Customer Reviews

Spider-Man

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have eagerly anticipated the Spider-Man game for about two months now, and I'm not disappointed at all.

The game is supposedly loosely based on the movie, although they've thrown a few wrinkles in, like adding supervillains Shocker, Vulture, Kraven the Hunter, and Scorpion, in addition to the Green Goblin. Tobey Maguire is the voice of Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe is the Green Goblin, with Bruce Campbell voicing the "tour guide", who explains how things work in the game.

The gameplay is very well done. Spider-Man moves just like he does in the movie previews. Fights are well done, especially the boss battles, which are unpredictable and difficult, but not impossible. The control scheme, even the "enhanced" version, is easy to master and use. The only problem is that, occasionally, when you're crawling on a wall, Spider-Man won't go the way you want him to. Also, you constantly have to readjust the camera so that you can see what you're doing. The one other complaint is that certain "stealth" missions are almost impossible to stay stealthy in.

The game is absolutely stunning to look at, especially the outdoor areas. The cityscapes are huge and highly detailed. You can't tell the difference between foreground and background. The enemy characters are also highly detailed and look as real as the main characters. There is also no hint of slowdown at all.

The music in the game is also excellent. I'm not sure, but I think it comes straight from the movie. Most of the voice acting is top-notch, especially Dafoe's Green Goblin. Unfortunately, the exception is Maguire as Spider-Man. He's extremely low-key and at times seems like he's disinterested completely. Making up for that is some snappy writing, especially the trademark Peter Parker sarcasm.

Overall, the game is exceptionally well done. There are little problems that only slightly lessen the experience. The bonuses they included also make this a worthwhile investment. I'd recommend to any Spider-Fan or action game fan.

Those who say this game gets dull really quickly, or that it's too easy are obviously not very easy to impress. For most, this game is awsome. Here are some reasons why:
1. The gameplay and replay value are great. There are 4 levels of difficulty: easy, normal, hero, and superhero. Easy is of course, easy. Takes about 2 hours to beat. But after that it gets incredibly hard; yet fun. I bought this game over two weeks ago, and I'm still playing it for hours everyday, and it never gets boring. The replay value and gameplay are great.
2. The graphics are simply put, awsome. Everyone down to the littlelist detail looks real. There are amazing buttons to push and try like Slinging villains into walls or into each other, creating a web dome to protect yourself from gunfire. The ability to zip instantly up to ceilings and swing around buildings. Even the ability to land on top of villains and beat'em up from there. Did I mention the ability to shoot web bombs at villains, even tie them up for up to several minutes? The editor is correct in one manner: you can do anything that spiderman can do.
3. If your worried about getting to know the game and how to work the controls, don't worry. There's a training level that teaches you everything, step by step. Your even trained by a comedian, who has a lot of funny jokes. I really enjoyed training mode.
4. You play up to 5 villains, each more challenging then the first. Each has a few thugs and robots that you have to get by to get to the main villain.
5. Finally, it's worth the 40 or 50 bucks you might pay for it. I bought it on sale for 39.99, and I've played it for close to 50 hours (and I'm still looking forward to playing it everyday).

To wrap it up, it gives hours and hours of fun, and if your new to the Xbox, this is a great game to try it out on first. Well, that's my view on this game. Now I have to go play Spider-man!

First off, I don't actually own this game. I rented it. Yesterday. I've already beaten it. Twice. It's not a tough game once you get the hang of it. The tutorial is excellent, meaning that it is a great pick up and play game. The controls are excellent. They give an infinite variety of moves, web techniques, etc. without the impossible controls found in some games.
The graphics are insanely good. While watching some of the animation test movies, I actually forgot it was a video game. I was about to go get some popcorn when it ended. However, this level of graphics isn't only found in the cut scenes; the in-game graphics are supperb.
This game truly has all the bells and whistles. Spidey is hillarious when he taunts the bosses during battle. I especially enjoy listening to him try to geuss his opponents names. The cheats are another big plus. This is extremely rare for a video game. This is only the 3rd game I've played that kept me playing just to unlock cheats (the others being Tony Hawk 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for Dreamcast). This game includes what is definitely the coolest cheat in any game ever. I won't tell you how to get it, but if you meet one of two conditions, you can play as the Green Goblin. This not only changes your character's look, but it also give a completely new set of controls, voice acting, cut scenes, and even plot. It's essentially a new game with the same levels. The only problem here is that without Spidey's wall sticking and swinging ability, Green Goblin has to rely on power rather than stealth. No complaints though.
The only thing that worried me about the controls was the implimentation of midair sequences. Trust me. This is not a problem. You can swing, while dodging bombs, while shooting web for hours with relatively little experience.
The obvious attention to detail behind this game makes it a great title for all sorts of gamers. It doesn't matter what sort of games you like, this is a fun title for everyone.

The expression "short but sweet" describes Spider-Man very well. On normal I was able to beat the game in only about 10 hours. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not that good at games. Spidey provided me with one of the shortest action/adventure games I've ever played, but I enjoyed every second of it. This is one of the top three games out there for X-Box. I've played most of them. This is no overstatement. You are given a task to accomplish, and you are given the freedom to accomplish it any way you choose.

Gameplay:
The boss battles were unlike any boss battles I've ever played before. I won't forget anytime soon the experience I had chasing Green Goblin through the New York City skies. The hand-to-hand combat style is remarkably similiar to that of Shenmue for Sega Dreamcast. You fight with the button combos your character knows and you discover new ones along the way. You can fight enemies anyway you'd like. If you prefer to tie them up with web and pound on them with your fists, you can. If you want to fall from the sky and dropkick them in the head, you can. Total freedom. And in video games, Freedom=Fun. Smooth, smooth, smooth. Minimal glitches and no slow downs make the X-Box version that much better. My only complaints would be the slow and frequent loading times between every level and absence of checkpoints. You can only save after you beat levels. For the long levels, that is a pain in the neck. As for the loading times, a minor annoyance, but I suppose it is necessary in order to produce the near flawless gameplay that you will see in Spider-Man.

Graphics:
Another category that the game shines in. Cars and building get smaller as you rise higher into the sky. Sky looks simply astonishing. A scene that sticks out in my mind is the fight with Vulture. It is foggy and raining when you start (rain looks how it really would if you were falling with it.) When Vulture is almost dead the sky clears up giving you an effect more amazing than any sky effect I've ever seen in a video game before. The cityscape streches on and on and building are modeled very realisticly. You will have to see it to believe it. Search the web (no pun intended) for screens from this game. You'll see what I mean.

Sound:
I never thought of Spider-Man as the sarcastic person "Spiderman: The Movie" makes him out to be. Even before seeing the movie, I have a good feeling of how they will portray him after playing this game. The real stars of the movies provide the voice overs adding a realistic touch to it. But in this case, that might be a bad thing. If you've ever heard Tobey Maguire speak you might know what I'm talking about. Characters talk a lot, but they say the same things over and over again. Though accurate, there should be more variety.

Control:
There's been many complaints about the controls in this game, but I like them. There are many, many tutorial modes to help you master the controls, which make learning them much easier then it would be if you could only read the manual. Camera follows you around pretty well, and you can lock it on enemies. A very convienant feature. There are occasional camera lockups, but you can take control of the camera to fix it and then set it back to auto. The bad control for me in Spider-Man was the Web-Zip control. It's hard to aim and difficult to execute. The Web-Zip might cause you problems when chasing Shocker and climbing buildings. Be prepared for a half hour learning curve. Simply put: The controls are well placed, but there are many of them.

Overall:
After beating Spider-Man, I can't wait to see what Superman will bring. Hand-to-hand combat while slinging thtough the air couldn't be more fun. The sound and some incomvieces make this game just short of perfect. Now I'm a critic, but Spider-Man: The Movie is an incredible adventure worth your purchase. If the length of this game makes you hesitant to burn [the money] on it then my recommendation would be to do a double rental. It will give you plenty of time to beat the game and it will only cost you [less].

Recap:
Gameplay: 10.0
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 6.0
Control: 9.0
Fun: 10.0
Overall: 9.0

I, like millions of others, flocked to see Spider-man, the movie, back in May of 2002. I loved it! I saw it a total of 4 times in theaters. So when I saw the game, I HAD to pick it up. And pick it up I did, and played through the entire thing several times. But something was missing. Here's what I thought of Spider-man: The Movie!

1) Gameplay: Its a very fun game, and this is it's strongest point. You can, in 4 words, "Do Anything Spider-man Can!" You can swing around the HUGE cities, beat up thugs with over 40 different moves (you unlock new ones buy getting Golden Spiders), crawl on any wall, etc... You can shoot web, do web domes (protect you from enemy gunshots, etc...) You can also crawl anywhere you can get your fingers on, hang down from a sort of web rope and spy on unsuspecting enemies. The whole thing is really quite fun, and while I've owned this game for 4 months, I still pop it in and swing around Spidey style every once and awhile. Thats how good the gameplay is.

The problem here? There are only about 12 levels, most fairly easy. And while going back and playing them on the harder setting is fun, its not half as fun the second time around.

As for playing it on the harder settings (there are 4: Easy, Normal, Hero, Super Hero), its almost IMPOSSIBLE on just Normal. Easy you can beat in 2 days, but the rest... The enemies strenth twice as strong, the enemies atacks are twice as strong, your web supply goes down by almost half. It's just WAY too hard. It gets to a point where your almost scared to go down and fight a thug because you'll lose so much of your health. Hard-core gamers will find the first 3 settings difficult (while casual get stuck on just normal), while even Hard-core, awsome, never die gamers will get stuck on Super Hero. It's added depth, but its also really annoying. I'd give gameplay 4 stars*

2) Graphics: Fairly good. You can see the web perfectly, Spider-man looks awsome. The worlds are beautifly annimated, and each are fairly large. The problem? The faces look terrible, and there aren't enough character designs (too many of the same people)! When you tie up enemies, the webbing jut looks like...there. It doesn't rap around, it just looks really bad... When your fighting thugs, or people, or whatever, you'll find yourself fighting dozens of people. Yet there are only 2 common types of thugs, two types of business men, two types of guards, you get the point. If your sitting there, fighting off 12 people, you'll notice that 6 look EXACTLY the same, and the other 6 look EXACTLY the same. Its like your fighting an army of clones. Very dissappointing, otherwise the graphics are very good. But counting that last comment, I have to give it 3 stars*

3) Options: Probably the game's weakest point. NO multiplayer or 2-player cooperation (would have been really cool!). No real bonuses or un-lockables. There are some mini-gamers, like Pin-head bowling, or "The Big Brawl", but NOTHING that will keep you playing the mini-game for more than a few minutes. And the freedom that this game could have built upon...just isn't there. Being able to look for crimes and stop them, seeing HUGE cities from Spider-man's point of view, and getting to explore a full New York City. That would have been cool!

But they didn't, they just went by the story. And while the story in this game (to go with the movie) is great, I think it would have been cooler if u could have had some freedom in between missions. The way it is, you are confined mostly to the insiden of buildings, having to go a SPECIFIC way, with no freedom. It's still a fun game, but didn't take advance of what (in my mind) could have made a GREAT game. 2 Stars*

4) Sound: The game's strongest point. Voice acting by the actors from the movie, it really adds to the experience. As for the characters not in the movie, EXTREMELY well done. Even the casual "Look mommy, there's Spider-man" from a little girl's perspective is done to perfection, as you often feel like you are living in Spider-man's world. The villains sound evil and menacing, the thugs sound...like thugs... And everyone really clicks to a sort of New York feeling, which adds to the game.

The web makes sounds: swish, swash. Really cool! The gunshots sound real and scary, the fighting scenes sound...convinving. Other than that, this game's SOUND was awesome! 4.5 stars*

Overall, I really liked this game. Its fun to go back and play, and there's enough positives to compete with the negatives. I'd definantly recommend this game if u can find it for a good price.

As long as your not looking for perfection, you WON'T be disappointed. A pretty good game compared to past Spider-man games!

Thx!

Just to let anyone reading this review know; I do not own this game I went cheap and rented it. So the scale of stars is for renting not owning.

With that out of the way, I think Spider-Man is a good little game that looks very good on the Xbox. I heard it has better graphics than the other systems and a bonus level with Kraven the Hunter. Well this is all true, the game looks very good and plays pretty well. The cut scenes are awesome and stay very true to the characters. Plus the levels you play in switch it up enough so your not just constantly bashing things. There are actualy legit goals you have to accomplish and some are much harder than others.

There is also a neat training mode where Bruce Campbell, of Evil Dead fame, directs you on the different things you can do with Spider-Man. Plus with his voicing you actually get all the actors voices from the movie coming out as well. These include tobey McGuire, sorry probably butchered his last name spelling wise, and William Dafoe.

All in all this is a good little game, that for the most part is challenging and has alot to offer mode wise when it comes to training and dinking around. The game play is good, and easy to figure out; although the camera angles screw you over once in a while. Only downfall I see to the game is it is not very long, and a bit easy to get through. But there are challenges and secret areas to find in each level, minus the boss levels of course, that do make it highly playable again. So go out and rent this one at least web-heads. It's worth it.

I'm not even a huge Spider-Man fan, but this game is highly entertaining. The training missions alone, guided by the voice of non-other than Bruce Campbell himself, are fun. Using the voices of Willem DaFoe and Tobie Maquire for the game is also a nice bonus. I've only had the game for 2 days, but I can't wait to get back home and get back to it! Also, from all the reviews I've read, the XBox version has enough little built in bonuses to keep other systems at arms reach. Definitely a showcase game.

Thanks god I got this game from a friend of mine, I borrowed the game from him, and the game was good yeah, but very, very hard! (And no, Im not really into Spiderman..)

The Graphics 8/10: are very detailed and smooth, specially in the outdoor levels, the lightning effect of the game arent that perfect. The characters here are well detailed as well as Peter Parker, with the exception of Mary Jane, she just doesnt look like Kirsten Dunst. The cutscene are very well implemented, it looks like a real movie :P (yeah and I mean it) my only complaint about it is that there werent any english subtitles..

The outdoor levels are sooo great and they can be repetitive, it looks exactly like NY, and sometimes you can see the Ubisoft logo on one of the big buildings, awesomee! and abuout the indoor levels, they arent that special, good, but not special.

Sound 7/10 Music 5/10: About the music...? Well.. theres nothing special on it, but yeah, they are cool, once you play level two and three they will get very repetitive, thank god they have a long lenght. The reason I gave it a 7 star rating was because Tobey Mcguire did the voice for the game (I Dont really know if Kirsten Dunst did hers). But when you are fighting a foe, or something the lines will get very very repetitive specially spidey's (Some of them are stupid anyway..).

Gameplay/Controls 6/10: The camera angles and the save system arent very good, cause sometimes you wont be able to see the enemies cause this stupid camera will get stuck and you wont be able to rotate it, the save system is a pain (similar to Buffy The Vampire Slayer) there is no checkpoints after all! If you die at the end of the level, you will have to restart the level again! and is not good in the last levels cause you need to avoid these white robots which is not easy.. Spiderman has some nice combos to pull off.. (they are located like some sort of secrets) however it wont be easy to do this cause the buttons layaout arent that good, they are chunky if you know what I mean, you press the punch button and 4 seconds later you see spiderman punching, is lacking response.. The Difficulty in this game is sooo hard and I started this game on normal, and I found it veryyy hard and frustrating, specially when you are fighting this green big bird, he is throwing bombs at you, and since your bar is too well damned low (an overexageration of the game developers..) you will die instantly!

If you are a fan of the movie take this game, however.. if you are not, avoid it, since is lacking a good control responsive and is lacking some other things mentioned above.

I love the fact that every Spider-Man ability I could ever want has been included in this game. You get the sense that you're operating through a standard third person adventure game, but you get the benefits that come with spider-related powers. The outdoor segments are outstanding and gave me the chance to do somethings that I've always wanted to do in a videogame. You can watch Spider-Man in the movie and read about him in books, but Treyarch has delivered the only way to control Spider-Man and have him do everything you know he's capable of...and they made it look good.

Even with all of this though, the challenges you'll face as Spider-Man are no match for all of those wonderful spider powers you have. The game just comes down to a matter of persistence and patience because you get so good, so soon. Sure in the comic books, the hero always wins eventually, but even Spider-Man had to suffer through some overwhelming adversity on the way to a few of those victories.

I'm not a big fan of games that force you to manipulate the camera as much as you have to manipulate the character. It's good in that you're given complete control of the camera so you can make it work to your advantage, but it's more fun to just control Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is easily one of the top superhero videogames of all time and it's taken full advantage of the videogame technology out there. There's nothing like it on the Xbox and so it should be worth a few hours of your gaming life.

This game is the best game I've played on the X-Box since "HALO".
Play as Spider Man in HUGE interactive stages. Swing through skyscrapers in different acrobatic styles! It's GREAT FUN!!