that it pays to center the camera frequently and pay attention to the advice you recieve. The interface is generally good and makes performing the moves easy and intuitive. The camera system isn’t perfect however, which can be a real pain sometimes, especially when you’re swinging. However, you can adjust it and the interface here is easy to understand and players can center the viewpoint behind Spiderman by pressing down on the right analog stick. This is fine in the slow sections, but unfortunately, doesn’t work as well during the game’s more intense episodes, which is highly disappointing because it gets in the way of the action.

While the controls are far from perfect and there are some other gameplay rough spots, Spider-Man excels in other areas. The most immediate thing you’ll notice is that the production values are superb. Unlike many other film-to-game titles, this game actually features the real voices of that stars of the movie. Tobey Maquire and William Defoe do the voice-over work in this title, which gives the game an excellent feel. The game runs at a smooth frame rate throughout and has some incredibly detailed and elaborate settings and uses special effects well, to make a game that is richly detailed and uses both night and day effects brilliantly. The title’s extensive light-sourcing, reflections, water effects and more to make for an eye-pleasing experience. Spidey himself has never looked better and moves with a realism and natural grace that makes the whole experience that much more exciting. The Goblin’s menacing, irrational movements, spine-tingling taunts make the game even more intense, and contributes to the sense of height and speed that really sets this apart from other movie-tie-ins. You can tell a lot of thought and love has gone into the game and it’s because of this that it captures the feel of the film. Danny Elfman’s musical score is also used extensively to punctuate the action and this adds even more to the game’s cinematic flair. From an aesthetic standpoint, this is an outstanding product and the craft is evident from the beginning to end.

Despite the visual polish and excellent cinematic feel, it’s not enough to hide some pretty glaring flaws in the controls. It’s harder to control Spider-man than it should be and the learning curve is much steeper than it should be for an action game. However, while the controls are a little bit frustrating, it’s not enough to completely ruin the game. It takes a while, and you’ll have to slog through some tedious levels, some of the missions are dull, but as the plot picks up momentum, the gameplay likewise becomes much more engaging. but once you get the hang of the quirks, things get better. In fact, the controls should be your most difficult adversary since when you get down to the bone, it’s not an overly difficult title, and the game is fairly enjoyable. It’s not perfect but Spiderman is an above-average gaming experience and should appeal to fans of both the comics and the film.




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