Ultimate Spider-Man

"Rental At Best"

The game is fun, no doubt about that, but it's way too short and way too easy. That's the quick capsule version, read on for reasons. The only reason it makes it to a 7 is for the relatively wide array of guest characters, though they are poorly implemented.

Graphics: 9

The cel-shaded look fits Spidey and Ultimate New York quite well, and allows building textures to look good up close and look like a blue shoebox from 100 yards away, but it all fits. Smooth animations for both characters, actually, the graphics are a high point of this game. The cutscenes are done in moving panel style (somewhat like the Hulk movie, for the four of you who saw it) and are simply awesome. The visual style of the game is worth a rental alone.

Sound: 6

What were they thinking with this techno-poppy swinging music? It's like that awful third Spiderman cartoon series, the one done on computers. I much preferred the orchestral score of Spiderman 2. The cutscene and battle music is better, but the idle music is far from Ultimate. Spidey's quips are appropriate and sometimes funny, and the voices fit the characters. Punching and explosion sounds are adequate.

Control: 5

Here is where the game really let me down. I loved the swinging engine in Spiderman 2, especially how you could transfer downward speed into horizontal speed by, say, jumping off the ESB and swinging at street level. That's gone, as your swing speed in this game is magically reset to normal speed when you swing out of a big fall. The swinging is slower, clumsier, it seems, and less versatile, as in no two webs at once, no slingshot, no swinging in vertical circles (i think.) Fighting controls are okay, punch and kick form combos, sort of, and you have a jump attack, but your combat repertoire is severely limited. Venom's movement is actually better that Spiderman's, with the giant leaps and tentacle snaring. Think Hulk:Ultimate Destruction, but with the ability to web-zip horizontally.

Story: 8

The story was somewhat random and scattered, trying to cram in extra guest characters and missions, and having not read the comics, i don't know how faithful that is. I know Bendis is a great writer, but the story doesn't flow in a game like it does in a comic, and something is lost in the translation. The story is told visually with the aforementioned moving panel device, which works great. Whatever you think of the story, you'll like how it looks.

So there it is. Rent it, beat it in two days, have fun for the rest of the time you have with it. Don't put it on your shelf, never to be played again after two weeks, and don't waste your money on a game that does not deserve the price. I love Spiderman, and the games he is featured in, but this one just doesn't have enough to keep me coming back.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/03/05