Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"Before you throw your speakers across the room in disgust, keep this in mind; the narrator is actually Bruce Campbell (best known from the cult hit, Evil Dead 2)."

---from the review

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Also available: Spider-man, the game, which however earlier a release has Stan Lee himself as narrator!!! 

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Note to game designers: it's all in the finale... The bigger plus of this game is that it gives you the luxury of a well-animated finale. Isn't this common, you ask? Surprisingly...no! I think the core annoyance of most based-on-movie games is how the finale, as a rule, is so abridged; as if the game designer is asking you to see the film to see the ending of the game. Well, why don't I just see the film for 8 bucks, pal, and forget your $40 buck game altogether?!? This game offers a finale right from the film, complete with a shot even cooler than the film; a final kiss, as the camera pans away, and the music swells. This, along with the cool "special bonuses" that unlock as you progress in the game, is definitely the icing on the cake.

Well, another summer means someone (in this case, Activision) releases a game that is pure "love the movie? Buy the Game" commercial blitz. Are such games ever good? Well, for those of us old enough to remember E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial on the Atari 2600, I would say: very rarely! However, there is that rare exception. Remember that cool adventure game, based on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? The question you're asking is, does Spider-Man: The Movie, as a video game, sway towards E.T. or Indy territory? Fortunately, I'd say it is definitely among the latter...though not as much as many might've hoped.

For those of us who played that cool Spider-Man game last year, it might be mused that this game, although with highly superior graphics (check out the close-up of Spidey, at left!), is practically "Spider-Man 2" in game circles. You swing on webs, crawl on walls, shoot webbing at bad guys, and fight the occasional super-villain boss, just as it was last year. The only glaring differences seem to be a couple of levels based on the actual movie, voice acting from the actual movie (cool!), and the most modest of tweaks in the graphics and overall game interface. Isn't that enough? Well, yeah...kinda.

I suppose this game got off on the wrong foot, when I dared to play the tutorial prior to playing the actual game. For one thing, this is a far cry from those cool tutorials in games like Thief: The Dark Project or System Shock 2; this is a mere you-can't-die environment where a narrator tells you "to move forward, press the move forward key," as if you're a total moron. You see, a true tutorial should tell you which key is which --as in, which button is the forward key-- and offer a sneak peek at a special maneuver or two. This "press the web key to shoot a web" tutorial is so lame, even the narrator is heard jovially eating a sandwich while narrating. Before you throw your speakers across the room in disgust, keep in mind; the narrator is Bruce Campbell (best known in the cult hit, Evil Dead 2). It's not his fault that he's no match for Spider-Man creator Stan Lee (who narrated the earlier game, yet oddly didn't here).

As for the game itself, it's graphically stunning, to say the least. Any game based on a top-notch FX flick should have top-notch FX, and this game delivers BIG time. Instead of oddly-placed "fog" keeping you from seeing to the ground below the tall skyscrapers, you get to see every nuance of the traffic-jam-ridden streets of NYC, far below the rooftops you're swinging from. Flashy billboards and fully reflective glass windows enhance this city effect, as does an occasional airplane up above, which slowly writes messages in the air, that slowly disappear as if made from actual smoke. Oh, mind you, this is all in the background; in the foreground is a fantastically articulate spider-man for you to control, as well as excellently modeled super-villains like Shocker, Vulture, and of course The Green Goblin. You even get to fight most of them while web-slinging. COOL!

The interface is slightly hard to get the hang of, though it passes the test. This is particularly annoying in the PC version, which falls for the same port-from-console mistake of making the keyboard the root of all the action, instead of the handy mouse. Note to translation programmers at Activision; you want to make the default control keys the ARROW keys on the keyboard, NOT some lame-o "W-A-S-D" control combo. However, all versions of this game --PC, X-Box, PS2, and Game Cube-- fall prey to difficult camera controls and not-so-perfect controls. Is it worth it, to grow used to these controls? YES! You have Mary Jane to protect, of course, as well as putting a stop to The Green Goblin, and best of all, you get to see all those cool CGI video clips based on the actual film.

It's the heroic moments I loved most of all. Yes, this includes saving Mary Jane more than once, who may be one of the few voices not from the actual movie (awww!), and yet it's a major thrill for Spider-fans to web-sling her to safety. You also get to save policemen and other civilians, and when Green Goblin tries to detour you by threatening the lives of innocents down below, it's Spidey's webbing to the rescue, sticking that loose bridge scaffolding into place. You even hear the occasional, "Hey, cool, it's spider-man!" from the windows nearby, and when you hear a call for help, look closely around you; taking the time to save lives mid-mission adds points to your score. Get a high enough score thanks to all the above deeds, and you unlock some cool special features, including the ability to play as other characters (including Mary Jane Watson!), and a few amusing photo galleries based on storyboard concepts.

Some gripes prevent a flawless rating, however. For one thing, I didn't like how clumsy some web-shooting was, nor did I like a few inconsistencies when based on the film. After all, the film version of Spidey has unlimited, organic webbing...so why am I wasting time looking for web "refills" to keep shooting those pesky Oscorp robots? Dodging robots in mid-air, while shooting at them with webbing, AND looking for web booster packs; it's a nuisance that needn't be present at all. Likewise for how daintily I had to get in the exact position to shoot a web at a loose bridge support so the bridge wouldn't fall, all while Green Goblin shot bombs like M&Ms from above, causing me to fall...meaning I have to get into that exact position all over again. Add to this no Stan Lee as narrator, and...yes, this game could've been a notch better.

Be this as it may, this was a surprisingly nice way to whet my appetite for the film, mere weeks before it hit theaters. Now that its in theaters, one can only presume this game will sell like hotcakes as well. If you own a video game system, I'd recommend that version, particularly the X-Box's version, with exclusive additional levels starring Kraven the Hunter. However, if you only own a PC, no problem...provided you have a good enough graphic card. Yes, as a matter of fact, that's no typo on the box, when it lists 32MB of video ram a requirement, as well as "Full Transform & Lighting." This is mostly because of all those cars down below, as well as those even cooler reflective windows, and it's worth it. After all, this is the type of attention to detail that those pesky X-Boxers get, so why shouldn't you?