Ultimate Spider-Man

"Not even close to Ultimate"

Yes, Spider-Man. The web-slinger did well with his Spider-Man 2 game, incorporating the free-roam into the gameplay. Now Treyarch plans to make a completely comic-based game and make a cel-shaded masterpiece for gamers. Does it do just that?

Graphics 8/10

Like I said, cel-shaded Spidey. The comic-book style graphics give the game a deformed character look, and that's great. Cutscenes feature Peter Parker and friends and offer some really nice effects, including the panel-in-panel effect and the onomatopoeia appearances for comic-book style action. In fact, the panel-in-panel is used in gameplay to offer some unique ideas for completing missions. Really nice comic-style graphics make Spidey's newest romp the best looking yet.

Audio 7/10

Not bad, but not good. Peter Parker sounds great, with his normal wise-cracks to the bad guys, and the other characters are good too, even though many of the villains' lines were reused to the point of boredom. The background music was almost non-existent and really made the game kind of uneventful. The sound effects were good though, bringing the expected punches, thwacks, and impacts. But overall, the game's audio is a bit of disappointment, but far from horrible.

Gameplay 5/10

Gameplay, on the other hand, is bad. As with Spider-Man 2, the free-roam, mission-based gameplay is present. Missions are scattered about the city and you can choose which one you want to complete. Web-swinging takes quite a bit of getting used to, but in the end, is fluid. Combat, however, is horribly simple. A simple punch or kick combo will do for most of the enemies. Treyarch included a new character to play as: Venom. Venom's moves are quite different from Spider-Man. He can use dark tentacles to attack and absorb life from enemies. The biggest problem is that Venom cannot websling. Jumping is his trademark method of transportation, and it is frustrating to say the least. While his tentacles do provide some control, jumping is not nearly as fluid as Spidey's webslinging. His tentacle attacks also seem cheap, as you can attack an enemy from a great distance. Venom's abilities seem wasted and slapped together, making his gameplay segments much less fun than Spidey's.

Missions, I must say, are repetitive. There are three types of missions: Race, Combat Tour, and Story. Races are “Point A to Point B” missions where you must reach checkpoints to get good timings and scores. This is where you wish the controls were better, especially for Venom. The jump button will not work and you'll fall, losing precious time. Also, the races can even be in identical places, meaning you'll have to jump over the building more than once. Combat Tours are where you must track down gang members, beat them up, and subdue them with web. This is where you wish the combat was more diverse. A simple combo will defeat most of the enemies. Story missions are slightly better, thanks to some interesting boss battles and some more diverse challenges, but even they are weighted down by the ridiculous amount of chase missions. Get far enough behind and you must start over, bringing gameplay to a horribly redundant level. The boss battles have some much more challenging ideas and better use of the comic effects. Some battles, however, are in closed areas, bringing about the infamous bad in-game camera. When swinging or jumping, the camera will jostle and get confused. Also, the lock-on targeting is clumsy and will not always be effective in battle. Repetitive missions hurt the game big time.

Replay Value 6/10

The story is short. Yes, there's a lot of things to unlock, but unless you're a real Spidey fan, the bad gameplay will make you want to stop right there. The missions are repetitive, but if you like that, go ahead and play the game to 100% completion. Spidey fans will flip at the amount of unlockable content. Everyone else won't.

Final Verdict 6/10

Ultimate Spider-Man has some good moments, but they are overshadowed by the lack of gameplay polish. Yes, the graphics are pretty, but graphics don't make the game. If you absolutely need a Spider-Man game right now, this is a content-packed game that will please any hard-core Spidey fan. But, as a gamer, I cannot recommend the game to anyone else. The controls are clunky, the missions are repetitive, and the story is short. Ultimate Spider-Man is only "ultimate" for the Spider-Man fans. Anyone else, just stay away.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/05