Spider-Man 3

"The Ugly Duckling"

Yes, we've all seen those screenshots. It's true, this game isn't going to win any beauty contests, but that's when you get for a console £100 cheaper than anything else on the market.

Now that's out the way, it's about time the game got the recognition it deserves.

I'm a huge Spidey fan. So much so that I have the game for both the 360 and the Wii (Wii60 ftw <_<) after hearing they were both very different.

They are. And to be perfectly honest, I've spent far more time on the Wii copy. There's just something oh-so-satisfying of shooting your webs around New York using your own wrists, rather than just holding a button down.

When you first load up the game, you're treated to a very sexy title screen. Resist temptation to just stare at it all day long, and you'll be taken to the opening tutorial level, superbly narrated by Bruce "Ash" Campbell. This takes you through combat, acrobatics, and of course; webbing. At first, combat may seem a little odd, and it is. It's not until later on when you start purchasing some new moves from the sphere-grid inspired upgrade system that the fighting gets interesting.

Before long, you'll be shooting the white stuff (ahem) all over the city, and it feels great! Web swinging feels very natural, and definitely helps immerse you in the game. It's just so satisfying to actually make the movements yourself.

This brings me onto the camera. The camera is pretty bad (almost as bad as the voice acting, but we'll save that for later). When you're swinging, it's too far away from Spidey, and so it just looks like a little red and blue (or indeed black!) blob swinging around. The way it is controlled by tilting the nunchuck is also pretty dire, as it's impossible to move it diagonally; it's either up, down, left or right.

As mentioned earlier, Toby's voice acting is lame. For most of the time, he doesn't sound enthusiastic at all. There's only a few well delivered lines of dialogue, which is a shame.

The graphics also leave a lot to be desired. Buildings look more like Tetris blocks with windows on them, and there's very little variation. You won't find any of the neon signs that litter the skyline in the 360 copy. There's also some clipping errors, and lighting inaccuracies. Textures also have a habit to go missing when you're going particularly fast, or are very high up. The effect is very similar to the one found in Ultimate Spider-Man, so if you were ok with it then you'll be fine with it now.

The game follows the films plot (which is more than what Superman Returns can say, ISN'T IT?), and has a ton of extra side missions too. You'll come face to face with many villains from the Spider-Man universe, including but not limited to Rhino, Lizard, Kingpin etc... There's also a lot of collectibles, although it's not confirmed whether there's any rewards for collecting them.

So far, the review seems pretty negative, so why haven't I given the game a lower score? It all comes back to the web swinging. After swinging around the city on the Wii, doing the same on the 360 seems positively boring. It's just a shame the rest of the game was held back by the consoles limitations.

In conclusion, if you've seen the film, you'll no doubt want to come home and wave your arms around pretending to be Spider-Man, and this game allows you to do just that. Just don't expect to be blown away.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/08/07