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Peter Parker’s alter-ago adds another kick-ass game to his repertoire. Spider-Man 3, while not a radical departure from the excellent foundation laid by its prequel, will amaze Spider-Man and action games fans alike. The sequel fixes the major complaints of the first game (generally the repetitive nature of side missions) and polishes everything up. As we'll detail below, the PS2 (and Wii) versions of the game are a little different than the other console versions.
Spider-Man 3 follows the movie’s plot. It begins right after the prequel ended with Peter finally getting his life in order. Of course, this cheery mood doesn’t last very long. In Spider-Man 3, the game, you’ll be able to relive the movie and classic action sequences against Sandman, Green Goblin and Venom but Treyarch also added a lot of additional plot lines not based directly on the movie. Some of these involve additional villains (Scorpion) while others task you with doing something like protecting New York City.
Of course, the main reason to pick up Spider-Man 2 was the swinging mechanics. As great as they were in the prequel, they’re even better in Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man is faster and more acrobatic in this game. For instance, you can swing around poles with ease. After a few moments, you’ll be swinging around, going around corners, around light posts, and running up walls with ease. Combat has also been improved in the game so there is more to do and a larger variety in the move set. It is also faster-paced and more fulfilling thanks to a quicker Spider-Man and a greater variety of moves. Dodging and counter-attacking is emphasized in the game since Spider-Man’s spider sense goes off before he’s going to be attacked, which gives you opportunity to dodge or counterattack. The game also includes a new spider sense system (which works similar to the goggle filters in the Splinter Cell games) to detect hidden items and enemies.
In terms of structure, the PS2 version is very similar to that of the Wii. It is more structured and more obvious with what it wants you to do next. The game also deals with the Black Suit similarly to the Wii version. Whereas the Black Suit is locked away for select missions on PS3/Xbox 360, you can switch to the Black Suit at anytime with the Wii version of the game. You become much stronger and nimbler with the Black Suit, but at the same time you become more aggressive and can eventually pass out if you use the suit for too long. When playing in the standard red-and-blue suit, attacking also fills up a different meter that enables you to use stronger attacks. But Treyarch also added a lot more variety to the random missions so you’re doing a whole lot more on that end, as well as trying to keep three gangs under control. Lastly, the game includes “cineractives” similar to those found in Call of Duty 3 or God of War. As with those games, SP3 will move into a cinematic and require button presses at specific moments. If you hit the buttons at the right time everything moves smoothly and works well. These interactive cinematics provided some of the game's biggest “wow” moments such as struggling in the air against the Green Goblin (while playing as Peter) and jumping through lasers as Spider-Man.
Visually, the game looks nearly identical to Spider-Man 2. The city is larger this time around with somewhat better texture quality but the overall architecture and lighting effects are the same as they were before. Thankfully, the character models still look fairly good and the animation, especially for Spider-Man, is as solid as it has ever been. It’s a little jarring to go from the next-generation versions to PS2, but when compared to other PS2 games it looks great.
The audio in the game, however, is impressive. The audio component is led by the actual movie’s cast so you’ll hear Tobey as Spider-Man, Topher Grace as Venom, Thomas Haden Church as Sandman and James Franco as the New Goblin. The dialogue is spot-on and helps draw you into the game. The game’s sound effects are generally great, too, although the actual combat sounds are a touch too repetitive. The orchestrated score sounds it was ripped directly from a big-name Hollywood blockbuster.
Spider-Man 3 on PS2 is essentially the Wii version without the motion-sensitive control system. The end result is a game that pales in comparison to and would not be a suitable replacement for the next-generation versions. On its own, and even when compared to Spider-Man 2, SP3 is a great game and certainly one of the best PS2 games of the summer. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- May 4, 2007
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