Spawn the Eternal

"Just like Ghost in the Shell...stick to the comics"

Spawn...a marketing masterpiece created in the mind of a genius (or madman depending on your view) back in the early 90's. This game follows the adventure of the hell-born monster that is Spawn...a man who sold his soul, to be with the woman he loved.

Unfortunately for Spawn, this game doesn't quite give him the credit he deserves, and represents him in this game, as more of a joke than anything else.

-Graphics 4/10-

Grainy...very very grainy, and there is some consdierable need for a re-vamping of the levels in terms of detail. Enemies are detailed, but it seems so blurred at times, that you can't really be sure of what you're actually hitting until you hit it.

Although the visuals in the game can be somewhat inconsistant of what you would expect of anything that has to do with the Spawn comics, there are a couple of things that do happen to shine through out the blurred haze of color.

One of these, is the movements that Spawn makes while in a fight...they come off fluidly, and they are put into the game to add at least some sense of realism, smashing heads together, punching an enemy into submission, and throwing someone away from you.

The other, is actual lighting. While not all that great, it does give a sense of the dark mood that is supposed to permeate throughout game. That much they got right with this title. However, the lighting, and the fluidity of Spawn's movements, still don't quite cut the mustard.

There is supposed to be a complete world out there...so why should only the moves that Spawn makes, and the lighting be only things that shine in this game? It shouldn't, and that's why it doesn't save the Graphical score from a rating of 4.

-Sound 5/10-

Slightly better than the graphics, but not by much, the music of the game gives a small portion into what an action game of this type is supposed to be, moody and dark. Leaning towards the side of trying to make heavy metal overtones come off, it falls just shy of doing so.

The music of the game is like listening to a very well put together MIDI...sure, it has all the makings of a great track, but it's missing some key elements that make it a treat to listen to, such as depth. Spawn: The Eternal, does just that, it misses with the music by not adding enough depth, and repeating some of the same tones over and over again.

The sound effects of the game do make up for the lack of depth in the music itself, but again, it's still just not enough. The grunts and groans, along with the flesh-hitting impact sounds of your punches connecting, all flow, but, they can only be listened to so many times before it starts to hurt your ears.

Sounding as though it was just put a repeating track everytime you nail an enemy, you'll find yourself listening to the Spawn Soundtrack from the movie before you listen to this for too much longer. This sound score for this game is not quite middle of the road, but close...and that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

-Control 2/10-

This is truly where it all falls apart for the game. The control has several different options, there is with the cape, or without the cape, in close, and far away...you have magic you can use, and weapons to pull.

50 different control combination do not make for a good game, they make for confusion, frustration, and yes, elated joy...if you can master them all. Trying to line up with an enemy so that you don't screw up and waste magic, can be tough enough in itself, but try moving from spot to spot, and keeping that said enemy in view and range...

Moving, and jumping is not an option here either...given the sluggish interface that you have to work with, actually hitting your opponent at the right time, can take quite a bit of work. I've found that if you work at it enough to get things moving along, you could possibly make it to the next round of bad guys.

Combinations of moves is also a problem here...a grab is near impossible to pull off, as the control response is ultra slow to move, and you'll have to press the button a few times to grab hold of the enemy. Then pulling off the combination is another matter. Hitting the enemy and then finishing off the combo, takes some time, and alot of patience, again, due to the sloppy and slow control.

-Gameplay 3/10-

Your basic run and smash gaming. Much like Fighting Force, you can pick up weapons, and use them on the bad guys at will. You have a set amount of moves that are at your disposal, and the better moves, are harder to attain and pull off on a moving badguy, this will raise the cheapness factor about ten fold.

The A.I. can be cheap, pitting two computer controlled badguy's on either side of you, both attacking, and there really isn't a way to get away from it, other than take your hits, and hope that you're knocked out of the crossfire at one point.

This game also has a nasty little surprise in the way of only giving you one life bar, and one life. Period. If you are killed, it's game over, and you have to start from where you last saved. No other option around this one. Using the magic at your disposal will cause you to use up you 'life-force'.

That puts you at a disadvantage from the get go, because if you truly need to use the magic, and your life bar is low, you run a greater risk of killing yourself off.

Most of the levels are pretty straight forward, with very few things in the way of secrets to find and keep. You'll wander alot, just trying to find someone to beat up on once you have the cooler moves down.

-Overall 4/10-

This game suffers from alot of things, but it's killer being the lack of programming. Spawn is an awesome force to be reckoned with in the comic books, but in this title for the PSX, there is very little of the bad man that we all know and cheer on.

The graphics suffer from grainy texture, and poor color quality..there is little here in the way of eye-candy, and the blurriness of the game can give you a true, full blown migraine after about an hour or so of playing.

The sound isn't that great. It makes the attempt at the music tracks, but falls short because of the lack of depth that is usually found in games of higher caliber. The sound effects seem to lack any true variation, and fall in the run of the mill catergory for originallity.

The control kills the game almost instantly. With constant control combinations, and sluggish, near non-responsive control to use those combinations, you'll set your control down and look at your, raw, bleeding thumbs, from working the buttons and the directional pad in overdrive while trying to hit just one enemy.

The gameplay is un-inspired here. The same beat-em up gameplay with a cheap A.I. and the near frantic sense of needing to not get hit, makes this a not so enjoyable title.

When you're too busy trying not to die, so that you don't have to start the game all over again, it takes away from having any fun and seeing, if there is anything to see, what this game has to offer.

It's a weekend rental at best, and it might be a purchasing option for those that are fanatics of the Spawn series and anything that has to do with Spawn. Although you may find, that perhaps Spawn was best left on the pages of a comic book, rather than placed in this poorly made game on your television set.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/00, Updated 03/24/00