Spider-Man 3

"Does Nothing a Spider Can."

The fact that Spider-Man 3 had so much going for it only makes this game sting that much harder. It's safe to say Spider Mania is in full swing with the release of the third movie. Add to that the fact that Spider-Man 2 (the game) was so well done, and the fact that the same people are behind the third installment, and it should have been a home run. What the heck went wrong?

Let's start out positive, with the good. The map of New York is back, and Manhattan has never looked better....or at least some of it has (but we'll get to that later). Anyways, gameplay is pretty much identical to SM2. Swing through NYC, solve crime, fight super-villains, or don't. The open-ended strategy still works, and remains it's best strength.

Voice acting features most of the movie's cast (Mary Jane sounds like she was voiced by a different actress. I guess Kirsten Dunst was busy). Tobey Maguire does a good job sounding nonchalant, though he doesn't always communicate the desperation during the tense moments. His dialogue also doesn't feel as tight as the last game (no "I had a bowel of Mysterios for breakfast" this time). J.K. Simmons does an excellent J. Jonah Jameson, but everyone else seems to be a bit less than enthusiastic (except of course for Bruce Campbell, but Bruce would probably sound bad-ass reading an OSHA safety manual). Still, all things considered, the voice acting is pretty decent. The rest of the audio is pretty good. Music is sparse, but well done. Sound effects are good, from the honking taxi cabs, to the whooshing of wind during a full-throttle web-swing.

Now let's move on to the bad news. Although the city looks great, it could look a lot better (especially since this is supposed to be next-gen technology). Buildings could be more detailed, windows could look more like windows instead of black surfaces, that kind of thing. Characters look bug-eyed, or like they're wearing rubber masks.

The combat system is, at best, broken. The fighting system is simplistic enough (normal attack, power attack, and the occasional web burst), but even with the simplistic controls the combo system is infuriating. It seems to need perfect timing, but occasionally you can button mash your way to victory. Still, button mashing will be of no help to you in a boss fight, so you'll need the spider-sense button, which basically slows down time. The problem is that even when you hold down the button, it seems to switch on and off at random intervals (and yes, I've tried it with different controllers to eliminate the possibility of a defective button, it's still there). To further complicate matters, even the lowliest gang member seems to have adamantium skin, so they take a long time to go down. This isn't normally a big deal, unless you get rushed by a large group (which pretty much happens in every mission in the second half of the game). Furthermore, Spidey's web tie-up attack from the second game is gone. Why? Were the developers afraid the game would be too much fun? And if that's still not enough, the web-head seems to be particularly weak in this game. Long story short, get used to seeing the retry screen.

The camera seems to have been programmed by a spastic mental patient. Stay out in the open and travel in relatively straight lines, and it's not a big deal. Make a sharp turn, swing through an alley, or wall-crawl at an odd angle, and the camera goes haywire. If it happens during a fight (and believe me, it will), prepare to throw your controller.

The story can best be described as congested. They might as well have a screen between missions that says, "And then some stuff happens." Perhaps it's just a symptom of the movie, but it feels like a lot of villains are all vying for screen time, and none of them get any kind of real development (except maybe the Scorpion).

Considering the caliber of the last game, this goes beyond disappointment. Perhaps if Spider-Man 2 hadn't been so excellent, the sting of this game would have been dulled. But even disregarding it's past, the number of controller-throwingly frustrating moments are way out of proportion. Buy a better game. Buy anything. Buy a railroad spike to pound into your head (it'll be less painful). Just find something better to spend your $60 on.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/07